Glaring Mispronunciations by Top Media Personalities

Two glaring cases of mispronunciation by leading lights in the media this month, one involving a relatively common word “harbinger.”

1. In his fascinating piece about New York’s Archbishop Timothy Dolan on “60 Minutes” Sunday before last, Morly Safer described the corpulent personage as “this burly, overweight, cherubic Irish American charges through life like a holy bulldozer…” It was the word cherubic where Safer slipped up, pronouncing it as [che-RUB-ik] instead of [chuh-ROOB-ik.] Apparently, he thought the pronunciation of cherubic is a direct extension of the word “cherub” which is pronounced [cher-ub.]

2. The second instance involved American Enterprise Institute’s Norm Ornstein—a guest on all manner of radio and TV channels because of his unmatched knowledge and understanding of what’s going on in Congress. About five minutes into the August 10 edition of “The Diane Rehm Show,” while using the word harbinger, he made the fairly common error of pronouncing it as [hahr-bin-ger] instead of [hahr-bin-jur]. This one left me stupefied, considering that because of his decades-long career and popularity, Ornstein has appeared on countless panels, often surrounded by America’s most articulate.

© Copyright 2011 V. J. Singal

Vocabulary Building Words: New Edition of “Words of the Month”

The latest edition of “Words of the Month,” my free vocabulary enrichment feature, has been online since the middle of this month. The six featured words, all of which lie within the conversational vocabulary of America’s most articulate (as is the case with all of the words featured in my book, “The Articulate Professional-3rd Edition”):

1. perorate
2. servile
3. solicitude
4. amalgamate
5. hyperventilate
6. neophyte

Here are extracts from some of my favorite examples conscientiously designed to help enhance your vocabulary:

-- does anyone ever mention a single word or idea uttered by Sen. Edward Everett, the main speaker at the 19 November, 1863, Gettysburg dedication ceremony, who perorated for nearly two hours....

-- tomorrow’s annual meeting promises to be different: it’s not going to be some insufferable peroration

-- from an irritated person in the audience: “Please, my question does not call for a peroration. Just a simple…”

-- here is a simple technique to get a quick answer from someone who has a propensity to ramble or perorate at every opportunity…..

-- over the past 20 years, our State of the Union addresses having become unending and wearisome perorations; in the bitter fight over abortion, those for freedom of choice perorating against pro-lifers, and vice versa

-- during confirmation hearings in the U.S. Senate for Supreme Court nominees, senators tending to perorate on one legal issue or the other instead of …..

-- some frustrated young workers in a Chinese city secretly telling Western interviewers about their servile employment

-- in the presence of his boss, he becomes so timid and submissive, even servile, that he’s barely audible

-- fawning officials bowing deeply, in a servile manner, when opening doors or….

-- do not behave obsequiously, and act like someone who is hopelessly servile

-- (if George W. Bush had been a very popular president during his last few years) current Republican presidential candidates would be trekking servilely to Dallas to …

-- a mule’s servility to his master…; successful CEOs surrounding themselves with smart people rather than servile employees; a bigwig who likes servile attention

-- in some cultures, a woman being required to show servile obedience to her husband

-- Amnesty International expressing solicitude for Saudi women (reference that nation’s laws barring females from driving)

-- our manager has consistently demonstrated solicitude for our health

-- my mother was applying, with tremendous solicitude, cold compresses on my forehead

-- if I see a stray dog on the street, my reaction is one of utmost solicitude for that…; she always showed great solicitude for my difficulties

-- a parent expressing so much solicitude for their teenager who has just gone to college that it borders on the overbearing and suffocating

-- the U.S., a melting pot because of the racial, ethnic, and cultural amalgamation that is constantly going on…

-- amalgamating three new parameters into the customer satisfaction index

-- he is a curious amalgam of contradictory and conflicting characteristics…; the food here is an amalgam of different cuisines from….; typical opera being an amalgam of singing, dancing, glittering sets….; the novel's hero is the amalgam of several remarkable people the author has met….

-- stock symbol HPQ appropriately representing the amalgamation of Hewlett-Packard and Compaq

-- the latest Harry Potter movie being praised as a wonderful amalgam of superb acting, gripping story, wall-to-wall action,….

-- France’s long-cherished goal of becoming a truly amalgamated nation

-- there’s no way you can effectively amalgamate these two subsidiaries because…

-- should these news reports really set off such hyperventilation throughout the nation?

-- on seeing their company’s founder and CEO up close for the first time, some of the employees began to hyperventilate

-- I’m hearing a lot of hyperventilated comments from employees about…

-- let me quickly call my boss….before he has a panic attack and starts to hyperventilate

-- dismissing a recent medical study, an expert saying: “the report is hyperventilating about small, inconsequential….”

-- following the release of the movie “Titanic,” teenaged girls swooning and hyperventilating if they saw Leonardo DiCaprio in public

-- some newspaper art, music, and theater reviews that are written in a hyperventilated style, packing language that is turgid, pompous, and bombastic

-- a travel website pointing out, justly, that guide books are “renowned for their glib hyperventilated prose”

-- a political neophyte; a neophyte at poker; neophyte investors falling victim to boiler-room stockbrokers

-- I agree that Diane is a marketing neophyte… but she is extremely smart and a quick study

-- being an absolute neophyte at trading when I was hired in your department, I was intimidated….

-- discouraging somebody from trying a blue run, the ski guide saying: “It’s not for the neophyte”

-- a presenter pausing to explain some of the jargon for the benefit of the neophytes in the audience

-- a computer manufacturer’s customer service department finding itself shorthanded because of the surprisingly high percentage of calls coming in from total neophytes


© Copyright 2011 V. J. Singal

High Impact Presentations; Overcoming the Accent Handicap: Other Easy Strategies and Tactics for Foreign-borns

Yesterday’s post focused on one of the tactics I use in the case of words that are extremely relevant to my presentations but which are sometimes misunderstood or are unintelligible to some in the audience because of my enunciation (words such as “thrust”).

Of course, as discussed in previous blog posts, foreign-borns have several other strategies and tactics in their arsenal to minimize the loss of communication that can result because of an accent. Some of these preemptive actions:

1. Speaking slower, especially at the beginning of a conversation or presentation.
2. Clearly enunciating every syllable and consonant because that is unquestionably the most effective antidote to an accent.
3. Maintaining a list of “troublesome” words—words that pose difficulty for your audiences because of the way you pronounce them—and developing a corresponding list of alternate words. [For instance, a few years ago, when I found people were having difficulty with my enunciation of “burp,” I immediately switched to saying “belch” instead.]
4. As another alternative to dealing with your list of “troublesome” words, especially while delivering presentations, having that word appear in print on a PowerPoint slide just as you are about to utter it in front of that audience for the first time.
5. Each time you say a word that you believe may not be fully understood by everyone in the audience, immediately following-up with a synonym or synonymous phrase.

For a fuller discussion of the above five tips, I would urge you to visit my blog post of June 24, 2010.

© Copyright 2011 V. J. Singal

For the Foreign-borns: Spelling Out a Word as a Tactic to Offset Loss of Communication Because of Accent

If you speak with an accent, as I do, chances are that some of the words you typically use in a presentation are unintelligible to many in the audience. For instance, when talking about the power of the synonym technique, I love to use the word “thrust” because it is so very apt (it’ll be clear why after you’ve read the next paragraph). Unfortunately, some in the audience mistake my “thrust” to be “trust” and, not surprisingly, become confused. So, what is the one easy tactic I employ to offset that bit of loss in communication? I simply spell out the word immediately after uttering it. I elaborate below.

Earlier this year, while speaking before large audiences at dental conventions in Phoenix and Portland (Oregon), I said “thrust” at least once in each session, and the first time I used that word before each audience, I followed up that utterance by hurriedly spelling it out as well, thus ensuring 100% understanding by everyone in the room. To go into even more detail, here is an example of what I said: “…..synonyms work powerfully because the second word amplifies or reinforces the previous word’s thrust—as in t-h-r-u-s-t—and thus makes that piece of communication much more robust, indelible, and impactful….” [In the previous sentence, I have bolded thrust to imply that it was uttered with greater emphasis and amplitude than the subsequent “as in t-h-r-u-s-t.”]

© Copyright 2011 V. J. Singal

Visual, Evocative Words to Emphasize Something: Grover Norquist’s Messianic Anti-Government Agenda

Whether you are a supporter or a critic of anti-tax zealot Grover Norquist, you’ll probably agree with the following statement: Norquist’s agenda is simply to gut the government, period. (It’s an agenda which, in my view, is utterly misguided, myopic, and reprehensible because, over the long term, a marketplace with zero regulation will severely undermine, among other things, the quality of life and safety of the American middleclass and prove ruinous for this nation’s international economic competitiveness as well as for its environment and wildlife.)

