Success Common Sense

Be Clear, Be Brief, Don't BS

Today is Thursday, so this post is on becoming a dynamic communicator.

I got a kick out of the Dilbert cartoon in last Sunday’s paper.  In case you missed it, here is a recap.  Dilbert approaches his boss (you know, the one with the tufts of hair that look like devil’s horns) and says, “The security audit accidentally locked all developers out of the system.”  The boss says, “Well, it is what it is.”

Dilbert says, “How does that help?”  The boss replies, “You don’t know what you don’t know.”  Dilbert, obviously frustrated, says, “Congratulations you’re the first human to fail the Turing test.”  The boss says, “What does that mean?”  Dilbert replies, “It is what it is;” to which the boss says, “Why didn’t you say so in the first place?”

There really is such a thing as a Turing test.  Dictionary.com defines it as follows: “A test proposed by British mathematician Alan Turing, and often taken as a test of whether a computer has humanlike intelligence. If a panel of human beings conversing with an unknown entity (via keyboard, for example) believes that that entity is human, and if the entity is actually a computer, then the computer is said to have passed the Turing test.”

This is pretty funny.  It is also kind of sad as it is indicative of the lack of communication in today’s business world.  Scott Adams, Dilbert’s creator, really gets it when it comes to workplace dysfunctionality. 

The other day, I was reading Newsweek, and came across a small article about a new book, “Beyond Bullsh*t,” by UCLA Anderson School of Management Professor, Samuel Culbert.  Professor Culbert defines bullsh*t in the following way.

“It is telling people what you think they need to hear.  It may involve finessing the truth or outright lying, but the purpose is always self serving.  And while I appreciate the role of some b.s. in keeping the corporate peace, it makes people feel beaten up, deceived – even dirty.  When people talk straight at work, companies make out better because the best idea usually wins.  In contrast, when people are bullsh*tting, they hide their mistakes and the company suffers. Straight talk is the product or relationships built on trust.”

Phrases like “it is what it is” are not straight talk.  They are part of the inexplicable jargon that has overtaken us.  Dynamic communicators say what they mean, in an easily understood manner.  Not to further beat up Elliot Spitzer, but an article chronicling his downfall in Time Magazine began this way: “‘His visage described discountenance.’  Eliot Spitzer wrote those words about a character in a short story for his high school literary magazine…Spitzer was always something of an intellectual show off.  Jason Brown, a friend from those days, later told Spitzer biographer Brooke Masters that Spitzer might simply have written “he was unhappy’.”

I’m not holding Elliot Spitzer up to ridicule for something he wrote when he was in high school.  However, the point about being an intellectual show off applies here.  Effective communicators don’t show off their large vocabularies.  Instead, they choose words that are the most easily understood and still get across their point.

The common sense point here is clear.  Dynamics communications eschew, I mean don’t use, jargon.  They avoid meaningless phrases like “it is what it is” to explain something.  They use the simplest words possible to get across their ideas.  And they don’t bulls*it.  They say what they mean.  Follow these four rules in conversation, writing and presenting and you’ll become known as a dynamic communicator.

BONUS COMMUNICATION ADVICE – from my friend Suzi Pomerantz, Executive Coach and Author. 

I received an email from Suzi the other day – where everything was spelled correctly by the way -- that had this footer…

"This message was sent from my iPhone, please pardon brevity and errors."

Now, that’s some great common sense advice for email communication from hand held devices.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense and to subscribe to my weekly newsletter “Common Sense.” 

I’ll see you around the web and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand, my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.

Anger + Email Responses: A Recipe for Disaster

Today is Thursday, so this post is on communication skills.

Clear, concise writing is an important communication skill for success.  While e mail has become the type of writing most of us do most frequently, many people often forget that the rules associated with good writing also apply to e mail.  We just type a few words, spell check what we’ve written (maybe), and then hit send. 

This cavalier attitude towards e mail can get you into trouble.  Today, I’d like to discuss an e mail rule that will keep you out of trouble.  It’s simple.  Never respond immediately to an e mail that angers or frustrates you.  This is a recipe for trouble.

