As we climb into the second quarter of the 21st century …
Here are some wild communication changes over the past quarter century that have had – and will continue to have – a huge impact on your professional & personal lives.
1️⃣ Fading Face-to-Face Chats: Remember when we used to talk in person without a smartphone glued to our brains/hands/table? Now, we wave “hello” through screens instead of shaking hands— except, of course, for all those Zoom meetings where we somehow still forget to unmute.
2️⃣ Texting Takeover: If you had told me in the ‘90s that people would prefer texting over talking, I would have laughed. Yet, here we are. Texting has become the universal language, blasted with abbreviations, GIFs, and a sprinkle of confusion.
3️⃣ Social Media Explosion: Social media went from a novel way to share pet pictures to a sprawling universe where opinions fly faster than light. Each platform has its own etiquette, and one wrong tweet or post can ignite a wildfire. Sharing dinner pics can connect us, airing grievances on public forums can create permanent discord.
4️⃣ Rise of Virtual Reality: Virtual reality has gone wild— where else could you attend a meeting while sipping coffee in your pajamas (well at least the bottom half of your attire)? This shift offers interaction unlike any other while also minimizing the need for business travel, conferences and association meetings.
5️⃣ Computers on Your Wrist: Our attention span now rivals that of a gnat. It’s hard to focus on anything for more than 17 seconds. All you have to do is look at your Apple Watch (while pretending to be at your online meeting) to scroll texts (see above), emails, weather, social media (see above) and your calendar.
“Credibility Sprinkles” ➜ When you sprinkle your past experiences into your narrative to increase buy-in from your audience. Ex from Scott Galloway’s recent blog – “I got my start building companies, telling stories. Later I became a professor at NYU. Now I tell stories on a stage in front of 150 to 15,000 people who pay between 100k to 250k…”
“Gen Zs” ➜ The generation born between 1995 – 2012, ranging now from age 11 to 28. Main qualifiers of this group: Tech dependent, gender neutral and cause driven.
Context.
During a speaker training workshop I said, “Add in some Credibility Sprinkles while sharing stories. This will increase your believability with your listeners.” A millennial dentist then commented, “Gen Z’s don’t like that. Adding in your track record, no matter how subtle your approach, will alienate them.” I replied, “Know the age ranges in your audience.”
To this workshop attendee’s point, this generational shift is happening and here are the reasons why Gen Z’s don’t want to hear about your stellar track record.
Gen Z convictions.
According to TrendsActive.com, Gen Z’s resentment stems from “older generations thinking they know better than younger generations – with age comes wisdom and all that. Considering the state of the environment, the housing market and various societal inequalities at the hands of older generations, Generation Z is forced to question whether older really does mean wiser.”
Gen Z is DONE with older generations deciding what is best. Their collective exhaustion derives from feeling misrepresented with a dash of condescension.
How can you engage with this Gen Z mindset?
TrendsActive provides these wise suggestions:
Understand that Generation Z are progressive, realistic and responsible.
Treat them as adults.
Be open and honest and hear what they have to say.
Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field in the first quarter of the Buffalo/Cincinnati “Monday Night Football” game. He suffered cardiac arrest and he is now (at time of posting) in critical condition.
Players knelt, cried and prayed. Fans stood up quietly and prayed. Sports commentators showed shock and emotion.
What struck my husband, Jimmy, and me as we watched this terrifying situation unfold:
Fact 1: This matchup is considered the biggest regular-season game in the 22-year history of Paycor Stadium.
Fumble Fact 1: Priorities can change in an instant.
Fact 2: Practice, preparation and performance create positive outcomes. These teams were ready to play.
Fumble Fact 2: Real-time trumps real-plans.
Fact 3: Two teams play a game and one team wins.
Fumble Fact 3: Rules change depending on situational context.
How this traumatic situation relates to you
As speakers and leaders you experience critical fumbles too.
Here are some crisis management guidelines when let’s say … a pandemic strikes, a tornado destroys your building, or an attendee at your meeting faints:
Communicate with your team. All of a sudden the Bills and Bengals were no longer rivals. The coaches conferred. The players from both sides united.
Listen. Get the facts as they unfold.
Follow your mission/value statement. Take the action steps that you’ve already defined for your business.
Have perspective and weigh the options. “Monday Night Football” postponed the game. Damar Hamlin’s health crisis became more important.
In business and life you play the game and you give the presentation you’ve prepared for.
