“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.
According to the Forbes Coaches Council these communication habits get in your way. Whether you are chairing your quarterly board meeting or responding to an email these unconscious habits can damage relationships and impact your business growth.
Hitting ‘Send’ Too Quickly
Are you brave enough to share your email nightmare moments in our blog comment section? These disasters happen when you press ‘send’ before realizing you’re sending to the wrong person, or expressing frustration without calming down first, or replying without the info. Got more examples?
put your own email address in the “To” line and delete the real recipient address(es) until ready to send and
give yourself some time to reflect before pressing “send”.
Failing To Listen With Intention
Are you a robotic listener? Do you nod, slap an open expression on your face, and wait till you get to share your own comment?
Jonathan H. Westover, Ph.D suggests that instead, you need to “listen with the intention of helping colleagues feel heard, valued and understood.”
Not Asking Questions
Are you doing “Verbal Ping-Pong”? Are you going back and forth doing alternating mini-monologues? Christopher Jones, LeaderSharp Group Inc. comments, “We tend to swap opinions and stories rather than ask questions.”
He suggests taking a “coach-approach” to conversations that create a more meaningful dialogue. Ask questions vs. ping-ponging. One of my favorite phrases, also suggested by Jones, is: “Tell me more”. You create an atmosphere that builds rapport and increases trust.
What are some other bad communication habits that drive you nuts?
We are back with our annual selection of the best Super Bowl Commercial.
For starters, the Roman numerals for this year’s Super Bowl are LVII. Remove the “L” and you’re left with “VII” that = 7. And THAT is what a 30-second commercial costs these days: 7 million bucks (before adding in talent and production dollars)!
Speak For Yourself® picks our favorite commercial each year. Why? To learn best ways to get YOUR message across without paying $VII,000,000.
Drum Roll…. This year Breaking Good PopCorners commercial wins.
Use this list of strategies for your next board presentation, zoom meeting or project review all modeled in this commercial.
Self-deprecating humor. Laugh at yourself – it makes you more approachable. We will then want to listen to you. Our beloved Breaking Bad characters, Walter, Jesse and Tuco make fun of themselves and the original show throughout this ad.
Good story arc. Many of the ads tried too hard and became disjointed. You could not figure out what they were selling till the last second. Our Breaking Good ad reveals the product up front and the PopCorners take center stage.
Clear CTA. Eat PopCorners. In other commercials you had to really search for the product relevance & Call to Action.
Logical support material. Rather than have gratuitous celebrity placement our commercial gives us a great throwback to the Breaking Bad main characters and their van… which moves this story forward.
Strong finish. And they’re air popped, not fried. Now in seven flavors.
Real takeaways for you – find the humor, move your story forward with logic, add good support material that makes sense and create a clear message/solution. Finally, don’t get stuck in a van in the desert near Albuquerque.
You speak digitally 24/7. You write emails, posts, texts, and maybe even blogs.
Ever wonder why your audience clicks to find out more… or why your recipients hit the Dreaded Delete Key?
Why you get deleted (sorry!) (but you DO get deleted)
Boring beginning.
Non-descriptive subject header.
Confusing content.
Hard to read (Hint: use bullets and subtitles).
Lack of ROI – “return on investment” for your readers.
How to get sticky
Clever subject header.
Catchy opener.
Short and substantive content.
Customized and relatable for your audience. (Hint: begin with the word “you” vs the word “I”.)
Quick takeaways – I call this your “call to action”.
Why sticky-ness matters
You do not want to waste our time.
You become known as a strategic problem-solving content provider.
You get heard… which creates connection … which leads to more business.
Thank you to Amanda Gadison, J.D. for this post’s inspiration. She shared, “I loved your blog last week, All I’m wearing is a shower cap”. We chatted about what makes you readable and what gets you deleted.
Note: these tips also apply when you give presentations, board updates, and preside at your company quarterly town halls.
Now go out there and stop getting deleted.
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 strategizes how you get your audience to not tap your favorite key on the keyboard… “delete”.
Walkathon in honor of Andrew Szabo with National Speakers Assoc buddies.
How to leverage Attention Economy
A compelling presentation and/or conversation is never just about the data. BUT your data has to be included. Your ticket to get heard above the noise: Use The Magic Power of Three concept.
Magic Power of Three in action
Andrew Szabo
Last weekend I attended a walkathon fundraiser for a fellow speaker and friend, Andrew Szabo. Andrew has ALS. As we all walked around a golf course to raise money and awareness around this terminal illness I asked, “Andrew, what are some lessons you can teach me that you’ve learned during this challenging journey?”
He responded, “After my diagnosis I met with a psychologist who said, ‘the best journeys I’ve witnessed are with those that have the Three F’s: Faith, Family and Friends.’”.
Observing the Magic Power of Three
You’ve heard me talk about using three categories, sections, silos, reasons, buckets to share your info during a speech or even on an email.
I’ve also asked you to be aware of when others use this strategy. It will instruct you on best ways to get your messages across.
Faith. Family. Friends.
The use of those three words elevates Andrew’s story to an unforgettable message with a wise reminder of what really matters.
Using the Magic Power of Three
On your next digital conversation or zoom meeting or in-person presentation – understand that your audience is multi-tasking, stressed and busy. I challenge you to use the Magic Power of Three to cash in on our limited attention economy.
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 extremely fortunate to have faith, family and friends.
You want others to read your emails? Don’t make these three mistakes.
Email Mistake #1: Hide your lead.
A recent email from my gym: “Please read all the way through this email to hear our important announcement.”
Are you kidding me? Do you want to make your readers work harder to find out what you mean? It won’t happen. You’ll get deleted.
The lead sentence should say: “The gym will be closed on Wednesday due to roof repairs.”
Your Email Rule #1: Lead with your need.
Email Mistake #2: Begin with “I”.
A recent email begins: “This month I discuss how I came to invent and write my novel…”
Not sure what else this email is about because it got deleted. (I dug it out of my digital trash bin to share with you.)
Word to the wise: We care about you when you share how you can benefit us, your reader. Make your emails “Other-Centric” and train your brain to focus on your reader, not you or your business.
Your Email Rule #2: Begin with “YOU”.
Email Mistake #3: Take the low road.
A friend once said, “Take the high road, it’s a better view.” You might be a bit stressed these days and you might want to say what you are really thinking … on email! Don’t do it. My mom always said, “Paper is permanent”, and I’ll add to her sentence: “and email is viral.” If you have issues that need to be discussed, call the person or meet for coffee or have a zoom conversation.
Your Email Rule #3: Take the high road.
Your Bonus Email Tip: Keep it short.
And that’s a wrap.
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 ruthlessly deletes bad email.
Did you know we offer a free 20-minute communication consultation?
“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…”
According to the 
7. And THAT is what a 30-second commercial costs these days: 7 million bucks (before adding in talent and production dollars)!