When you respond immediately to e mails that anger or frustrate you, you are likely to write some things that you may regret later.  When you get one of these e mails, let it sit.  Come back to it in an hour.  Read it again.  Are you as angry or frustrated as you were when you first read it?  I find that on second reading, e mails that anger or frustrate me the first time around, often don’t seem as bad as I initially thought.  When this happens, I’m really glad that I didn’t fire off an inflammatory response.

On the other hand, sometimes an e mail seems worse on second reading.  When this happens, I take a deep breath, and say to myself, “What is the common sense thing to do here, Bud?”  Most often, the answer is to demonstrate restraint in my response.

Here’s an example.  It happened over the past weekend.  I had “met” this individual when I commented on one of his blog posts on career success.  I liked what he had to say and told him so.  Currently, I am looking for partners for the Straight Talk for Success launch (which is scheduled for April 22, by the way).  I was hoping he would become a partner.

I sent an e mail to this person asking him if he would like to participate.  Because he would be doing me a favor, I offered to send him a complimentary copy of one of my other books, 4 Secrets of High Performing Organizations – just to be a nice guy. 

In his reply, he told me that he did not want to participate.  I responded by saying that I appreciated his response, even though it wasn’t what I was hoping for; and offered to send a copy of 4 Secrets because he had been courteous enough to respond to my solicitation.

I received a return e mail that said, “In this day of the internet, Google, and Wikipedia, it’s obvious to me that there are no ‘secrets’ to creating a high performing organization.”

I read those words and felt as if I had been slapped in the face.  I had to agree that technically he was correct.  On the other hand, I thought it was an extremely insulting response to an offer made as a gesture of good will.  I was pissed; and hurt.

My initial reaction was to fire off a nasty e mail telling him just that.  Then I caught myself and said, “What is the common sense thing to do here, Bud?”  That answer was obvious.  Act in an interpersonally competent manner.  As you recall, interpersonal competence is one of the keys to career and life success.

I replied by saying, “Thanks for your response.  After reading your e mail, I’m assuming that you are not interested in reading 4 Secrets of High Performing Organizations, so I won’t send you a copy.  If, however, you’d like to read it, just let me know and I’ll get a copy off to right away.”

I was proud of myself for the restraint I showed.  I broke the cycle of negativity that could have gotten started.  I hate e mail flame wars.  And, I left the door open to further communication with this guy in the future.  You never know.  Leads come from strange places.

The common sense points here are simple.  Clear concise writing is one of the communication skills important for career and life success.  E mail is an important form of written communication.  You should pay as much attention to your e mails as you do other written communication.  Never respond immediately to an e mail that angers or frustrates you.  Wait a while.  Read it again, and then ask yourself, “What is the common sense approach to responding to this e mail?”  If you do this, I bet you’ll temper your initial reaction to write a nasty e mail.  And, your career and life will be better for it.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense. 

I’ll see you around the web and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand, my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.

Platitudes and Jargon Are Just....Platitudes and Jargon

Today is Thursday, so this post is on communication skills.

Dayton Fandray writes a monthly column in the Continental Air Lines in flight magazine called IDEAS@WORK.  I always enjoy his columns.  This month, the article was entitled “Pardon My Jargon: Speak a Language Your Audience Can Understand.”  This is great common sense advice for all three communication skills necessary for career and life success – conversation, writing and presentation skills.

Mr. Fandray began this column by saying that he has a folder of memos that he has collected over the years.  “I keep the lion’s share of these memos because they serve as vivid reminders of everything that is wrong with the art of communication in the modern workplace.  The memos fairly bristle with fractured grammar and tortured logic.  But the most conspicuous offensive is the pervasive use of jargon, buzzwords and fuzzy concepts.”

He shared one memo that a friend sent to him.  It promised to “map the handoffs and all processes in a combined swim lanes uber-process.”  I’m pretty hip to a lot of business jargon as I see it every day.  However, I must admit that “swim lanes” is a new one on me.  If you can explain it in plain English please leave a comment on this post.  You’d be doing me, and a lot of others, a favor.

Mr. Fandray makes an interesting point when he says, “All too often, however, the meaning of the jargon and clichés we commonly use in our memos and presentations is a vague in the mind of the writer as it is in the mind of the audience.”  I hadn’t really thought about it this way – the idea that jargon is a way of allowing someone to make a point that he or she hasn’t thought through very well.  But it makes sense.  If you really understand what you are trying to say, you should be able to say it in simple, easy to understand language – like I try to use on this blog. 