But it was only this evening, while watching “NBC Nightly News,” that I learned about the extraordinarily evocative terms in which Norquist has articulated his messianic and unambiguous anti-government fervor in the past: According to NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Norquist once told NPR: “I don’t want to abolish government, I simply want to reduce the size where I can drag it to the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.”

© Copyright 2011 V. J. Singal

Words to Describe the Grand Canyon: Going Beyond the Trite and the Banal

Ask anyone who has visited the Grand Canyon what they think about that great natural wonder of the world and, more often that not, his or her face will instantly light up and adjectives such as beautiful, awesome, great, extraordinary, wonderful, tremendous… will come out of that person’s mouth.

Well, I was at the Grand Canyon’s South Rim earlier this month and it occurred to me that you might be interested to know some of the words that flashed in my mind while undertaking three hikes during the day and a half I spent there in the company of my son. [As in the case of previous posts, I am assuming that you appreciate the power of words that are fresh, out-of-the ordinary, and evocative.] Rest assured, each of the terms below is in the conversational vocabulary of articulate Americans.

-- addictive (because one can’t get tired of taking in the sights)
-- stupefying
-- overwhelming
-- mesmerizing
-- spellbinding
-- stunning
-- a prodigious sight
-- indescribable
-- enthralling
-- ineffable
-- spectacular
-- ethereal
-- captivating
-- kaleidoscopic
-- spiritual, emotional, or a religious experience

And finally, in response to the question that I had had for over ten years -- “For most people, why does the Grand Canyon have a greater impact than any other natural feature on earth?” – I had the following epiphany in the late 1990s, just after a visit to the North Rim: “When you look down intently into that vast chasm of overpowering beauty and mystery, you get the sense that Mother Earth has opened her bosom and is whispering: 'Come, peer into me for this is where you are from.'”

© Copyright 2011 V. J. Singal

The King James Bible: Source of Many of Today’s Phrases and Idiomatic Expressions

Earlier this week, while watching a segment about the King James Bible in the April 24, 2011, edition of “CBS Sunday Morning,” my favorite television program, I was surprised to learn that many of the phrases and idiomatic expressions that are alive and well in the English language of today originated in that seminal work. Here are some that were highlighted in that CBS program:

“…drop in the bucket…” – Isaiah 40:15

“…my cup runneth over” – Psalms 23:5

“…see eye to eye…” – Isaiah 52:8

“Fight the good fight…” – First Timothy 6:12

“…powers that be…” – Romans 13:11

“…root of the matter…” – Job 19:28

“…labour of love…” – Hebrews 6:10

“…there’s nothing new under the sun…” – Ecclesiastes 1:09

“…in the twinkling of an eye…” – Corinthians 15:52

“…pearls before swine…” – Matthews 7:6

Building a Powerful Vocabulary: New Edition of “Words of the Month”

The latest edition of “Words of the Month,” my free vocabulary enhancement feature, has been online since the beginning of this month. Among the featured words, all of which lie within the conversational vocabulary of America’s most articulate (as is the case with all of the words featured in my book "The Articulate Professional -- 3rd Edition"):

1. statuesque
2. kaleidoscopic
3. paucity
4. wistful
5. attenuate

Here are extracts from some of my favorite examples:

-- a statuesque building in Houston: the 901-feet tall Williams Tower (formerly the Transco Tower)

-- in this picture showing our company’s top five execs, each of them looks statuesquely tall, and I suppose that is because of …

-- a dancer posing statuesquely; an example of a statuesque American actress: the six-feet tall…

-- given the kaleidoscope of shifting information, it’s hard to predict where the hurricane will make landfall

-- last night’s “Charlie Rose” was a kaleidoscope of currently controversial issues

-- kaleidoscopic fall colors; a folk dance becoming a kaleidoscope of colors

-- John Eliot Gardiner saying: “Beethoven’s music is so full of rhythm, and excitement, and kaleidoscopic changes of emotion”

-- the fate of the first President Bush being a perfect example of the voting public’s capriciousness

-- I am pretty capricious when it comes to picking a route to go to work each morning

-- a capricious theater critic; a special attraction of the Seychelles—they are less prone to capricious weather

-- having wistful moments when you wish you had accepted that offer from IBM instead of…

-- I try to avoid thinking or speaking wistfully of the past because life is short and…

-- I kept staring at her because there was such an air of wistfulness about her

-- South Koreans musing wistfully that the two Koreas show no sign of unifying; the wistfulness in Boris Yeltsin’s comments made shortly after the failed Soviet coup

-- it appears that Osama bin Laden’s influence had not attenuated quite as much as….

-- frequent coffee breaks will attenuate the momentum (of the discussion)

-- attenuation of a manager’s autocratic style; hot peppers can attenuate hunger because they contain..; a vaccine that will attenuate the AIDS virus; the attenuated physique of an anorexic; gravel traps being used to attenuate the speed of a car

-- the vast wetlands surrounding New Orleans helping attenuate the destructive force of hurricanes

-- a paucity of strong leadership at the top; a disheartening paucity of creative thinking; blaming the setback on a paucity of knowledge and experience

-- an amazing paucity of information with regard to prevention of cancer

-- apparel shoppers disappointed by the paucity of exciting new designs; parents of school-age children complaining about the paucity of worthwhile programs on television

-- Japan being one of the world’s top five industrial powers despite its paucity of natural resources

© Copyright 2011 V. J. Singal

What’s in a Name? Pronouncing Somebody’s Uncommon Name Correctly Is Your First Sign of Respect For That Person Plus Much More

The “name-botching” incident at Wimbledon last week when, in the middle of the match, German tennis star Julia Goerges lambasted the umpire for repeatedly mangling her last name, reminded me of an incident at a Toastmasters’ speech contest here in Houston some ten years ago. Hugh Vrsalovic, an accomplished speaker and my long-time friend, was one of the participants. When it was his turn to deliver a speech, here’s how the evening’s emcee (referred to as the “Toastmaster of the contest or event”) announced his name: “Our next contestant is Hugh V…R…S…” and then, after some further struggle, she came up with a badly mangled version of Hugh’s last name which, in actuality, takes only a few seconds to master, if you ask him. It is vruh-SAHL-uh-vik.]

Clearly, the contest Toastmaster had not done her homework. As any responsible emcee, she should have taken a few moments to familiarize herself with the names, speech titles, etc. before the event started. Sure, her blunder may have helped wipe off, for a second or two, the ever-pleasant expression on Hugh’s face, but the real damage was to her own reputation. She created a poor impression with that evening’s huge audience by demonstrating irresponsibility and a cavalier attitude.

If a new acquaintance’s name happens to be an uncommon one, then pronouncing it correctly (the same goes for spelling it, if and when writing them an email) is your first indication of respect for that person, provided you’ve had an opportunity to find out the correct pronunciation. It helps create a good first impression by signaling that you are meticulous, thorough, caring, thoughtful, urbane, and so on.

INTERVIEW CANDIDATES, please make a special note of the above.

© Copyright 2011 V. J. Singal

Interviewing; ABC’s “This Week” Panel Highlights Two Key Ingredients for a Successful Job Interview

Enthusiasm! As I’ve said in previous posts, a candidate's enthusiasm is the one quality that must be on full display during job interviews and the like. Here are two specific ideas on how or where to exhibit enthusiasm.

Yesterday’s edition of ABC’s “This Week with Christiane Amanpour” had a segment focusing on the dim job prospects for the Class of 2011 and what job seekers can and should do to stand out from the crowd. The panel comprised four newly minted grads and two “entrepreneur CEOs”–famous publisher Mort Zukerman and Qwiki founder Doug Imbruce. When asked, each of the two CEOs identified one quality or attribute that he looks for in job candidates as a predictor of future success:

Zukerman: “Evidence of determination.”
Imbruce: “Passion about the company’s products or services.”

LESSON: Sharpen your communication skills—both verbal and nonverbal—so that your enthusiasm, vigor, motivation, staunchness, unwavering or unyielding nature, unflagging zeal for work, etc. are manifest during the interview.

© Copyright 2011 V. J. Singal

My Appearance on Houston’s Channel 39 (KIAH-TV) Earlier This Month; The Consequences of Egregiously Bad Grammar During Job Interview

In a post three weeks ago, I wrote that Houston’s Channel 39 had interviewed me with regard to how poor language skills can obliterate one’s chances of success during a job interview or sales call. Well, the station did broadcast segments of that interview a few days later and you can see what they aired by clicking on the one-and-a-half-minute video clip below. Of particular interest to job seekers: My comment on how the use of typical text-messaging lingo during an interview might portray you as someone who is much too cavalier or irresponsible to handle serious tasks and who therefore cannot be entrusted with big-time responsibility.

