What Does Non-verbal Communication from Your Audience Mean?

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by  John Ryan

Even if you’re not a professional speaker, you may have to make a presentation from time to time. Whether to your company’s Board, your boss, or even your customer. A lot of times we get so caught up in what we want to say that we overlook the most important part: the audience. Think about it. Someone crosses their arms and leans back during your presentation. Does this mean that they don’t like what you just said, don’t like you personally or that they’re just cold? The truth is, you don’t know unless you ask the person. Any assumptions you make are ...

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Options: Honing In or Running Out

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by  John Ryan

Growing up, I was always a fan of options…choices. Clearly having more choices gives you more options and more chances of accomplishing your goal. But it has become clear that not everyone views options in the same way. I was recently speaking with a friend of mine who’s trying to start a family with the help of modern medicine. Fortunately, they’re both in good health and have several options from which to choose. They started pursuing their first option last month and blood work revealed that it wasn’t working so they stopped. My friend was upset because he felt this was a major ...

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Motivating People at Work

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by  John Ryan

“Either you made a mistake or you don’t know what you’re doing. Which one is it?” One of my friends found himself on the receiving end of this question during a monthly financial meeting with the CEO, his boss, his colleagues and some of his direct reports. How do you think he felt after this incident? As you know, by now, properly delivered feedback is a great way to help keep your workforce motivated. In addition to what you say while giving feedback, how you choose to deliver feedback is also important. Constructive Feedback If it’s constructive feedback, where you ...

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Will I succeed vs. I will succeed

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by  John Ryan

“Will I?” or “I will.”  Which one seems stronger. At first glance, the “I will” has a much stronger stance. It is solid. Stronger or not, the real question is, “Which statement produces better results?” Now it is not often that new ways to approach goal setting make their way onto the scene, but psychologist Ibrahim Senay has done just that.  In his research, Senay studied the impact of self-talk on goal attainment in a variety of contexts. One of his goals was to compare the difference between the impact of “Will I?” vs. “I will.” Interestingly enough, he found that ...

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Fail Your Way to Success

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by  John Ryan

While we all want success, sometimes the best path to success is through failure. Tom Peters popularized the idea of “Fail. Forward. Fast.”  While we understand this on an intellectual basis, where it really becomes valuable is in creating a culture that values and rewards risk taking. There is no doubt that success is great but the problem with success is that we become emotionally invested in the particular way that we succeeded. But we all know that what worked yesterday, may not work today, and is unlikely to work tomorrow. Failure doesn’t have that problem. Failure is typically a ...

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