Mr. Fandray quotes Suzanne Bates, author of “Speak Like a CEO: Secrets for Commanding Attention and Getting Results” who says “just because it (a jargon word or phrase) has become part of the common language, doesn’t mean that it means something.”

As I’m writing this, I’m reminded of an IBM commercial I saw recently.  A guy walks into a large, dimly lighted conference room where e sees no tables and chairs and about twenty people lying on the floor.  He says, “What are you guys doing?”  Someone answers, “We’re ideating.”  He says, “What’s that?”  Someone responds, “Coming up with new ways of doing things.”  He says, “Why don’t you just call it that?”

Interestingly enough, the word "ideating" sounds like a made up word to me.  I expected spell check to flag it.  It didn’t.  So I guess I am behind the times on some of my business jargon.  Even so, I think saying that you’re “Coming up with new ways of doing things,” is much more clear than saying that you’re “Ideating.”  But what do I know?

There is a common sense point here.  In conversation, writing and presenting, use simple, straight forward language that is likely to be understood by the person or people with whom you are communicating.  Put yourself in the place of the other people.  Use words and language that they are likely to understand.  Be specific.  Don’t hide behind platitudes and vague generalities.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense. 

I’ll see you around the web and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand, my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.

Tune Into WII FM

This is Thursday, so this post is on communication skills.

Effective communicators write well, present clearly and are great conversationalists.  In this post I will deal with conversation skills.

I saw this quote from Dale Carnegie the other day.  “When we are dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic.  We are creatures of emotion, creature bustling with prejudice and motivated by pride and vanity.”

This quote reminded me of one of the things my very good friend Steve Roesler always reminds his presentation skills training audiences: tune into WII FM.  WII FM is not the hottest new rock radio station.  It’s a question.  It stands for “What’s In It For Me?  In his presentation skills training workshops, Steve always tells his students to ask themselves, “What’s in it for the audience?  Why should they spend their valuable time listening to you?”  If you can answer these questions, you should be able to develop a dynamite talk.

However, I think it always makes sense to ask the WII FM question when you are engaged in a conversation.  As Dale Carnegie points out most people are “motivated by pride and vanity;” – strong words to be sure, but probably as valid today as when he wrote them years ago.  If this is the case, it makes sense to appeal to the other person’s pride and vanity when you enter into a conversation.

Becoming genuinely interested in another person is the best way to appeal to his or her pride and vanity.  Asking questions, really listening to the answers and responding appropriately are the three keys to showing another person that you are interested in him or her.  And, as I’ve said, being genuinely interested in another person is the best way to appeal to his or her pride and vanity.

I was speaking with Jo Mohr, a friend, the other day.  She called to tell me that she had accepted a Vice President position with a very large health care company.  I congratulated her and we chatted for a while about her new job.  As we were ending the conversation, she asked about me and how I am doing.

As it turns out, I had quite a bit on my mind that day.  Both of my parents are aging and not in the best of health.  I didn’t even realize how much I needed to talk about this until she asked.  Her question was cathartic.  We spent 20 more minutes discussing my parents, her deceased mother and family dynamics in general. 

Jo is a good conversationalist.  Even though she was calling with good news of her own, she took the time to tune into me before ending our conversation.  I try to make it a rule to ask at least one or two questions of the other person when I am in a conversation.  In this way, I make sure that I am holding up my end of the conversation.  Just like Jo, I do this even when the purpose of the conversation is to give the other person some information.

The common sense point here is simple.  Good communicators are good conversationalists.  They write well, and they present well.  Good conversationalists ask a lot of questions, really listen to what the other person has to say and then respond appropriately.  If you do these three things you’ll be tuning into what’s in it for the other person.  And, you’ll become known as a great conversationalist.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense. 

I’ll see you around the web and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand, my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.

Good Talks Are a Matter of Substance and Style

Today is Thursday, so this post is on communication skills.

Last Thursday, USA Today ran a column by Wynton C. Hall, author of The Right Words: Great Republican Speeches That Shaped History, entitled "Do Effective Speakers Make Effective Presidents?"