© Copyright 2011 V. J. Singal

Obama’s “synaptic misfire” resulting in his using a completely wrong word during “60 Minutes” Interview; My Answer to Last Sunday’s Quick Quiz

To make sense of this post, you need to first read the previous one – that of last Sunday, May 15.

In my judgment, the only word that sounds similar to the wrong word (denigrate) and which would have accurately expressed what Obama was trying to say is degrade. [The word downgrade is an alternative but a poor one.] In other words, he meant to say “We’ve degraded al Qaeda significantly even before we got bin Laden and I think….”

© Copyright 2011 V. J. Singal

Quick Quiz: Guess Which Word the "60 Minutes" Guest Had in Mind When He Misspoke and Uttered "Denigrate"; Case of "Synaptic Misfire"

At one point during his “60 Minutes” interview Sunday, President Obama was asked to respond to the many “influential people on both sides of the aisle” in Congress who were saying that with Osama bin Laden now dead, we should hasten our withdrawal from Afghanistan. Obama replied by pointing out that the U.S. had increased troop levels in Afghanistan to “blunt the momentum of the Taliban and create platforms that would allow us to go after al Qaeda directly.” He then added, “We’ve denigrated al Qaeda significantly even before we got bin Laden and I think it’s important for everybody to understand that the work that’s been done in Afghanistan helped to prepare us for being able to take bin Laden out……”

Clearly, the word denigrate does not fit into the context at all. See for yourself by playing the video clip below. In fact, as soon as I heard this sentence while playing the recording on my DVR, it was apparent to me that Obama, whose command of the language is stellar, meant to utter a similar-sounding word which has a completely different meaning and that he had fallen victim to what I call “synaptic misfire” or a “synaptic malfunction” – something that happens once in a while to even the best of us.

As an intellectual challenge, I urge you to try and guess the similar sounding word which would have correctly expressed Obama's thought and which would fit into the context perfectly. Feel free to email me or call me at 281-463-2500. My next post—about a week from now—will have the answer to this "quick quiz."

© Copyright 2011 V. J. Singal

The Consequences of Grossly Abusing Grammar During a Job interview or While Talking to a Client or Customer

This morning, I was interviewed by award-winning journalist David Solano for his upcoming story on how extremely poor language skills can sharply diminish one’s chances of success during a jon interview or sales call. [The story is to be aired early next week on Solana’s station KIAH-TV -- Houston’s Channel 39.]

Here is what I said with regard to the severe consequences stemming from egregious grammar errors:

During a job interview or while making a sales call, murdering grammar can be lethal! [Some examples of outrageous grammatical errors: subject-verb disagreement; using first person subject pronoun “I” when it should be object pronoun “me” and the vice versa; wrong tense or wrong verb form; uttering "aks" instead of "ask."] Among the many reasons why such gross abuses of grammar can sharply diminish your prospects of being hired or of consummating a sale:

1. Unless the listener is intimately familiar with your educational background and the many college degrees you have amassed, he or she will conclude that you are poorly educated.

2. You will give the impression of being a slow, unenthusiastic learner--someone who will have difficulty quickly adapting to a potential employer's workplace culture or way of doing things.

3. As a potential employee, you will be viewed as more of a liability than an asset because:
(i) Your conspicuous grammar missteps are likely to be such a serious distraction--even an annoyance--that listeners will be unable to stay focused on your message, and
(ii) You could even end up becoming a laughing stock among not only your would-be peers but also among clients, thus severely tarnishing the company's image.

© Copyright 2011 V. J. Singal

Uninspiring Female Attire: Example of a Highly Intelligent PR Exec Looking Boring and Unimaginative

Click on the video clip below, a 34-second excerpt from last Sunday’s “ABC This Week with Christiane Amanpour.” You’ll see Torie Clarke, Pentagon’s top PR executive during Donald Rumsfeld’s rule, wearing clothes that are uniformly of one color--a color that happens to be identical to the color of her hair and eyebrows. And further, because the color of her hair is not much different to her complexion, we see a woman looking monochromatic--a vision of one color from top to bottom! I was amazed to see this highly intelligent and super-sharp communicator show up on a major Sunday morning television show in such a boring, unappealing, and unimaginative attire.

What could Torie Clarke have done differently to look more appealing and attractive, at the very minimum? No fashionista I, but two simple alternatives immediately come to mind: She could have worn, for instance, a blue dress (which incidentally would match the color of her eyes) or worn something in, say, maroon, rust, or peach and put on lipstick of a near matching shade for a nice balance. Easy!

© Copyright 2011 V.J. Singal

Immortal Speeches

Reference President Reagan’s famous speech delivered on June 12, 1987, from West Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. In my post of January 28, I described that speech as being a first-rate example of a presentation that has become immortal because of a simple line within it having such acute resonance that the words reverberate even today, decades later. Finally, I have a video clip of that line, unquestionably the most famous words uttered publicly by Reagan during his eight years as president. Incidentally, this clip too is from CBS "Sunday Morning," my favorite television show.

Building a Powerful Vocabulary: New Edition of “Words of the Month”

The latest edition of “Words of the Month,” my free vocabulary enhancement feature, has been online since the beginning of this month. Among the featured words, all of which lie within the conversational vocabulary of America’s most articulate (as is the case with all of the words featured in my book, “The Articulate Professional-3^rd Edition”):

1. pecuniary

2. kerfuffle

3. tendentious

4. acolyte

5. duplicitous

6. impassioned

Here are extracts from some of my favorite examples, all carefully designed to help you implant the featured word into your conversational vocabulary and use it with confidence:

pecuniary

-- after the Tucson shootings, Sheriff Dupnik saying that much of the (political) venom being spouted on radio & TV arises from talk show hosts’ pecuniary motives

-- don’t park here—it’s a pecuniary offense; a lawyer being reprimanded by the judge for “putting his pecuniary interests above those of his client”

-- global warming will be less of an abstraction if we can explain to John Q. Public what sort of pecuniary effects it is having or will have on each individual

-- an NPR guest pointing out that in the case of poets, their pursuit does not arise out of a pecuniary goal

kerfuffle

-- the current kerfuffle in Washington D.C. over how to rein in the budget deficits

-- the proposal to reduce the football team’s budget causing such a kerfuffle that the idea was quickly dropped

-- (after two longtime members suddenly opposed everyone else’s unanimous choice for club president) “I tell you, the resulting kerfuffle has badly upset the harmony within the club”

tendentious

-- “No way can you call this book objective. It is highly tendentious.”

-- some radio and TV channels that are clearly tendentious, thus giving their audience a distorted and unbalanced perspective

-- the tendentiousness that invariably creeps into the “historical account” of any great battle because….

-- after looking at identical data, many leading economists and lawmakers coming up with totally different conclusions, thanks to their tendentious interpretation of the facts

-- somebody promoting a tendentious theory; a tendentious translation of an ancient scripture; a tendentious history

acolyte

-- according to CBS, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s acolytes include “geek circles and hacking circles for whom he is a hero”

-- this author telling an audience: “I am a fervent acolyte of two television shows: ‘CBS Sunday Morning’ and ‘PBS NewsHour’”

-- in a recent interview, Donald Rumsfeld telling Diane Sawyer that the younger Bush appointed him defense secretary knowing full well that he (Rumsfeld) was a critic and detractor rather than an acolyte of George H.W. Bush

duplicitous

-- Tab Hunter, the young matinee idol of the 1950s, telling CBS that he had been duplicitous all along—that the portrayal of him as an eligible heartthrob…

-- somebody who is extremely straightforward and simply incapable of duplicity;  her snickering about my plans is really duplicitous of her because…

-- according to some leading economists, including Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, the errors in judgment and duplicities of the credit rating agencies partly to blame for the recent financial crisis

-- New York’s then-attorney general Eliot Spitzer discovering that Wall Street analysts were engaging in stunningly duplicitous behavior

impassioned

-- one of JFK’s most memorable and impassioned lines from his presidential speeches: “Ask not what your country can do for you….”

-- I bet we’ll get an impassioned, table-pounding speech from …; he is one heck of an impassioned and articulate guy

-- an impassioned email;  impassioned support from a top exec giving a boost to your controversial plan; a defense attorney’s impassioned closing arguments; Julia Roberts’s impassioned plea before Congress for …; media being flooded with impassioned statements both in support of and against a U.S. Supreme Court nominee

© Copyright 2011  V. J. Singal

Beware of Donning Badly Soiled Neckties—They Ooze Ugliness; Video Clip of a Highly Regarded Talking Head Wearing One

In yesterday’s post, I wrote that is not uncommon to see even men of prominence wear badly soiled neckties – ties that have acquired a clearly visible dark and ugly hue around the knot because of the wearer constantly tying and untying them with unclean hands.

