| Where in the World is Regina Clark?
Hint: East Coast - between my home and my daughter's college.
Send me an email with your guess. If you have the right answer, I will send you a free book.
During the next few weeks I will be in Columbus, Indiana, Las Vegas, Nevada and Burlington, Vermont. Give me a call if you want to join me for dinner. I hate to eat alone! |
| It's not too late to be included in my next book - Are We Having Fun Yet? The book is about creating a motivating work environment. If you want to share some best practices with my readers, please send me an email or call me today.
My best wishes goes out to all of the people that have been impacted by the severe weather in the United States, especially my friends at Chemtura and all of those that have lost their jobs recently. Just remember, it's not the end of the road, just a bend in the road.
Till we meet again...
Regina :: 845-294-7089 |
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| Greetings!
Like many other folks, I was glued to the television during the conventions. I loved watching the speeches. It's amazing to me that at that level, speakers are still making basic mistakes. I was looking forward to listening to both Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina. Both very successful business women with totally different styles. Carly seemed much more relaxed than Meg. I'm sure they both rehearsed their speeches, they both looked good, but the screen behind each speaker was confusing. I couldn't figure out what the images had to do with the speaking points. Meg kept saying "now" which was a bit distracting to me. I also hated the rehearsed pauses. What did you think of the speeches? I'd love to hear from you. My 80 year old father thought Sarah stole the show. In his words, "she's a knockout." |
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The 11 Biggest Mistakes that Speakers Make
1 The speaker fails to customize the presentation for the audience. Do your homework ahead of time and find out as much as you can about the audience. Who are the decision makers? Is the audience culturally diverse? Do members of the audience have to leave to catch a plane or train? If yes, they are probably not that focused on your speech. Is it a large or small audience? Does the audience know anything about the topic? Are they experts? Why should the audience listen to you? Is there anyone in the audience that is going to give you a hard time or disrupt the presentation? Get to the room early and say hello to a few people. Ask them what their concerns are or why they decided to attend. Meeting people before the presentation can also help calm your nerves.
2 The speaker or speech writer fails to research the content and gather up to date information about the topic. The only thing we can really say about change is that it is constant and inevitable. Everything in our world changes! Good speakers are flexible and able to adjust their speech at the last minute if it makes sense to do so. Your credibility as a speaker will increase when you are prepared with up to date information. A few months ago I was scheduled to speak to an audience in New York about leadership. The day before, Governor Elliot Spitzer resigned as Governor of New York when his dealings with prostitutes became public. The timing was incredible; I had to talk about Governor Spitzer when I got to the part in my speech where I talked about character.
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Write Right
The American English language can be very confusing. Especially if you are learning English as a second language. Here are a few challenging sentences:
- He could lead if he would get the lead out.
- The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
- The bandage was wound around the wound.
- They were too close to the door to close it.
- The soldier decided to desert the desert.
On my desk is a copy of Write Right by Jan Venolia. This month I found myself using it quite a bit. I always forget how to write numbers in text. Do you write 9 flowers or nine flowers? Is it 45 quarts of oil or fourty five quarts of oil? My youngest son is five years old. On Saturday we were watching the movie, An American Tale, he kept saying mouses and I kept correcting him, telling him that mouses should be the word mice. Mice is plural, not mouses. Sometimes grammar gets confusing. He's five, he's allowed to make lots of mistakes. You're a business person, it's in your best interest to eliminate mistakes. When you make grammatical errors in your writing and in your speech, it gives the impression that your work is sloppy which is certainly not the impression that you want to make. Taking the time to edit your work is also critical. Every month, I send out this newsletter. I always proof it a few times and I always find mistakes after it goes out. Oh, well. At least I'm trying to improve. (by the way, the correct answer is nine flowers and 45 quarts of oil)
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