In part, Mr. Hall said, “In our YouTube-driven digital age, candidates who can motivate voters to tap the touchscreen in their favor possess a clear advantage…however, would be presidents must also explain their policy prescriptions in concrete terms, not mere abstractions.”  The column ended with these words.  “Come November, voters will desire a president whose communication embodies style and substance.  The candidate who can fuse the two is hard-wired to win the White House.”

Mr. Hall was addressing presidential politics, but his common sense advice pertains to anyone who wishes to become a great communicator.  As I write this, I’m reminded of the old Wendy’s commercials that asked “Where’s the beef?”  In other words, to be a great communicator, you must have a combination of style and substance.

A lot of communication training, especially presentation skills training, focuses on the style.  However, I want to remind you that a presentation that lacks real substance will not fall short of the mark.
When I work with my executive coaching clients, I help them overcome their nerves and learn how to work the room in their presentations.  However, more importantly, I help them build substance into their talks.

Substance begins with an understanding of the audience.  When you begin to prepare material for your presentation, answer these questions to make sure that you have a good understanding of your audience.

• Who is the audience for this presentation?
• Why are they attending?
• What do they hope to get out of your presentation?
• What is their general attitude toward you and the topic?
• What is their knowledge level on this topic?

Once you are armed with this knowledge, you can begin to choose the information you need to include in your talk. 

Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech was a wonderful combination of style and substance.  His repetition of the words, “I have a dream” was a great rhetorical device that still resonates with people today.  It gave style to the talk.  However, that talk was also filled with substance.  Dr. King made the point that a segregated society was not only morally wrong, it was detrimental to the best interests of the US.  In this talk, Dr. King combined both style and substance to deliver one of the most powerful talks that I have ever heard.

The common sense point here is simple.  Successful presenters have the ability to combine style with substance.  It’s true for presidential candidates and it’s true for business presenters.  Substance comes first.  Make sure that you have something worthwhile to say, then find the best way to say it.  A combination of style and substance makes for a memorable presentation.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense.  I am not posting regularly on my www.CommonSenseGuy.com blog right now, as I want to concentrate on this one.  It is still up though.  Please don’t cancel your RSS feed as there is a lot of good content there, and I will be posting there occasionally. 

I’ll see you around the web and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand, my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.

Assumptions Are Communication Killers

Today is Thursday, so this post is on communication skills. 

The ability to engage in meaningful conversation is a key communication success skill.  As I always tell my executive coaching clients, assumptions can kill a conversation.  As I write this, I’m reminded of one of my favorite George Bernard Shaw plays, You Never Can Tell.

Mr. Bohun is a character in the play.  He is a know-it-all.  He repeats the line, “you think you do, but you don’t” several times in the play.

What does this have to do with assumptions?  Everything, in my book.  As we engage people in conversation, we often think we know everything about them – their backgrounds, motivations, likes and dislikes.  Unfortunately, we think we do, but usually we don’t.

Here is a story that I often tell when I am speaking to my executive coaching clients. 

Rob Likoff is a friend of mine.  He is a partner in a very successful internet marketing services business, Group DCA.  Rob lives in New York City and is a huge New York Knicks fan.  That is a tough road these days.  If you’re not a basketball fan, the Knicks are the professional basketball team in New York.

Rob is such a fan that he has Knicks’ vanity license plates on both of his cars.  These plates have the Knicks logo in the middle.  One has the letters FST BRK (fast break – a basketball term) on either side of the logo.  The other has the letters SLM DNK (slam dunk – another basketball term) on either side of the logo.

One day, Rob was with a woman client.  They were going to lunch, and were taking his car with the SLM DNK plates.  As they approached the car, she said, “Have you met many women with your license plate?”

Rob thought this was kind of strange, and said, “No, why do you ask?”

She replied, “Because of what it says.”

Rob said, “What do you think it says?”

She said, “Simple, Single Ladies Man, Divorced No Kids.”

Pretty bizarre, right?  Wrong.  Both Rob and his clients thought they knew what the license plate said, but they didn’t.  Rob is a basketball fan.  He assumed that anyone seeing a license plate with the Knicks logo in the middle and the letters SLM DNK would automatically know that it meant “slam dunk.”

His client was a 30 something, single woman.  She had mentioned to him on another occasion that she feels her biological clock ticking.  She would like to get married and start a family.  If you look at it from her point of view, you can see where “slam dunk” would mean “single ladies man, divorced no kids.”