Well, to see a video clip of a glaringly soiled necktie, click here. It will transport you to a recent appearance by the Kauffman Foundation’s Tim Kane on PBS’s highly regarded “Nightly Business Report.” Incidentally, Tim Kane is someone whose commentaries I always look forward to because they are so pithy.

http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/onair/transcripts/pentagon_bureaucracy_harming_security_110104/

“Oh, Please Don’t Touch The Tie! Just Tell Me What’s Wrong.” – The Problem of Soiled Ties

Last October, just as I was getting ready to be introduced before my presentation on “Simple Verbal & Nonverbal Skills for Creating a Highly Favorable First Impression” at the Project Management Institute’s Global Congress 2010 North America held in National Harbor, Md., I quietly asked a woman seated in the front row whether my hair looked combed and whether the tie and shirt collar were in alignment. [During the previous 15 minutes or so, I had been struggling with some of the equipment in the room.] Apparently, everything was not okay with the way I looked because this person raised her hands with alacrity to center my tie, at which point I instantly recoiled and blurted out “Oh, please don’t touch the tie!”

Since there wasn’t sufficient time for me to run to the men’s room and fine tune my attire, I quickly took out a clean handkerchief, placed it on the knot of the tie, and said to that helpful woman, “OK, now go ahead and straighten it,” thus ensuring that she wouldn’t be touching the knot with her bare hands. And while she was engaged in all that manipulation, I politely explained to her and to the couple of others looking on in bemusement that one should never ever touch a tie, especially the length that goes into the making of the knot, unless one’s hands have been freshly washed. Why? Because each time you tie a knot with even mildly unclean hands, the natural oils and any dirt on the fingers leave a stain on the tie—a stain that is, of course, indiscernible at first but which, with repeated tying of the knot with oily or dirty hands, will develop into a dark and ugly patch.

Indeed, it is not uncommon to see men who are in high positions and frequently grace television don ties that are clearly soiled around the knot. See video link in next blog post. [BTW, if you have not noticed anyone wearing soiled ties so far, you certainly will after reading this blog post.]

Solution. So, what is a man to do? Because ties don’t take kindly to dry cleaning, and since there are supposedly only a handful of highly reliable dry cleaners in the nation when it comes to ties, here is my two-part solution, something that I have been practicing for over 15 years: First, just before putting on a tie, wash your hands with soap and water and then dry them thoroughly. Second, when untying the knot, simply use a fresh, clean tissue or something equivalent as a membrane between your fingers and the tie. This will obviate the need to wash and dry your hands when removing a tie.

Let me know if you have a better idea.

Weak Presentations: Poor Use of the Eyes When Emphasizing Something

One of the pointers under my “Uncommon Tips for Highly Effective Presentations,” (click here and then read the second bullet), which has been on my website for several years, urges presenters to beware of what I call “misplaced eye emphasis.”

The 19-second video clip below--excerpted from "NBC Nightly News" last week--is an example of what I mean. While making the headline grabbing announcement that Hispanics now account for more than half of the total growth in the U.S. population, Census Bureau spokesperson Nicholas Jones utters the following words in the second half of the featured sentence: “…and people of Hispanic origin now clearly represent the second largest group in the country.” Hence the following question for you: Which is the most significant part of his utterance?

Clearly, it's the words “the second largest group in the country.” Yet, the spokesman is looking at his notes when uttering those words; he was looking at the audience when saying the preceding words (“People of Hispanic origin”) which needed no emphasis since that entire presentation was about Hispanics! Note that if Jones had been looking at the audience while saying the key words, he could have used not only his eyes but other facial gestures for added emphasis.

Interviewers Forgetting a Cardinal Rule: Never Ever Have One of Your Palms Cradle The Jaw While Speaking

I would perhaps be insulting you if I were to make the following most basic, most obvious, most rudimentary statement: To ensure that your speech is perfectly clear and 100% intelligble, never ever rest your jaw in the palm of your hand while speaking because the hand will work like a straightjacket and affect your enunciation.

Yet, time and again, I see television interviewers lower their guard and suddenly have a hand cradling the jaw, as long-time PBS interviewer Evan Smith did just a few minutes ago in a program aired on Houston's Channel 8 from 11:00 to 11:30 p.m. this evening. And guess what! The moment he let his jaw rest on one of his hands--and this happened toward the fag end of the interview--some of his words immediately became unintelligble. Amazing! You'd think these highly experienced interviewers would know better.

The Sense of Achievement Each of Us Can Derive By Using Language Imaginatively; Steve Martin’s Spot-On Comment

Since many of my readers value the power of thoughtful, vivid expression, I believe the following response from Steve Martin will greatly resonate with them:

Discussing his recent novel “An Object of Beauty” on CBS Sunday Morning a couple of months ago, Steve Martin had this to say when Rita Braver asked him “What was the most rewarding part?”:

“Finding the idea, then finding the words for it, then finding the exact words for it!”

Hyundai’s Sonata and GM’s Malibu “Cannibalizing” Sales of Toyota’s Camry and Corolla? An Erroneous Use of the Word "Cannibalize"

You’ve probably heard about the increase in sales last year of some cars such as Hyundai’s Sonata, Ford’s Focus and Fusion, and GM’s Malibu, thanks to Toyota’s high-profile safety problems hurting the demand for Corolla and Camry. Last week--on February 8--I was disappointed to hear Nightly Business Report’s reporter extraordinaire Diane Eastabrook describe the situation as “Sonata has probably cannibalized sales from Camry” and “Malibu has probably cannibalized sales from Camry and Corolla.” This is an erroneous use of the term “cannibalize.” Before I explain why, let me point out that Diane Eastabrook is one of my favorite reporters on all of television because her presentations are tight, cogent, extremely well delivered, and gripping.

First, a bit of insight into the word “cannibalize.” As you probably know, to cannibalize is to eat one’s own kind. In a business context, cannibalization occurs when, in an effort to push a particular product, a company uses parts or resources meant for another product, thus letting the production/ sales of the latter suffer. Alternatively stated, a product is said to have been cannibalized when its marketer lets the sales of that product decline as a direct consequence of that firm pushing the sales of another of its products. So, for instance, if Nissan was facing capacity problems on its production lines and decided to divert some of the resources essential for the manufacture of the Maxima toward the production of higher-priced Infinitis, that would be a case of the company “cannibalizing” the sales of Maxima.

Summing up, Hyundai selling more Sonatas and GM selling more Malibus because of Toyota’s travails is nothing but a manifestation of the everyday competition in the marketplace. It’s simply a case of one company taking market share away from a rival firm, something that can arise because of a number of factors. To name just three: (i) the gaining product being superior, (ii) the losing product’s manufacturer acquiring a taint, (iii) a product shortage, because of manufacturing or distribution problems.

© Copyright 2011  V. J. Singal

So, How Do You Pronounce “Jekyll” When Referring to “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”?

Until now, when talking about Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous novel “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” or when referring to someone with an apparently split personality, I had always pronounced Jekyll as [JEK-il]. Nor can I recall anyone else pronouncing it differently.

Well, the day before yesterday, I happened to watch the best known film version of Stevenson’s classic novel, the one produced in 1932 and starring Fredric March, who won the Oscar for best actor for playing the dual title roles. I was mighty surprised to hear Jekyll pronounced as [JEE-kul] throughout the movie. Subsequent Googling seems to confirm that [JEE-kul] is indeed the correct pronunciation!

© Copyright 2011  V. J. Singal

Spontaneous Pauses: The Great Facilitators of Fresh Words and Synonyms

If the use of fresh words and synonyms is a defining trait of those who are articulate, then so are spontaneous pauses.

First, what do I mean by spontaneous pauses? Unlike “pregnant pauses,” which are planned or deliberate and inserted in a speech or conversation for effect, a spontaneous pause is, well, unplanned and usually takes a fraction of a second--just sufficient time for a speaker’s brain to put its “random access drive” into motion and pick a fresh word that will help articulate that person's thoughts.

The video clip below is a perfect example of a spontaneous pause in action. After uttering the words “if one is living on social security alone, one’s got pretty,” the speaker--Nicholas Eberstadt--pauses for a split second as his brain seeks out a fresh and strong word that will help capture the essence of his message, and out comes “penurious” from his lips. Sure, there was a good chance that instead of penurious, Mr. Eberstadt might have come up with some other word that too would have given force to his argument.

Bottom line: If you can make the use of spontaneous pauses automatic when you are speaking with passion or trying to emphasize something--as I have learned to do over the years, fresh words and synonyms will become second nature to you.

Visual, Evocative Words to Emphasize Something—Some Inspiring / Humorous Examples

Here are some recent examples of articulate Americans and others using a vivid, evocative expression to emphasize something--examples which, I hope, will inspire the rest of us into similarly imaginative use of the language, especially when we are trying to break through the clutter.

