From the category archives:

Visual thinking

In praise of jargon – a defence of the apparently indefensible

21.07.2010

Despite its bad press, could management-speak actually turn out to be a good thing? According to a YouGov survey, management jargon is choking the life out of meaningful communication in the workplace. Senior managers think it’s harmless enough but most employees want to see the back of it because they feel it creates barriers and [...]

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Showcase your idea, service or product for free

16.06.2010

If a tree falls in the middle of a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Philosophical niceties aside, it doesn’t matter how good your idea, service or product is – if no one sees it, it might as well not exist. In a world dominated by social [...]

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The premiere of our latest animation

08.06.2010

Crack open the champagne and pass the canapés – we’ve just finished our first ever custom animation! And after you’ve watched it, I’d like to share a few thoughts about it with you. Last July when we uploaded our ‘Busting the Mehrabian Myth’ to YouTube we had no idea just how much of a splash [...]

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Going for Laughs in a Speech is no Joke

18.05.2010

A joke is a blunt instrument. If it works, there’s laughter; if it flops, there’s an embarrassed silence. A misfiring joke can can spell disaster for the rest of your speech. The public persona – or ethos – created by your speech can also be compromised by the use of jokes. After all, jokes aren’t [...]

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Obama’s Rhetoric – The Art That Conceals Art

30.03.2010

Something shocking happened to Barack Obama on Thursday the 5th of June, 2008. He was addressing a meeting of the local community in Bristol, Virginia, when in the midst of his usual rhetorical flow, the wheels of his speech suddenly flew off and he ground to an inarticulate halt. Here’s a transcript of Obama’s slip [...]

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Drowning your story in a sea of detail

17.02.2010

Talking is a very ineffectual way of communicating detailed information – it’s like trying to collect water from a well with a colander. When you give a speech or presentation always imagine yourself writing with a thick waxy crayon, not a slender mapping pen. If you choose to make a point with a story, make [...]

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How Martin Luther King’s words inspire us

18.01.2010

The words of a skilled speaker or writer create light in the minds of others. We instantly ‘see’ what they mean, we are enlightened. Their words grab our attention by stimulating our imaginations and touching our hearts. How is it that some people can do this while others leave us stumbling about in the dark [...]

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Mehrabian Nights – an informative tale about (mis)communication

31.12.2009

A happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to all our readers, Twitter followers and clients. We’re ending 2009 with some good news: we’ve just found out that the TrainingZone community have voted my Mehrabian article the best feature of 2009 – and it has been read 20,564 times, so far. This is the article that [...]

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A Gift for Speakers and Would-be Speakers

17.12.2009

The holiday period is a time to relax and recharge your batteries for the challenges to come. If you’re a professional speaker, it’s an opportunity to think about what you do and how to do it even better. And if you’re someone who’s new to public speaking, it’s a time to seek advice about how [...]

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Synaesthesia is the Communicator’s Greatest Ally

11.11.2009

Sometimes it’s possible to do the right thing for the wrong reasons. Take, for instance, the discredited theory of learning styles. It may have no basis in science, but its influence on communicators and teachers has surely been a positive one, hasn’t it? After all, doesn’t the theory ultimately boil down to the very useful [...]

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