In other words, they both thought they knew, but they didn’t.

And that’s the common sense point for today.  Assumptions can really derail a conversation.  Don’t make assumptions about the other person when you are in conversation.  If you find you are making assumptions, test them out.  Ask, “Why do you thing that is so?”  Remember, in many cases you really don’t know what the other person is thinking or feeling.  To quote Bernard Shaw, “You think you do; but you don’t."

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense.  I am not posting regularly on my www.CommonSenseGuy.com blog right now, as I want to concentrate on this one.  It is still up though.  Please don’t cancel your RSS feed as I will be posting there occasionally.  And, you can still get a free ebook version of my book 4 Secrets of High Performing Organizations by visiting www.CommonSenseGuy.com.

I’ll see you around the web and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand, my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.

Rewriting is the Key to Good Writing

Today is Thursday, so this post is on communication skills.

Clear, crisp writing is an important communication skill.  Successful people are able to get across their ideas in an easily readable way.  I’ve been blessed.  Writing has always come easy to me.  I enjoy it.  Studying Journalism in college helped too.  There’s nothing like a critique from a Journalism professor to help you clean up your writing.

However, this blessing can become a bit of a curse.  Because writing comes easy to me, I sometimes get lazy and don’t do a good job of rewriting.  James Michener, a great writer, once said, “I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter.”  Rewriting is the key to good writing, just as James Michener, who wrote more than 40 books and won a Pulitzer prize, says.  Let me repeat that.  Rewriting is the key to good writing.

In yesterday’s post, I talked about the relationship between hard work and outstanding performance.  Rewriting is the hard work of writing.  All writing can improve.  I have rewritten all of my books at least three or four times.  Yet, I can open any one of them at random and find a better way to get my point across.

I’m not saying that you have to rewrite endlessly – just enough to make what you’ve written better.  Often, I fall into the trap of beginning sentences with unnecessary words or phrases.  I often will begin a sentence with these words, “To begin with…”  I cut them out when I rewrite.  I don't need them.  If I am writing clearly, it should be obvious when I am beginning a new thought. 

“To tell you the truth,” or “To be perfectly honest with you,” are also sentence beginners that come up often; more so in conversation, but sometimes in writing.  These phrases are a problem for two reasons.  1) They are unnecessary.  You should tell the truth.  2) They put me on guard.  When I hear “To be perfectly honest with you,” I assume what follows is going to be a lie.

My purpose in this post, however, is not to teach you how to rewrite, but to get you to realize that rewriting is the key to good writing.  Read what you’ve written.  If you’re honest with yourself, you know you can be more clear, more concise.  Then do what you need to do to make what you’ve written more clear and concise.

Shaun Fawcett is a writing coach.  You can find a lot of excellent information on his website www.writinghelp-central.com.  Here is what he has to say about rewriting. 

“No matter how much preparation I do, I always find that I can improve on the first draft. That’s partly because when I’m writing that first version, my main focus is to get the essence of my thoughts down on paper. At that stage I don’t worry about perfect phrasing, grammar or logic. My main mission the first time through is to make sure that I capture the critical words and phrases that form the core meaning of what I want to communicate.”

Shaun also suggests that one good way to begin the rewriting process is to read what you’ve written out loud.

“Some people who haven’t tried it may laugh when they read this, but it really works. At any point during the drafting process, but definitely at the draft final stage, read your report or letter to yourself “out loud”. It’s amazing what one picks up when they actually “hear” their words as if they were being spoken to them as the addressee. I find this helps me the most in picking up awkward phrasing and unnecessary repetition of words or terms.”

I agree with both of Shaun’s points.  I always advise my executive coaching clients to “Write fast and rewrite slowly.” In other words, get your thoughts down on paper or the screen quickly, and then spend a lot of time refining what you’ve written to make sure it communicates exactly what you want to say.

Second, I find that reading out loud what I’ve written is a great way to make sure that my writing is user friendly.  Most of the people who read what I write read out loud in their mind.  In other words, it needs to sound good as well as look good.

The common sense point here is simple.  Rewriting is the key to good writing.  Rewrite everything you write once or twice.  It will get better, I guarantee it.  This goes for e mails, as well as longer pieces.  Also, follow Shaun Fawcett’s advice – write quickly, rewrite slowly; read what you’ve written out loud to see how it “sounds to your reader.”