1. Earlier today, speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” about the massive uprising in Egypt against the Mubarak regime, Tom Friedman saying: “Egypt, and really most of the Arab world, has been on vacation from history for the last 50 years, thanks largely to oil.

 

Making a Speech or Other Presentation Indelible, If Not Immortal

In my post of Nov. 21 last year, I pointed out that FDR’s “infamy speech” is a perfect example of how a single, fresh, out-of-the-ordinary, word or phrase that is also strong and evocative can sometimes help make a speech or other presentation memorable, if not immortal. Last week, which marked the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy’s inauguration as president, there wasn’t a news program in the nation that did not broadcast an excerpt of the inaugural he delivered on that bitterly cold morning of January 20, 1961, especially the line “And so my fellow Americans, ask not…” (see video clip below) which captured the essence of the speaker’s central message. In fact, that particular line is so deeply entrenched in the American psyche that, 100 years from now, that speech is still likely to rank as among the most stirring speeches by any American. Two more examples of speeches by American leaders becoming immortal, thanks to a line within that speech having such acute resonance that the words reverberate even today, decades later: (i) Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, in which the words “I have a dream” were the leitmotif of that extraordinary presentation delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. (ii) The speech delivered by President Reagan on June 12, 1987, from West Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, with the passionately delivered exhortation “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

Heinous – the “Mispronounced Word of the Week”

This past week, while speaking about the tragedy in Tucson, numerous Americans have used the word “heinous” [pronounced HAY-nus] to describe Jared Loughner’s crime. No surprise there. What has amazed me is the number of prominent and well-educated people who have mispronounced that word, including University of Arizona President Robert Shelton. In his opening remarks at the nationally broadcast memorial service on Wednesday night (the one attended by President Obama), Shelton pronounced heinous as “highness.” Unbelievable!

© Copyright 2011 V. J. Singal

Emphasizing Your Point in Three Sentences: Laudable Example From Neil deGrasse Tyson--Astrophysicist and Communicator Extraordinaire

In my presentations on “Conquering the Pervasive Disease of Rambling: How to Emphasize Your Point in Just Three Sentences” (a workshop that has been attended by several thousand people since its inception in the late ‘90s and which has become one of the three most popular topics in my repertoire), the collection of real-life examples in the handout comprises praiseworthy and highly instructive three-sentence utterances by articulate Americans in business, government, education, and law enforcement. The world of science has been conspicuously absent.

Then, last week, while watching “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams,” I came across an exemplary three-sentence statement by American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, arguable the most articulate of all the personages who grace “NOVA” and other science programs on television. And this was literally a case of “manna from heaven” because the reason for Mr. deGrasse Tyson’s appearance on that program was the coinciding of a total lunar eclipse with the winter solstice—the first time that has happened in nearly 400 years. Emphasizing why he will be focusing his attention later that night on the shade of red that the moon will take on at the zenith of the eclipse, Mr. deGrasse Tyson said:

“I will look forward to learning what is going on in our atmosphere from that signature of the reflected light on the moon. How much volcanic ash is still up there; what kind of pollutants are there; are there dust storms that kicked up just before the eclipse unfolded? So, there’s some information you can learn about earth’s atmosphere by monitoring the color of the eclipsed moon.”

The above promises to become one of the most prized real-life examples in future renditions of “Conquering the Pervasive Disease….” workshop because of the series of mini, evocative, and staccato questions that Mr. deGrasse Tyson packed into the crucial second sentence.

Expanding Your Vocabulary: New Edition of “Words of the Month”

The latest edition of “Words of the Month,” my free vocabulary enhancement feature, has been online since early last week. Among the featured words, all of which lie within the conversational vocabulary of America’s most articulate:

1. plebeian – to describe something that is crude or rough in style, manner, nature, etc; something that is commonplace, coarse, or lacking in refinement.
comment: I can’t recall any word featured in “Words of the Month” in recent years that has given me as much pleasure (in developing the examples) as has plebeian, perhaps because of its wide applicability. Here are some of my favorite examples:
(i) a member of a company’s top management who demonstrates the rare ability to be an executive and a plebeian at the same time by the way he mingles and interfaces with the company’s blue-collar workforce
(ii) a gourmet cook who, with a little bit of tweaking, can transform a plebeian dish into something that tastes and looks extraordinary
(iii) following the company’s annual Christmas party, one male employee saying to another: “I don’t think Ted’s remarks were appreciated by the women at the party. They were so coarse, so plebeian.”
(iv) “Oh, so you drive an LS 460! That is one of the top of the line Lexuses, right? My Lexus is a plebeian model—the ES 350.”
(v) a woman telling her spouse: “For an event like this, I don’t think it’s a good idea to go in jeans, and old faded ones at that. We don’t want to look like plebeians!”

2. beneficence – to describe the quality of being kind, generous; also: a charitable donation or generous gift.
comment: A great synonym for words such as largesse, charity, kindness, and munificence.

Yet to complete.

Verbal Tics: Even a Couple of Utterances of “Basically”/ “Essentially” in Quick Succession Can Muddy a Communication and the Speaker’s Image

When talking about filler words and other verbal tics and how they can eviscerate an otherwise well crafted presentation (a subtopic in my recent presentations on “Simple Verbal and Nonverbal Skills for Creating a Highly Favorable First Impression” at PMI Global Congress North America 2010 and at the Minnesota Government IT Symposium), I always share with my audiences some real-life examples to buttress my points. I also name names--not to denigrate anyone but because doing so endows my ideas and admonitions with credibility and helps establish that filler words and other disfluencies can get the better of even highly trained speakers and broadcast professionals, if they lower their guard.

Take a listen and see for yourself how even a couple of uses of "basically"/"essentially" and the like, when uttered in quick succession, can render a communication inelegant. The link is to a segment from a recent edition (Dec. 22) of “Marketplace Morning Report” --one of my favorite radio programs. You will hear co-host Stacey Vanek Smith utter the following as she throws her first question to guest David Lazarus of the LA Times on the subject of Christmas shopping: “Retail sales have been pretty good this season so far. It’s strange, though, that we seem to be spending again, given that unemployment is basically worse and personal income is flat. Why, since the economy’s basically where it was last year, is consumer spending up so much this season?”

For my thoughts on (i) how verbal tics can seriously dilute the impact of a presentation or other important communication (my research indicates that as much as 40% to 60% of an audience can become distracted and lose their focus on the speaker’s message!), and (ii) how to eliminate such disfluencies from your “system,” see posts of June 28 and Sept. 29.

Visual, Evocative Words to Emphasize Something—Some Inspiring / Humorous Examples

Here are some recent examples of articulate Americans and others using a vivid, evocative expression to emphasize something--examples which, I hope, will inspire the rest of us into similarly imaginative use of the language, especially when we are trying to break through the clutter.

1. Contrasting the Nixon presidency with current political times, Bob Woodward saying on “Face the Nation” this past weekend: “In the Nixon era, the piston driving the Nixon presidency was hate. We now have a lot of conflict, a lot of disagreement, but I don’t see hate in our politics.”

2. While commenting on the Fed’s plan to pump money into the economy by buying government debt, Alan Blinder--former vice chair of the Federal Reserve—telling PBS: “Here is another alternative for the Fed. Currently, it pays banks about a quarter percent on their account reserves. The Fed could lower that to zero, or even go negative (by charging them) to kind of sandblast that money out of the banks and into the economy.”

3. Talking about Cleopatra’s extraordinary verbal skills, Stacy Schiff, who has recently authored a biography of the famous queen, telling PBS’s “Newshour”: “…fluent in nine languages, able to converse with her own subjects, which no earlier king or queen of her dynasty had been able to do, and apparently just a persuasive, silken arguer and speaker, according to Plutarch.”

4. Speaking about the nation’s financial problems during a recent edition of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Bethany McLean (yes, she of “The Smartest Guys in the Room” fame) telling fellow panelists, which included Alan Greenspan and Newt Gingrich, “People at this table may disagree with me but it seems to me that our budget problems are not calculus, they are not algebra, they are simple arithmetic. We are spending three dollars for every two dollars we take in. Something needs to give.”

The Julie and David Eisenhower Interview on CBS "Sunday Morning": A Lesson in the Obligations of Those Who Are Voluble, Expressive, or Outspoken

I’ve long been an admirer of Julie and David Eisenhower, and not for any ideological reasons. And because the famous couple rarely appears in the media, I eagerly consumed every moment of their interview broadcast last month on CBS “Sunday Morning,” one of my favorite television shows. [For the uninitiated: Julie Eisenhower is the daughter of President Nixon and David is the grandson of President Eisenhower.]

But one aspect of the interview was painful watching: Each time interviewer Mo Rocca threw a question at the seated couple jointly, the voluble and assertive Julie would instantly launch into a reply, with David sometimes vainly gesturing and trying to add a comment (once, even flailing his arms) and then abandoning his response mid-sentence upon realizing that he was not getting anywhere (because of his relative inaudibility, he was unable to seize Mo Rocca’s attention), as Julie continued with her detailed and enthusiastic response.

