What are your thoughts on saying “no” to or declining a request made by your boss, especially when they don’t respect your boundaries? This happens all the time to my clients. They speak excellent English, but what they don’t have yet is a way to stay composed when a senior boss or stakeholder gets loud,…
Do you think it’s important to “speak quickly” so you “can sound more like a native speaker” or “sound more confident”? That’s a common challenge I see with my clients and many managers, directors, and founders during tense negotiations: The Problem: They get nervous, the pressure kicks in, and they start talking too fast. They…
What impact do you think remaining calm and grounded in tough, sensitive, and tense conversations has? The Problem: Here’s what many managers, directors, and founders get wrong in high-pressure conversations: They match the other person’s energy. They take things personally and feel attacked. The moment things get tense, they get reactive. When their ideas are…
What’s your view and take on networking within your company? The Problem: Many professionals misunderstand networking inside their own companies. Some avoid it completely because they think networking means “kissing up” to senior leaders. They don’t want to compromise their standards, so they keep their heads down, work hard, and hope their results will…
Many managers and directors believe great public speakers succeed simply because they’re charismatic. They assume the secret is charm, energy, clever wording, and polished stage presence. So then they go out and “perform” these things during their presentations, meetings, and proposals. They load their presentations with fancy jargon. They build complicated PowerPoint decks full of…
How do you feel when someone tells you, “no thanks,” or worse… “I’ll think about it” after you make your pitch or offer? Most managers and directors I work with panic the moment they hear these phrases. They either retreat politely by saying something like, “oh ok, no problem at all, I completely understand”, or…
One of the most common mistakes I see in life science managers and leaders—especially when speaking in English—is unnecessary apologizing.“I’m sorry, but maybe we could…”“Sorry, this might not be right, but…”“Sorry if this doesn’t make sense…”“Sorry, but I think we should do this….”“Sorry, please forgive my poor English…”They over-apologize.They over-explain.And in doing so, they weaken…
What’s your opinion of Q&A sessions? For many of my clients, it’s what they fear the most when it comes to presentations, meetings, and proposals. They prepare their slides. They rehearse their key points. They polish their opening and closing. Then, at the end, they somewhat passively ask, “Any questions?”, cross their fingers, and hope…
“Win-win” sounds good. It sounds fair, considerate of your counterpart, and respectful. But in reality, countless managers get this wrong, and it causes them to burn out, get frustrated, only get lousy deals, and almost always “get the short end of the stick”. They walk into negotiations thinking, “Let’s make sure everyone wins.” What they actually…
I know this might sound a little weird since I talk often about clear outcomes, objectives, and CTAs when negotiating, presenting, or selling something. But there’s a key difference between having clear objectives and aims, and solely focusing on those outcomes and aims during a conversation. Let me explain. One of the biggest mistakes managers and directors make…