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense.  I am not posting regularly on my www.CommonSenseGuy.com blog right now, as I want to concentrate on this one.  It is still up though.  Please don’t cancel your RSS feed as I will be posting there occasionally.  And, you can still get a free ebook version of my book 4 Secrets of High Performing Organizations by visiting www.CommonSenseGuy.com. 

I’ll see you around the web and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand, my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.

Writing Rituals

Today is Thursday, so this post is on communication skills.

Clean, clear writing is an important communication skill.  However, writing is difficult for a lot of people.  A clean sheet of paper or a blank computer screen can be very intimidating.

Nick Usborne is a professional writer.  He has been a freelance copywriter for 30 years, yet he says that he “still has productivity problems from time to time.”  To beat these productivity problems, he has created “five writing rituals to help you write faster and smarter.”  These rituals are available for download. 

I bought and downloaded them for two reasons.  1) I write a lot.  I’m always looking for ways to improve my writing productivity.  2) A lot of people who read this blog want to improve their writing. 

I liked what Mr. Usborne has to say.  Below, I’ve summarized his five rituals for more productive writing.

5 Rituals to Help You Write Faster and Smarter

1. Clear your mind.  In other words, focus; really focus, on what you are writing.  Get rid of all the distractions that will keep you from concentrating on what you are writing.  I write these blogs posts first thing in the morning when I am fresh and focused, and free of the distractions that come up during the day.
2. Visualize the outcome.  Mr. Usborne suggests creating a mind map of what the finished document will look like.  When I was writing Straight Talk for Success, I created a mind map that began with a five point star.  Each point of the star corresponded to one of the major points I wanted to make about career and life success: self confidence, positive personal impact, outstanding performance, communication skills, and interpersonal competence.  Then, I developed three supporting points for each of the five points on the start.  For example, the supporting points for self confidence are: optimism, facing your fears, surrounding yourself with positive people.  I had my mind map once I added the three supporting points to each of the five points on the star.  This mind map gave me a visual representation of what my finished product would look like.
3. Get fully loaded.  By this, Mr. Usborne is suggesting that you “print out and review all of the information you need for the job.”  When I am writing a blog post, I often have several windows open and running behind my Word screen.  In this way, I can quickly reference what I need.  Right now, for example, I have Mr. Usborne’s .pdf open to page 44, where he presents a summary of his five rituals. 
4. Start writing.  Mr. Usborne says, “It doesn’t matter how you do it, just get those first few words written immediately.”  I agree.   Procrastination can kill your writing.  That’s why I write and post my blogs first thing every morning.  It’s a ritual.  Get up, clean up, go to my office, post today’s blog, write tomorrow’s blog.  Then I have a little breakfast.
5. Stick to the plan.  Mr. Usborne says, “Always work from your mind map and to-do list, right up until the last word.  Above, I showed you how I did this when I was writing Straight Talk.  I use this advice to help with this blog too.  Monday, I post on self confidence; Tuesday, positive personal impact; Wednesday, outstanding performance; Thursday, communication skills and Friday, interpersonal competence.  In other words, I plan my work and then work my plan.
   I’m impressed with Mr. Usborne’s five writing rituals.  While what he says is slanted towards professional writers, anybody who writes – and that’s everybody -- can use his ideas to become a better writer.

You can get a copy of Writing Rituals by going here: http://bilanich.rituals.hop.clickbank.net.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense.  I am not posting regularly on my www.CommonSenseGuy.com blog right now, as I want to concentrate on this one.  It is still up though.  Please don’t cancel your RSS feed as I will be posting there occasionally.  And, you can still get a free ebook version of my book 4 Secrets of High Performing Organizations by visiting www.CommonSenseGuy.com . 

I’ll see you around the web and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand, my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.

How to Speak With Authority

Today is Thursday, so this post is on communication skills.

I mentioned Women’s Edge Magazine in yesterday’s post (www.womensedgemagazine.com).  It is a great print mag.  I found several articles in the January issue that I really liked.  One article listed tips for speaking with authority.  Since presentation skills are a critical component of communication skills, I’ve decided to list a few of them here, along with the names of the women who provided them.