I believe there is a powerful lesson to be drawn from the above. Whenever two or more people are being interviewed jointly, it behooves the person who is decidedly more vocal, expressive, or vehement to make a conscious effort, such as occasionally pausing and looking at the other person, to encourage and even coax a response from him or her. A must if the latter happens to be a relatively shy or reticent type.

To watch that fascinating segment on CBS: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/10/24/sunday/main6987169.shtml

© Copyright 2010 V.J. Singal

Injecting Humor in a Presentation on a Dry Topic; Eric Schurenberg Shines

Clients often tell me that one of their biggest challenges is inserting a bit of humor into their presentations, especially if they are speaking on something “dry” or very technical. In response, and somewhat reflexively, I remind them about the power of metaphorical language. Of course, there are other ways to enliven a dull topic.

This morning, while reviewing the Oct. 13 edition of PBS’s highly-regarded “Nightly Business Report,” recorded during my recent four weeks of travel, I burst out with laughter when I heard Eric Schurenberg, editor-in-chief of BNET.com, utter the words shown below in Italics while speaking about an unusual estate-tax avoidance opportunity that exists this year:

"2010 offers a tax-avoidance opportunity that is to die for, literally. This year, for the first time since 1916, the families of people who die will face not a penny in estate taxes. Draw a breath in 2011, however, and under current law your heirs will owe the government 55% of your taxable estate of above $1 million. Out of that ..."

It’s a fantastic example of how a bit of imaginative wording can animate something dry and desiccated.

Continued Reverberation of Obama’s Use of “Shellacking”—An Illustration of the Power of the Spoken Word

It’s nearly three weeks since the Nov. 2 mid-term election. Yet, Obama’s word “shellacking,” which he used during a press conference the following day to describe the reverses he and the Democratic Party suffered, continues to resound. There is not a day when I don’t hear or see that word quoted in a news report, magazine article, or a current affairs discussion in the media. It proves something that I have been telling my audiences and clients for over two decades: A single word that is out-of-the-ordinary and vivid can help make a presentation indelible.

Perhaps the finest example of a fresh, strong, evocative word giving immortality to a speech or other communication is FDR’s “infamy” speech. Here is what I say about that iconic speech in the opening paragraph of my essay “Building a Wide and Vivid Vocabulary—Why Bother?” in my book "The Articulate Professional": On each anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, we Americans get to hear, in the voice of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the opening words from a speech he delivered to Congress one day after the Japanese attack: “Yesterday, December 7, 1941--a date which will live in infamy--the United States was . . .” Clearly, it is the word “infamy” that endows that line with so much impact and firmness. What if FDR had stuck with his original draft, worded “…a date which will live in world history…” Would the opening line of that speech still be so resonant and a fixture of American history, replayed in news programs and documentaries year after year, more than six decades later? Hardly!

A relatively recent example of a prominent American’s imaginative words becoming airborne and thus entering the lexicon: then-Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan’s “irrational exuberance,” uttered during a speech in the 1990s, which were repeatedly quoted by talking heads, analysts, and others during the recent financial crisis.

Having made my case for why it pays to enrich one's command of the language, I hope you will be a frequent visitor to my free vocabulary enhancement feature Words of the Month which profiles words used conversationally by America’s most articulate.

Delivering a Cogent Presentation on Leadership: One Approach or Recipe

Sure, there are several approaches to developing a compelling presentation on the subject of leadership—a presentation that is a far cry from the one discussed in my previous post (Oct. 31) which was amorphous, built on an inappropriate and impractically long mnemonic, and comprised an unending fusillade of slides bearing the names and comments of/about countless famous leaders of the past. Here is one simple but highly effective way to create something that is crystalline and which the audience can easily embrace and remember:

(i) As a first step and based on your research and analysis, identify the most critical attributes of leadership that you wish to talk about. [Suggested number: 3 or more, but not exceeding six, to keep the list manageable for the audience.]

(ii) Mention the names of, say, half a dozen great leaders each of whom you believe exemplified all or most of the qualities enumerated in Step 1. And if you want to make your presentation universally applicable as well as timeless, pick leaders from different fields. For instance, a highly admired military commander such as Field Marshal Erich von Manstein (my long-time hero); a business leader such as Jack Welch or Carly Fiorina; a non-profit or environmental leader such as Dr. Steven Sanderson of the Wildlife Conservation Society of New York; a leader of a highly successful movement for civil rights and freedom, such as Mahatma Gandhi; one of the most revered American presidents such as Abraham Lincoln or Franklin Roosevelt; and so on.

(iii) The final step is obvious: Based on your research, show the audience how each of your pick of 5 or 6 leaders exemplified most if not all of the leadership attributes you mentioned in (i) above as being of paramount importance.

End of presentation, one that is convincing and thought provoking!

How NOT to Make a Presentation: Using a Mnemonic As The Foundation Can Render a Presentation Hollow!

Last week, while I was in Dehra Dun, an Indian city located in the Himalayan foothills, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of my high school, The Doon School, I listened to a one-hour presentation on leadership by a Dr. Sanjiv Chopra of Harvard Medical School. What a disappointment! The only positive comment I can make about that presentation is the speaker’s delivery: a strong voice with excellent enunciation. But the content? An overwhelming, rapid-fire barrage of slides that lasted more then twice the allotted time and created severe listener indigestion.

I believe my analysis of why the presentation was completely ineffective, and why it did not leave any long-term impact on the numerous members of the audience I have spoken to since, will give you specific ideas on how to make your next presentation really worthwhile for the listener, especially if it's going to be on some abstract issue such as leadership.

So, where did the speaker go wrong? First, he made the common mistake of bundling his content into a mnemonic—in this case the word “L E A D E R S H I P” itself. Thus, he had L stand for “listening” as a key skill, E for “empathy,” A for attitude, and so on. Invariably, when speakers try to fit a complex subject into a mnemonic, they end up oversimplifying the matter and leaving the audience with a distorted takeaway. Let me elaborate.

Take for instance “communication” and “vision”—unquestionably two of the most important ingredients of leadership. Because the letters C and V do not appear in the word LEADERSHIP, what does a speaker do, if he is trying to force fit everything into the letters L E A D…..? Either he will crudely and feebly tie these two qualities to other letters in the mnemonic or just make a passing reference to them. Result: the audience does not get a sharp, crystalline view of what it takes to be a strong and highly successful leader. And when the mnemonic happens to be a relatively long word, as is the 10-character “LEADERSHIP,” it will invariably end up exaggerating some minor qualities or aspects.

The second big mistake Dr. Chopra made was that for each quality represented by one of the characters in the word LEADERSHIP, he had a fusillade of slides, with each such slide featuring a comment by or about a famous leader. Thus, the presentation turned into an onslaught of several dozen such slides, producing severe overload and listener indigestion. At the end of the long, insufferable peroration, all that was left in our minds was a blur.

Since “leadership” is a particularly sexy subject for a presentation, thanks to its universal appeal, my next post offers an approach for making a cogent and indelible presentation on that topic.

Making a PowerPoint Presentation Highly Effective

I recently gathered that it is standard practice in major oil companies and engineering firms located here in Houston, and presumably everywhere else, for presenters to simply read from their slides. In other words, instead of displaying short, highly abbreviated bullet points, presentation slides are very busy, packed with complete sentences. Not a good idea at all! Here is why:

(i) As soon as a slide appears on the screen, the audience is tempted to start reading way ahead of the speaker. Result: the presenter loses control of the audience.

(ii) In the process of reading full sentences from a slide, the presenter’s delivery becomes boring, devoid of any vocal variety and relative emphasis. Result: the presentation lacks “freshness” and “spontaneity” – necessary ingredients for highly effective public speaking, especially when it comes to projecting conviction and enthusiasm, and being persuasive.

(iii) Even if a presenter were to somehow employ vocal variety, hand and facial gestures, and other elements of “animation” while reading straight from the slides, such animation would be ineffective because, as mentioned in (i) above, many in the audience would be reading material in advance of its utterance by the speaker.

Bottom line: it is imperative that each bullet point contain, at the most, just a few key words, with the speaker doing the necessary elaboration orally. Also, rather than a slide being displayed in its fullness from the get-go, each successive bullet should get displayed (such as by “flying in from the bottom”) only after the previous one has been discussed. This will prevent the audience from taking flight and it will ensure that everyone’s mind is in lockstep with that of the presenter.

In my next post on this subject, I will give specific examples of abbreviated bullet points by discussing some of the slides I presented at the Project Management Institute Global Congress 2010—North America held earlier this week in National Harbor, Md.

