One of the most popular books for our CCN on-site presentations last year was The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains” by Nicholas Carr (New York: Norton, 2010). In that book, he discusses how the Internet tinkers with the brain, reamps its neural circuitry, and reprograms the memory. While the mind… Read More The Never-Finished Book: Problems with Perpetual In-Progress Revising
I tried to think of the nicest way to say this – the best way. The “wash his mouth out with soap” was one such way. Another might be, “Mr. Luntz, you’re too smart for this, so please just shut your mouth.” Here is what the wrote – page 271, in his newest book, Win:… Read More Why Frank Luntz Needs To Wash His Mouth Out With Soap
In Win: The Key Principles to Take Your Business from Ordinary to Extraordinary, the third book I have read and presented (after Friday) by Frank Luntz, we read his “conclusions” at the very beginning of the book. Here they are: • The 15 universal attributes of winners (Luntz’s summary of his “conclusions”)… 1) the ability to grasp the… Read More The 15 Universal Attributes Of Winners – Insight From Win by Frank Luntz
I was talking to a brilliant woman this morning. She is a legend (in the very best sense of that word) in the Real Estate business in the Dallas area. She has more energy than any 10 of us (we met at 7:30; if you know anything about the “typical” real estate person, early mornings… Read More Tried and True Counsel for your Next Presentation — Sometimes the Old Advice is Still the Best
I intentionally keep politics out of my posts on this blog as much as possible. It is becoming difficult – politics permeates every facet of life these days. But this one was too important to ignore. It comes from Paul Krugman’s New York Times column earler this week, Patients Are Not Consumers. Here’s the key… Read More Words that Don’t Work, like… When I go to my “Doctor,” I am a “Patient,” not a “Health Care Consumer”
Let me help you plan your reading for 2011. The issue is… Leadership Development. Look at those words. Think about them. They say a lot. Mainly they say this – leaders have to be developed, and leaders have to focus on, and work on, continual development. This does not happen by accident. Some leaders may… Read More Here’s a Suggested Reading List for Leadership Development (for 2011) – Now, with Update
I was re-looking at my handout from the book Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear by Frank Luntz. This quote jumped out at me, again: We have certainly seen instances in which language has been used to cloud our judgment and blur the facts, but its beauty – the true… Read More Say It As Well As You Possibly Can
(note: I live in multiple worlds. I read and present synopses of business books, and other nonfiction books; I speak and consult; and I teach speech, and study speech pretty seriously. This is a post from that part of my life). Every failed presentation fails in one of two ways: the presentation had little or… Read More 2 Ways to Guarantee a Failed Presentation
It’s tough for college graduates out there, thus it is tough for current college students. What should today’s student major in? In today’s NY Times, one of the top e-mailed articles wrestles with this question: CAREER U. — Making College ‘Relevant’ by Kate Zerniuke. After discussing the decline of/loss of philosophy majors, and the ascendancy… Read More The Disappearing University Education and the Rise of the Trade School Education — a serious, festering problem (w/reading suggestions)
I have posted earlier about some excellent communication advice from the Heath brothers (Made to Stick), and from Frank Luntz. (Words that Work). They each have terrific suggestions for effective communication strategies. But if you are like me, you can always use a few reminders. And I am constantly wrestling with just how a person… Read More Here’s A Four Step Process For Effective Communication
First Friday Book Synopsis 