Category: FAQ’s and KNOWLEDGE BASES

The FAQ section (Frequently Asked Questions) provides shorter answers to common questions on topics relevant to this site: communication, planning, conflict, leadership and more coming. Available FAQ’s are accessible here.
What is “attentional pacing”, and why is it so important to public speaking?
We explained that conceptual pacing has to do with how fast you go through difficult and easy content. Attentional pacing is related to that, but has to do with how much change you introduce into your speaking. It’s not a…
Should you memorize your speech?
Memorizing your presentation or speech may seem to make sense but it’s almost never a good idea. First, when you write a speech on paper, memorize it, then deliver it orally, you are delivering words that were actually meant to…
Nervous? Why is looking at the back of the room when presenting is a really really bad idea?
When people in your audience, regardless of size feel that you are talking directly to each of them, they feel connected to you as a speaker or presenter. They tend to value what you are saying more highly, and tend…
How do I use “conceptual pacing” to make better presentations?
Conceptual pacing has to do with the speed at which you impart information, ideas and concepts. It’s not the same as how fast you talk, but it has to do with how quickly you go through a topic. Because people…
What Is Mirroring?
Mirroring – A Communication Tool For Generating Rapport What is mirroring mean in terms of communication? Mirroring is a communication technique that is often attributed to the field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), but like many techniques from NLP, it was…
What is Appreciative Inquiry?
Appreciative Inquiry is based on the idea that there is a difference between various types of communication (e.g. advocacy versus inquiry) and that if we truly want to understand how something works, we need to put aside judgments of what…
What is “message chunking”?
When communicating, we need to be aware that the other person can only listen to, process and understand so much information without hitting information overload. It takes time for a person to hear and assimilate what is being said (or…
What is “expressing conversational intent”?
When most of us have conversations, or attempt to communicate, we rarely a) formulate our intent or goals for the conversation even to ourselves, and b) even more rarely explain our intent or goals for the conversation to the other…
What is “self-disclosure”?
Self-disclosure is a simple (at least on the surface) approach to communication that involves sharing information about yourself, history, present, emotions and thoughts. Originated and explained by Sidney Jourard, a Humanistic Psychologist, this simple approach, at least used skillfully, can…
How can I work to maintain appropriate conversational or physical distance in conversations?
You probably know that people have a comfort zone regarding how close they like another person to be when they are talking to him or her. It’s so universal that the show Seinfeld had an episode that comically dealt with…
Using Argyris’ Ladder of Inference” for better communication
Better communication – better understanding The ladder of inference is a concept developed by C. Argyris to explain common thinking and communication processes and to help us become more aware of how we interpret the world around us, and improve…