Examples have a singular goal: They help the reader understand a concept. But could the wrong example actually alienate an audience? And how would you know which kind of example would alienate you? Let’s look at a simple example of a ‘rocking chair.’ So if were to talk about a ‘rocking chair’, for instance, you’d […]
Search Results for: feed
How To Get Maximum Impact From Your Speaking Engagements
Have you ever seen a rock concert where the singer holds out the microphone in the middle of a song. And not surprisingly the audience sings the lyrics of the songs, while swaying madly to the music. Your audience should be so adoring, eh? Well, if you can’t exactly be a rock star to your […]
How To Avoid Getting Caught Off Guard When Training
If you’re a trainer, there’s one scenario that’s almost impossible to avoid. It’s the scenario where you see a hand going up. The participant is about to ask a question. And there’s nothing wrong with the question, except that it’s out of left field. The participant is asking: How do I blazaboo the configulation spectroconfiture […]
How Attacking the “Problem” Is The Problem (And Why Structure Helps)
Imagine it’s a rainy night. And suddenly you hear a drop of water coming from the roof. One drop, two drops. Five hundred drops and a bit of mopping up later, and you’ve got a bucket under the leak. So what do you do next morning? Do you leave the buckets or do you resolve […]
Why ‘Impossible-To-Goof-Up’ Questions Relax Your Audience
Put a two year old child in front of a Barney video for the first time, and watch the child’s face. It’s intent. It’s focused. And not very relaxed at all. But put that child in front of that same Barney video for the seven hundredth time, and watch the anticipation on her face. She’s […]
How To Record A Screen Video Presentation (Without Having To Do Tons of Editing)
One of the biggest marketing tools you have at your disposal is the power of video. If you don’t have video on your site, you’re missing out on a big opportunity to showcase your credibility. In the end, customers don’t give a whit about your products or services. They want to know that they can […]
Insourcing. Why It Beats Outsourcing
At 7 am, once a week, across New Zealand, a group of between twenty-thirty people assemble. These groups of people don’t belong to a sect. They have no secret handshake. No password or code. They’re simply networking. So what makes this group so interestingly different? The difference is insourcing. So what’s insourcing? Well, it’s kinda […]
There Is No Try
In the movie, Star Wars, Luke Skywalker and Yoda, the Jedi Master, stand near the edges of the Dagobah swamps. Luke is training in earnest to be a Jedi. Yoda turns to Luke and asks him to raise his sunken starfighter, which weighs several hundred tons, from the Dagobah swamps with the power of his […]
Outsourcing: When Do You Do It?
Most of us are experts at trying to fix problems at the last minute. It ain’t broke, so why fix it, we think. Well, how do you know it ain’t broke? And is it really important to become a jack of many trades, or just concentrate on your niche? Heck, that’s one tricky question… But […]
The Curse of Self-Edit
When we sit down to do a project, we never seem to see the end of it. Let’s say you want to create a simple information product such as a fifteen minute audio. Technically speaking, this audio should take you fifteen minutes to create. If you sit down and write an outline, it should take […]