And when those fumbles happen, you stop, prioritize, find perspective, communicate, listen and go in a different direction.
Today’s focus: expecting the unexpected as a leader.
How do you, as business and nonprofit leaders, do damage control during a crisis?
4 Crisis Communication Strategies
1️⃣ Be timely. No communication when crisis hits the fan creates a huge vacuum that fills with fear, anger and confusion. You want to avert that mushrooming emotional effect by being accessible.
2️⃣ Be transparent. Share what you know and share what you don’t know. When my beloved mother suffered from what would become a terminal heart attack my sister and I sat in the waiting room for three weeks. As difficult as it was to hear, the medical community gave us their updates including the known and the unknown. We valued their clarity.
3️⃣ Be empathetic. Always, always, always. Try to understand the craziness from your team/board/department’s point of view. Communicate your concern for them and about them.
4️⃣ Be solution minded. Pet peeve: people who complain without any ideas on how to improve the situation. Don’t be one of those leaders. Bring your facts, context, and thoughts on how to handle your crisis.
🔢 THE PIC: Not to detract from the serious nature of many crises, this crisis happened because #HandsomeCowboyHusband had back surgery (a few years ago) that meant I had to clean the chicken coup. Pic key: bandana to ward off the fumes; gloves to handle the mess and my rhinestone necklace because … why not?
I’m 8-years old practicing the piano in our living room, in this non-outfit, and my Mom snapped the photo.
You’ll never see this pic – I’m chubby… and, well, not too much is left to your imagination.
We’ve laughed about that photo (OK – it’s pretty cute) and it resides in a pre-digital-age photo album.
Now.
“You’ve never asked me why I’d be practicing the piano wearing just a shower cap,” I say to my sister, Nina, the other day.
“Here’s the context,” I continue. “I was preparing to take a bath. It takes a good five minutes for the water to fill the tub. Rather than watch water coming out of a faucet I realized I could make better use of my time.”
“Nina, I’ve been multi-tasking my whole life!”
Have you ever wondered how you manifest your strengths?
Candice Fitzpatrick, Founder & CEO, and Gary Rifkin, Chief Learning Officer of Core Clarity run a thriving business using the CliftonStrengths Assessment to help companies build teams that work towards its full potential.
I have participated in one of their excellent workshops and their assessment tool uncovered my top five strengths.
Guess what my very top strength is? MAXIMIZER! What a surprise. 🙄.
How is this relevant to you?
You are busy leaders communicating in a crazy world.
You can take this core strength test as well… or you can think back to fun or pivotal moments in your life that exemplify how you solve issues in your business, create momentum around your vision/goals, or work towards your next big success.
What are your top strengths and how are you using them in a positive way? And how might they be getting in your way?
Lessons contemplated
Candace and Gary, and their Core Clarity team, are all about celebrating, understanding and using your strengths to move forward.
And that’s what I’m contemplating now … I have maximized my time and resources, as Founder of Speak For Yourself®, and in my fabulous personal world as well… and life is good.
But, sometimes (OK, most of the time) I squeeze too much into each day. Even though I’m having a blast personally and professionally, it can be draining.
I’m still grabbing those “extra” five minutes. But at least I’m aware. Stay tuned.
Author: Karen Cortell Reisman is Founder of Speak For Yourself®, a communication consulting firm, and the author of 2 books on how to communicate & sell. She lives in Dallas, Texas and promises not to practice the piano, just wearing a shower cap, going forward.
I’m ecstatic if I can help anyone going through a cancer journey.
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month here is a re-print of a short speech I gave about overcoming the challenges of chemo … that has resonated with many.
Background
When my synagogue asked me to deliver a short sermon on Yom Kippur on finding spirituality in the oddest places, I immediately said “yes”. FYI – Yom Kippur is the Highest Holy Day in the Jewish religion. This sermonette was presented to 1000 congregants.
Sermonette
My oncology nurse, with a nasal-breathy-sweetsy voice – which is a bad combo on any day – said, “Karen, once you start chemo, you’ll be better. You’ll get into a rhythm and enter a calmer phase of your illness.”
Here’s what I wanted to say – or rather YELL – in reply to Nurse Nasal/Breathy/Sweetsy, “Are you kidding me? Why don’t YOU sign up for chemo! You are crazy.”
Here’s what I actually said – or rather DID – just smiled, wanly. You don’t want to bite the hand that needles you.
But I felt like biting. And screaming. And cursing.
