What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear you speak. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Making a positive impression on the selection panel requires that what they see, hear and feel are in harmony. If they are not, it discredits the messenger. For...
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Eye Contact Part II: Intensity of gaze
Last month I mentioned how important it was to hold eye contact with your audience for 2-3 seconds or a complete thought in order to establish trustworthiness. If you missed it you can read it along with all previous newsletters on my website blog....
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Younger team members?
I was recently asked: “What can be done in a project interview to minimize the perception that a team member is too young for the job?” I’ll share with you how I have coached younger PM’s in the past that has been successful. One...
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Avoid Pushing Too Much
It is a good thing to have energy, enthusiasm and conviction in your presentation but be careful not to over do it. Here is an example of what pushing too much looks and sounds like: Phil Davison, GOP Candidate, Delivers Stark County Treasurer Speech,...
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Avoid Over-Packing Your Presentation
For most presentations, we have way more content than time available. Some presenters try to cram more into their presentation by increasing the rate of speech. This is a mistake. When information comes at us too fast, we don’t have time to process it...
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Get Off to Great Start
Set the tone for your selection panel to feel good about you and your team before a word is spoken by making eye contact and smiling as soon as you see them. Go over and shake hands and introduce yourself. This demonstrates enthusiasm and...
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What do I do if I don’t know the answer to a question asked during Q & A?
That depends. If answering the question requires input from a specialist who is not in attendance at the interview: Let the panel know that the specialist will likely have the best answer to that question and you will contact that individual immediately upon leaving...
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Learning to enjoy the process not just the end result…
I was working with a general contractor recently who said, “Don’t take this personally, but I hate practicing, I hate presenting, the only thing I like is the relief I feel when it is over.” His statement may resonate with some of you readers....
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Your Recipe for Speaking Success
I was recently leading an in-house, 5 session workshop for a construction company. After our first workshop, I gave the participants an assignment to prepare for a one-on-one session with me the following week. A couple of the guys came to that individual meeting...
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Does speaking order matter in project interviews?
Yes and no. While earning my Master’s Degree in Speech Communication at the University of Texas at Austin, I learned some theories related to persuasion: The Primacy Effect suggests that the information we hear first is more likely to have sticking power. Alternately, the...
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