Building a Strong Vocabulary: New Edition of “Words of the Month”

The latest edition of “Words of the Month,” my free vocabulary enhancement feature, has been online since last weekend. Among the featured words, all of which lie within the conversational vocabulary of America’s most articulate:

1. incubus – to describe something that oppresses or burdens like a nightmare; a cause of anguished uncertainty or fear of failure.
comment: In these days of high unemployment, mounting credit card debt is a big incubus for millions of American families. And for our law enforcement agencies, an all new incubus is the threat posed by homegrown terrorists such as the “Time Square bomber.”

2. panache – a vivid word for spirited self-confidence and a dashing style.
comment: A great synonym for flamboyance and verve. Among the many singers and actors who exude (or exuded) panache: Katy Perry and Sean Connery (especially when he played James Bond).

3. fulminate – a strong word to describe the action of somebody who is shouting or hurling a loud verbal attack or condemnation.
comment: One of the ways that today’s media is different from that of, say, 25 years ago, is the advent of the Internet. Another is the prevalence of fulminating talk show hosts on radio and TV. Of course, there are plenty of fulminations when leading Democrats and Republicans attack each other on the floor of the House or the U.S. Senate.

4. incredulity – to describe the state of mind of someone who is unwilling or reluctant to believe--somebody who is skeptical.
comment: With Christmas just about two months away, this author recommends the 1947 classic film “Miracle on 34th Street” to all those who are incredulous of Santa Claus.

5. ephemeral – a term for something that lasts a noticeably short time.
comment: The nature of today’s economic news is strikingly ephemeral. Thus, one day the latest “housing starts” number is positive and the stock market soars. Two days later, retail sales look unpromising and the market plunges. Later that week, the “new jobs” numbers look robust and the Dow Jones perks up again.

Visual, Evocative Words to Emphasize Something—Some Inspiring / Humorous Examples

Here are some recent examples of people using a vivid, evocative expression to emphasize something--examples which, I hope, will inspire the rest of us into similarly imaginative use of the language, especially when we are trying to break through the clutter.

1. Talking about the speed with which the U.S. military is acquiring robots, “Wired for War” author P.W. Singer said during a CBS interview: “We went into Iraq with a handful of drones; we now have 7,000 in inventory. We went into Iraq with zero unmanned ground vehicles that are robotic; we now have 12,000. And these are just the Model T Fords, the Wright Brothers flyers, compared to what’s coming.”

2. Earlier this month, speaking with ABC’s Christiane Amanpour about Princess Diana’s impact on the British monarchy, former British PM Tony Blair commented: “Buckingham Palace saw her as a threat because she was such a different type of person. For a very traditional monarchy, it was like a meteor coming in what had been a fairly well disciplined, well ordered ecosystem, and that obviously had a big impact on it, a big consequence.”

3. Asked why Mexico’s President Calderon criticized Arizona’s new immigration law during his last visit to the U.S.--criticism that, not surprisingly, created a brouhaha here--Jeffrey Davidow, president of the Institute of Americas, saying: “If Calderon had come in here and not mentioned the Arizona law and made something of a big deal about it, he would on his return be put on a spit and roasted slowly by the Mexican public. This is a big issue for them.”

4. With reference to why the Democrats have yet to see a political payoff from the health-care overhaul and other big initiatives of the past 12 to18 months, David Axelrod telling The Wall Street Journal: “We didn’t have a lot of cotton candy that tastes good right away but disappears quickly. What we had was some fiber that’s going to help people in the long run, but it doesn’t provide that immediate pop.”

High-Impact Public Speaking; Eliminating Uhs and Ums, Filler Words, and Other Verbal Tics From Your Oral Communications

In a post a few weeks ago, I discussed how the unrelenting use of uhs and ums, and filler words such as actually, basically, and you know can be extremely irritating to the listener and can eviscerate your presentation or interview. As promised, here are some thoughts on how to expunge these verbal tics and other annoying mannerisms from your system.

(a) Solving the problem on your own: First you must make a conscious effort to find out what sort of tics or disfluencies you utter frequently. I say this because many who suffer from such a flaw have no idea that their speech contains a preponderance of uhs and ums, or you knows, or basically/essentially/actually, and so on. The best way to find out is to quietly ask one or two people in the audience to give you some feedback each time you make a presentation. You could also request people in the office, especially those who can hear you speak on the phone or who often attend the same meetings that you do, or family members at home. Then, having sized up the problem, stick little post-it notes or other helpful reminders on your office desk or wall, or any other place that you often stare at while on the phone. Carry a sheet of paper with such self-admonitions into each meeting.

(b) Through outside help: Join a Toastmasters club. When I first became a Toastmaster, every sentence of mine contained a spate of uhs. Yet, within just a few months, I had almost banished them from my speech! Today, even during my long workshops (1- to 2-day affairs) the audience will scarcely find me uttering more than a total of one or two uhs.

Susan Desmond-Hellmann: Communicator Extraordinaire and One of the Most Illustrious Female Execs in the Land

I first learned about Sue Desmond-Hellmann in early 2005, when she appeared on "Charlie Rose." At the time, she was a president at Genentech. I was so struck by Dr. Desmond-Hellmann's nonverbal gestures that I remarked to myself "Move over, Carly Fiorina and Ellen Futter. Make way for Susan Desmond-Hellmann," and wrote her an email complimenting her. After a while, Ms. Desmond-Hellmann fell out of my consciousness, sort of, until this past week when she appeared on the PBS News Hour.

This time, she made an even stronger impression on me. And as I watched her respond to the interviewer's questions--see video clip below--words such as the following flashed through my head: crystal clear, crisp, animated, emphatic, persuasive, engaging, well poised, utterly endearing and, ofcourse, extremely articulate.

There is no question that each one of us can advance his or her communication effectiveness by taking cues from her style--a style that is a rare and powerful blend of nonverbal techniques (especially vocal variety and facial gestures) and verbal skills, such as the use of synonymous terms and phrases, and antonyms.

My Testifying at a Public Hearing; Exhorting the Government to Adopt Tougher Public-Health Measures; Invoking the Gettysburg Address

Yesterday, I traveled to Dallas to speak at an EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) public hearing. The issue: should the federal government tighten the regulation of coal ash disposal by coal-burning power plants.

Here is my approx. 2-minute presentation. Most of the words that I emphasized (by using vocal variety, hand gestures, and other body language) are in bold. Also note my liberal use of fresh words and synonyms.

“Good Afternoon!

I am a resident of West Houston. My name is V.J. Singal, and I am testifying as a member of the general public—I should say, a member of the concerned public.

Whenever I get a chance to appear before a highly consequential government body, as yours surely is, I like to invoke a key phrase from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address—the phrase “a government for the people” which, when translated into today’s issue, would mean putting the clamps on any industrial activity that is detrimental to the public’s health, any activity that is endangering the public.

Gentlemen, you have in your possession incontrovertible evidence that coal ash is highly toxic, that it is unquestionably deleterious to the public’s health. And you have similarly irrefutable evidence that the TCEQ has been utterly lax in monitoring and implementing the Clean Air Act and other environmental regulations.

A case in point: The Fayette plant outside Austin, where coal ash has so badly contaminated the water that it has been rendered undrinkable—a perfect testimony to the TCEQ’s apathy in matters environmental.

And so, if we are to adhere to that maxim of “a government for the people,” then it is imperative, and mandatory, that the EPA, which is, after all, a protector of last resort when it comes to the environment, takes firm and speedy steps to issue new regulation—regulation that is (i) tough, (ii) unambiguous, and (iii) enforceable.

And if you do that, you will have every reason to feel truly ennobled!

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share my thoughts on the subject."

Difficult Negotiations, Such As With Someone You Don’t Trust or Who is Adversarial

People with a relatively capacious view of what effective communication is all about include negotiating strategies and tactics within its fold, hence this post.

This past Thursday, August 26, “PBS Newshour” featured a remarkable segment on difficult negotiations—negotiations that are particularly challenging because, say, you are dealing with somebody you don’t trust or who is a tough adversary, an SOB!

During the short feature—less than 6 minutes—which you can either listen to or read, “negotiating guru” Prof. Robert Mnookin of Harvard, author of “Bargaining With the Devil,” suggests that the person in the weaker position (in other words, the poor supplicant) stands a much better chance of success if he or she uses the “economic approach.” And in explaining that approach, Mnookin uses a cogent and evocative metaphor: “the carnivore is eager to trade his broccoli for a lamb chop owned by the vegetarian.” The professor also points out that “the words you use, the tone you use, your language…” (in other words, some of the very verbal and nonverbal techniques that have been the subject of my previous posts) play a big role in one’s negotiating success.

Well worth a listen or read.