A bit of context here. At the start of 2012 I walked into a regular annual mammogram looking pretty good and feeling great. Nine months later – after one lumpectomy surgery, 16 weeks of chemotherapy, 33 radiation treatments, and 101 doctor visits – I walked out of a bad-aqua blue treatment room bald, tired and puffy.
My one-sided conversation with Nurse Nasal/Breathy/Sweetsy occurred just after my successful surgery. She chirped, “Well, if you don’t have any questions, we’ll see you next week for Round One of chemo.”
I finally spoke up – too stunned to say much. “Ummm, can I drink a spot of scotch during these 4 months of treatment?”
“No,” she responded with noticeably less breathiness.
Then I began to cry.
Do you get the picture? I was NOT happy. With her. With my situation. With the realization that I might get chemo-brain/fogginess and rival Yul Brenner for hair bragging rights.
No hair, no control over my life and no scotch. And I wasn’t feeling too spiritual either.
Then I got a letter from Rabbi Debbie Robbins. She wrote, “Dear Karen, My thoughts are with you. Here’s a prayer, called The Dew of Life, which might help you as you go through this journey. You can recite this prayer when receiving chemotherapy. It’s adapted from the Annual Prayer for Dew recited on the 1st day of Passover.”
Who knew?
“Dear G-d — the prayer begins —
Droplets of LIFE – flow gently mending the hurt in this body.”
Oh. — Chemo was not droplets of doom. Chemo was droplets of LIFE.
“Dear G-d — the prayer continued –
Droplets of BLESSINGS – come gently fetching a year of goodness.
Droplets of DEW – heal gently, softening this hard place of blessing.”
I tucked this prayer into my “Cancer – Yes I Can” Calendar of endless appointment dates and notes – and it traveled with me throughout the rest of this journey.
As instructed, I recited the Dew of Life prayer at the hospital every time I got chemo.
And I transitioned.
No longer did I think of chemo with expletives preceding it. Chemo is/was the DEW OF LIFE.
As our Service of the Heart states, any place can become a holy place.
For me, Sammons Cancer Center Baylor Hospital during chemo treatments became a holy place. This prayer – soothed, supported and strengthened my reserve.
And speaking of cursing… Nurse Nasal/Breathy/Sweetsy was right and she really was lovely. My journey did calm down during that phase and I stand here, exactly one year later, feeling great and grateful.
I conclude here with the Dew Of Life Prayer conclusion, meant for all of us as we enter into our new year:
“Dear G-d –
Droplets of Dew – come for a blessing and not a curse,
Droplets of Dew – come for life and not for death,
Droplets of Dew – come bringing plenty and not emptiness.”
Amen
Karen’s Dedication
Today’s blog is written in memory of Susan Dedmon Miller
Karen’s Request
Be proactive. Get annual mammograms, PSA tests, whatever you need to stay on this side of good health. At one point in my journey a doctor said, “You’re a poster child for mammography.” When you think about it, who wants to be a poster child for anything? But I don’t mind being a poster child for you.
* Photograph taken by Sally Baskey, my roommate at our 2012 National Speakers Association Convention, just before donning my “badass” wig (according to my daughter). Thank you, Sally, for making me pose for this pic. Just remember, I let you use the blow dryer first. Note: this is the ONLY pic taken – sans wig or scarf – during this journey.
Author:Karen Cortell Reisman is Founder of Speak For Yourself® , a communication consulting firm, and the author of 2 books on how to communicate. She lives in Dallas, Texas and is grateful to have a symmetrical head.
As we climb into the second quarter of the 21st century …
2️⃣ Texting Takeover: If you had told me in the ‘90s that people would prefer texting over talking, I would have laughed. Yet, here we are. Texting has become the universal language, blasted with abbreviations, GIFs, and a sprinkle of confusion.
5️⃣ Computers on Your Wrist: Our attention span now rivals that of a gnat. It’s hard to focus on anything for more than 17 seconds. All you have to do is look at your Apple Watch (while pretending to be at your online meeting) to scroll texts (see above), emails, weather, social media (see above) and your calendar.
“Credibility Sprinkles” ➜ When you sprinkle your past experiences into your narrative to increase buy-in from your audience. Ex from Scott Galloway’s recent blog – “I got my start building companies, telling stories. Later I became a professor at NYU. Now I tell stories on a stage in front of 150 to 15,000 people who pay between 100k to 250k…”