Tips for Speaking With Authority

• “Relax.  If you know your subject, it should come naturally.”  Cindy Anderson, CPA
• “Take lot’s of deep breaths before you speak.  Try to convey a sense of fun and spontaneity.”  Lisa Grele Barrie
• “Make sure you’ve planned what you’re going to say.  Avoid the dreaded fillers like ‘um, like and you know’.”  Diane Bliss
• “Your believability and credibility depend on your reputation, so make sure your audience knows your qualifications beforehand.  Also, don’t hesitate to appeal to emotion as well as reason.”  Patty Briguglio
• “Eliminate PowerPoint and just talk to your audience!  Share conversation as well as information.”  Mary Contando
• “Be authentic and stand in it.  Remember, it’s about who are, and not what you can sell someone.”  Jan DeLory
• “Be comfortable with yourself, so you can connect with others on a real and personal level.”  Lynn F. Dickey, PhD
• “Make sure you are engaged, maintain eye contact…and don’t hold your breath.”  Jill Wells Heath
• “Be willing to risk what you have to get what you want.  Stand firm on your principles even when your knees are shaking.”  Catherine Hoag
• “Take up as much physical space as possible when speaking.  Open yourself up to others and they will open up to you.”  Erika Mangrum
• "Simple…Never doubt yourself.”  April Mills
• “Be yourself and you’ll have the credibility you desire.”  Caire B. Niver
• “Adopt a warm and friendly style to put others at ease.”  Billie Redmond
• “Know your material and communicate it in a manner that inspires confidence and action.”  Chris Young

Review these 14 pieces of common sense advice the next time you have to make a presentation.  Take them to heart and put them to work.  You’ll deliver a dynamite presentation.  I guarantee it.  After all, they’re just common sense.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense.  I am not posting regularly on my www.CommonSenseGuy.com blog right now, as I want to concentrate on this one.  It is still up though.  Please don’t cancel your RSS feed as I will be posting there occasionally.  And, you can still get a free ebook version of my book 4 Secrets of High Performing Organizations by visiting www.CommonSenseGuy.com . 

I’ll see you around the web and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand, my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.

Schedule Regular Conversations With Your Boss

Today is Thursday, so this post is on communication skills.

Effective communicators are great conversationalists.  However, I have found that many people who are good conversationalists don’t take the time to have one type of conversation that can have a huge impact on their life and career – regular one on one conversations with their boss.

Good leaders will take the initiative and schedule regular one on ones with the people they lead.  John Kelly, a friend and client, is more diligent about this than anyone I know.  Interestingly, the people he leads tend to be high performers.

Unfortunately, there are not enough leaders like John, so in most cases, you’ll have to take the lead in initiating these regular conversations with your boss.  It’s important to have these kinds of conversations regularly for several reasons.

• You’ll develop a better, more personable relationship with your boss.
• You’ll be able to update your boss on progress on your projects and to ask for any of his or her support that you need.
• You’ll be able to turn your boss into a mentor and learn from his or her knowledge, experience and wisdom.
• You’ll be in a good position to learn about interesting upcoming projects, so you can make your interest known in them.
• You’ll be able to get your boss’ opinion on where your company and division are going.

How frequent should these conversations take place?  I suggest placing them on the calendar every two weeks.  In this way, you’ll be likely to have at least one conversation a month.  The modern business world being what it is, it’s unlikely that you and your boss will always be in the same place on the day and time you’ve set aside for your one to one conversations.

As with any conversation, you want to have a two way dialogue in which you both speak and listen about half the time.  Take notes in these conversations.  In this way, you’ll be demonstrating your interest in what your boss has to say, as well as providing you with a reminder of commitments you’ve both made.  Often, these notes are a great starting place for the subsequent conversation.

The common sense point here is simple.  Engage your boss in regularly scheduled one on one conversations.  These conversations will benefit your career growth in a number of ways.  When you become a leader, do the same thing for the people you lead.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense.  I am not posting regularly on my www.CommonSenseGuy.com blog right now, as I want to concentrate on this one.  It is still up though.  Please don’t cancel your RSS feed as I will be posting there occasionally.  And, you can still get a free ebook version of my book 4 Secrets of High Performing Organizations by visiting www.CommonSenseGuy.com . 

I’ll see you around the web and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand, my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.