© Copyright 2010 V. J. Singal

Body Language for Creating a Favorable First Impression: Go for the “Three-Pump Handshake”

I've substantially improved upon my previous post on the subject (July 28) by mentioning, among other things, the top three "ingredients" or components of a perfect handshake. I also point out why an unimpressive handshake can be so very consequential!

Creating a Favorable First Impression: Egregious Grammar Can Undo You

The display of unacceptably bad grammar even by well educated Americans occupying high positions is not uncommon. A couple of examples that readily come to mind: A few years ago, the then-police commissioner of New York City telling Charlie Rose: “….he gave a copy of the report to the mayor and I.” A similarly horrifying mix up of the subjective and objective pronouns from another PBS interview, this one involving a state governor as the guest: “She is excited that her and her family will be moving back north to be closer to her parents….” But here is something that really takes the cake. It’s an excerpt from baseball star Roger Clemens’s statement during a congressional hearing last year which was rebroadcast on NPR’s All Things Considered last week:

“Once again Mr. Congressman, I think he misremembers the conversation that we had. Andy and I’s relationship was close enough to know that if I would have known that he had done HGH which I now know, if he was knowingly knowing that I had taken HGH, we would have talked about the subject. He would have come to me to ask me about the effects of it.”

The above “murder” of the English language is so “criminal” that I doubt if I will ever be able to disassociate Roger Clemens the person from his language skills, and Clemens’s above “tour de force” will become Exhibit A in my module on “destructive grammar” when presenting the topic of “Some verbal and nonverbal skills for creating a highly favorable first impression.”

Why I am writing this particular post is to warn you that egregious grammar a la Clemens will, in all probability, completely dissolve your chances of success in a job interview or at an important networking event.

Nonverbal Communication Skills: Purposeful and Exemplary Hand Gestures That Will Knock Your Socks Off

As promised in my previous post (July 31), below is a video clip of an executive using his hands in perhaps the most estimable manner I’ve seen in a very long time. In this 2-year old clip which I pulled from my archives, you see Nasdaq OMX group CEO Robert Greifeld using a variety of hand gestures each of which is extremely effective because it sharply accentuates his words. I am proud to write that most of the gestures he employs--hands folded in a streamlined shape and pointing toward the audience; the two hands, each semi-open, closing in to portray action and dynamism; formation of two fists… are among the range of hand movements I implanted in the acting CEO of a Waste Management subsidiary whom I coached about six years ago and who is the subject of the first “success story” on my website.

Also note that the video clip below is a testimonial to the enormous value that PBS’s Nightly Business Report (NBR) brings to the table. I recommend to all of my coaching clients and workshop participants to make NBR a part of their regular TV watching because, in addition to providing insight behind top business developments, you get to see some of America’s sharpest communicators in action—people like Larry Ellison, Ford Executive Vice President Mark Fields, and, of course, Bob Greifeld.

In a forthcoming post, I will get into the granularity of Mr. Greifeld’s hand gestures. In other words, what is it about his hand movements that make him a standout and add to his gravitas immeasurably.

Video clip illustrating exemplary hand gestures, worthy of emulation by top execs, managers, and other high achieving professionals:

Nonverbal Communication Skills: Hand Gestures That Are Valueless and Diminish One's Presentation & Stature

It is common to see a communicator using hand gestures that do absolutely nothing to emphasize or accentuate his or her points and instead, as is often the case, even weaken or diminish that person’s stature. A case in point: in the video clip below, you’ll see Ed Rollins, one of America’s most respected political analysts and consultants, using his hands in a sort of robotic, automaton-like manner--he clasps and unclasps them more than 10 times within just 28 seconds. Such hand gestures, which I call "reflexive" and "knee-jerk" (because they result when a speaker loses control of his or her hands and which come about as a natural reaction to the stresses produced within the body when a person is trying to articulate something at a key moment) do nothing to strengthen one's utterance or enhance one's personality. In fact, they can be very distracting, even ludicrous!

Video clip of Ed Rollins


My next post will feature a video clip of a top executive displaying exemplary use of the hands--a style that every professional (male or female) should strive to emulate.

Enhancing Your Vocabulary: New Edition of “Words of the Month”

The latest edition of “Words of the Month,” my free vocabulary enhancement feature, has been online since the end of last month. Among the featured words, all of which lie within the conversational vocabulary of America’s most articulate:

1. recondite – to describe something that is extremely difficult to fathom or understand, and therefore beyond the comprehension of someone with an ordinary mind.
comment: This word is a perfect synonym for abstruse. A good example of something that is recondite and frequently in the news: derivatives, the financial instruments many blame for accentuating the global financial crisis.

2. moribund – a term for something that is nearing death--something that is showing no activity or progress, or is devoid of vitality.
comment: The housing market in some regions of the nation continues to be moribund, as is the Middle East peace process.

3. aphorism – a term for a concise and often profound statement of a principle--a terse and cogent formulation of a general truth or shrewd observation.
comment: A good synonym for adage. One of the reasons why Benjamin Franklin continues to be remembered fondly is the many simple aphorisms he handed down to us, such as “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

4. Svengali – a strong word to describe someone who manipulates or completely dominates another, especially for an evil or wicked purpose.
comment: It’s now more than three years since Dmitry Medvedev became president of Russia, but some Russia watchers continue to insist that the real political power in that nation is in the hands of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and that Putin is Medvedev’s Svengali.

The Handshake: According to Recent Survey, Two Thirds of Us Display Diffidence, or a Lack of Confidence, When Shaking Hands

Reportedly, General Motors recently researched the handshake -- yes, researched it! -- to teach Chevrolet dealers how to do it correctly.

What a waste of time and effort, you might exclaim, considering that shaking hands is an activity all of us professionals engage in all the time. It is something we do quite naturally and reflexively, and so take for granted.

It turns out that nearly two-thirds of us display a lack of confidence when shaking hands, as per a recent survey cited on American Public Media’s “Marketplace” this morning. And why is that important for you and me? Because, as the “Marketplace” report points out, when you are meeting someone for the first time--say, during a job interview or sales call--the potential hirer, customer, or client is making instantaneous or snap judgments about your trustworthiness, your personality, your nervousness, and so on. In other words, the consequences of having an “unconfident” handshake and thus displaying diffidence when you meet someone for the first time can turn out to be very negative for you because they can affect the outcome of that interview or sales call.

Solution: The “Marketplace” piece goes on to make several suggestions and lists the various “ingredients” or components for the perfect handshake, but here are their three most significant and worthwhile tips:
(i) go for a complete and full grip, not the limp and almost half-hearted handshake I myself have often engaged in until now
(ii) shake or “pump” three times, which is why I now refer to the perfect handshake with the moniker “The 3-Pump Handshake”
(iii) smile with both your eyes and mouth and “let that smile fade slowly.”

Click here to listen/ read the report:

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/07/28/study-lack-of-confidence-has-impact-on-handshake/

Men's Attire: Wearing an Exactly Matching Tie and Pocket Handkerchief Is Not a Good Idea!

Click on the short video clip below. Because Mr. Tim Tebeila--a highly successful South African industrialist featured earlier this year on PBS--is donning a tie and pocket square (or pocket hanky) that match exactly, the “center of gravity” of his visage falls sharply--to some level below the neck! In other words, the subject’s tie-pocket hanky combination is so conspicuous that it has become the dominant element in his overall appearance, and his face--which is what ultimately should attract the observer's eye--retreats into the background, almost falling off the canvas. Bottom line: If the tie and pocket hanky are of identical color(s), the combination will almost always outshine and overwhelm the wearer’s face and should be verboten. In his latest book, Alan Flusser, one of America’s foremost designers of men’s clothing, writes: “Wearing a matching handkerchief and necktie is a sure sign of an unsophisticated dresser.” Yet, in their show windows, several (misguided) retailers of men’s clothes in many a downtown, including Manhattan, continue to deck the suits with exactly matching ties and pocket squares. When will they learn?

Video clip illustrating a matching tie and pocket hanky

The Contagion of Two Adjectives—“Narcissistic” and “Self-Aggrandizing”—Triggered by LeBron James’s Media Event on Thursday Night

In the brouhaha following LeBron James’s decision and the way he let that decision be known to Cleveland and the rest of the world, two words have been on every critic’s lips: “narcissistic” and, to a lesser extent, “self-aggrandizing.” In fact, since the Thursday night sensation, I’ve seen many a media interview during which the guest--some noted sportscaster or the other--has used narcissistic as his only term of opprobrium and that too several times within just a few minutes. So, for talking heads and others who want to vent strong criticism of the way James handled his highly anticipated announcement, here are about a dozen other terms--in the order of mildest to the harshest--that could help break the annoying monotony of “narcissistic” and “self-aggrandizing” and thus quash this verbal contagion:

self-glorifying; self-centered; vain; egocentric; distasteful; tawdry;
egotistical; odious; conceited; egomaniacal; megalomaniacal; ignoble.