From public speaking to business e-mail communications, your message must be strong and professional. Communication Steroids boosts the effectiveness of your presentations, media relations and public speaking.
Your voice is unique. How you use it tells a lot about you and how you appear to other people in your life. Tim ‘Gonzo’ Gordon and Roger Pike give tips and pointers on how to use this unique instrument.
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Total Run Time » 11:38
Communication Steroids :: Show Liner Notes On This Date: 2009-06-30
What is your thinking process in your communication? When you deliver a prepared speech you will go through a different process than you will in an ‘off-the-cuff’ presentation or engaging converation. Tim ‘Gonzo’ Gordon and Roger Pike discuss thinking processes in communication.
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Total Run Time » 15:15
Communication Steroids :: Show Liner Notes On This Date: 2009-06-23
I’ve been asked recently what it takes to actually teach communications. Does it take a college degree? Training? Years of playing point guard in the ‘National Communication Association’? Learning it in the School of Hard Knocks? Or just having the knack for understanding how communication works and the ability to be a good teacher?
In a broader sense, what does it take to teach anything? In the case of teaching at an accredited school, of course it takes certain qualifications; some sort of degree or certificate is required to be hired for a teaching position.
In the case of lecturing on a subject, whether it be communications, comedy, social media or death and dying, I believe it takes a certain amount of knowledge as well as a healthy passion for the subject.
If you look at the world of sports, you can point to a few examples of coaches – or teachers – who excelled in those positions, but were never the greatest players. John Wooden, the great UCLA coach, is widely considered one of the greatest coaches of the game, as well as one of the best teachers of life. Of course he knew the game, and excelled as a player (the first player to enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and coach), but once he hung up the basketball shoes and began coaching his true life calling shone through. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wooden
Another example is even more telling, if you stick with basketball. Arnold ‘Red’ Auerbach was a modest basketball player, standing just 5’ 9” and with his asthma, he never achieved much on the basketball floor. But once he found a job as a coach he had found his true calling. He was not only an excellent teacher, but his ideas transformed the game. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Auerbach
You could also approach the comparison from the opposite side. Take the best players in any sport: Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, Joe DiMaggio, Kobe Bryant, etc. These players may have risen to the top of their respective sports, but none of them is seen or remembered as a great teacher or coach. Being the best at doing something doesn’t necessarily make you great at teaching it.
It’s the same in any profession. A terrific marriage counselor may be married for the third or fourth time because he’s unable to affect those teaching skills in his own personal relationship to the degree needed to stay married.
When it comes to teaching communication skills, it takes the same thing: even if you may not be the best at communicating, but are at least pretty good at it, and can understand the strategies and techniques that help people become good communicators, you should be able to teach it. If you can look upon people’s communication and dissect it to see what is really going on, see what they are unable to see, you can help them become better communicators.
So: knowledge, certainly. Passion, of course. Empathy is also important for understanding where your students are coming from and what uniquechallenges they may have.
Teaching communications means knowing how to help people see their shortcomings, and gently help them find a better way. It means being always aware of your own shortcomings and continually learning what works and what doesn’t in your own life. It’s something I do all the time; examining my own communication skills and noticing what works and what doesn’t.
And I think that is the ultimate test: seeing what works and what doesn’t. Taking that knowledge and effectively communicating it to your students, whether they’re part of an audience; online in a blog or forum, or one-on-one.
If you are trying to learn better communication skills, try teaching them to someone. Or if you want to be a better communication skills teacher, take note of what works in your daily life. Note how people talk, how they use body language, how they write, how they try to get what they want and how they try to get other people to understand them.
Being an effective communicator or teacher means being open to failure. Each failure shows you something if you’re paying attention. Are you?
Communication Steroids :: Show Liner Notes On This Date: 2009-06-22
A tip of the hat and a thank you to *David Meerman Scott& at WebInkNow, who recently featured this video of John Hodgman speaking at the Radio and TV Correspondents Dinner in Washington, DC. Hodgman is the “PC” guy on the Apple commercials, as well as a correspondent on the Jon Stewart Show.
And damn if he isn’t a fine public speaker. Comfortable, casual, with a great persona; John makes you feel at home with his speaking style. It’s engaging without being overpowering; funny without slapstick. Definitely worth your time to view all 14 minutes of this presentation:
Communication Steroids :: Show Liner Notes On This Date: 2009-06-21
Tim ‘Gonzo’ Gordon and Roger Pike muse over the evolution of Social Media and reveal what they feel are the ‘Big Three’ that you need to be involved in. What are the Big Three and why should you be involved?
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Total Run Time » 15:27
Communication Steroids :: Show Liner Notes On This Date: 2009-06-15
