It seems like you can never be fully prepared for distractions while speaking or giving a presentation. Over the last few years, I’ve experienced everything from loud coughing to a person walking across the room to ask someone else a question WHILE I was speaking.

Not calling attention to such things takes experience and practice – it’s the mark of a true professional. Most audiences are courteous and respect the speaker, so it may take years of speaking before you run into major distractions. But the first time it happens, you find it breaks your concentration to the point where it negatively affects the rest of your speech.  Read more... (255 words, estimated 1:01 mins reading time)

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Networking events are tough for many people. You have to go up to a complete stranger, introduce yourself and carry on a conversation with the hopes that either or both of you will find some benefit of knowing each other.

A little research about the organization hosting the event, the people attending, and even the venue will help put you at ease as you’ll have something to talk about. But even that is sometimes not enough – especially if you attend an event where it seems like most of the people in the room already know each other.  Read more... (239 words, estimated 57 secs reading time)

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Have you ever met someone that had a unique name?

Have you ever met someone with a name that you’ve heard before, but this person spells it differently?

When these things happen, you have a unique opportunity to really connect with this person. I learned this when I was an instructor at Bentley College. I was part of a group of 12 graduate students that would be teaching a course in basic computer use (MS Windows, MS Office & the Internet) and only two of us were from the USA. I remember talking to one of the people from India and asking him how to properly spell and pronounce his name. He was impressed that someone was interested enough to take the time to learn this as everyone else would ask him to use a nickname that was easier to pronounce and spell. He and I quickly became good friends.

Dale Carnegie wrote that “A person’s name is the sweetest sound to them in any language.” When you meet someone new that has a unique name, take the time to learn the proper spelling and pronunciation. This way, you’ll really stand out.

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I have been involved with Toastmasters International for about four years. If you’ve never heard of Toastmasters, it’s an organization with thousands of clubs all over the world that help people improve their public speaking skills. But like anything else, you get what you put into it.

I’ve seen people go from petrified to polished in a matter of months. I’ve seen others join, attend a couple meetings, and then quit. If you’re serious about improving your public speaking skills, consider joining a Toastmasters club and commit yourself to completing the first ten speech projects within a year. If you really want to achieve results quickly, become a club officer.  Read more... (366 words, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

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Welcome to my blog.

In this blog, I’ll talk about how to use your communication skills to become successful in your business and personal life. I chose the title “Overnight Sensation” because it’s the title of my favorite psych up song. I’ll post more about that at a later date.

One of the things you can expect from this blog are ideas and suggestions to help you become a better communicator. I’ll cover internal, interpersonal, and group commincation – mastery of each area will help you become an overnight success.

I look forward to building a community where we share information and our success stories.

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