Hinton :

Do you know the 3 best headline writing tricks ever … anyone can do, guaranteed!

Michael Hinton — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:51:57 +0000

Today, I was reading an article in IABCs Communication World – “What can we learn from the ‘real world’” – by Steve Crencenzo. Steve advises companies on how to write headlines so employees, customers and other people they want to influence will read what they have to say. He suggests that you write your headlines the [...]

You have a presentation to make

Michael Hinton — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:00:49 +0000

You get there just in time, find the room, and grab an empty seat. The event begins and you sit patiently listening to the other speakers and making small talk with the people at your table. Finally, after an hour and half of waiting, it’s your turn. You look around the room as you’re being introduced. The [...]

Shocking news!

Michael Hinton — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:02:26 +0000

The shocking news on the internet is that presentation coaches have been telling you a lie: Mehrabian’s so-called “55 - 38 - 7 rule” is a myth. How shocked should you be? My take as a presentations coach is - not very. The rule as it is usually presented in presentation workshops and seminars is that only 7 percent of the “impact” [...]

Shining eyes

Deborah Hinton — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:26:36 +0000

“A [symphony orchestra] conductor doesn’t make a sound. His job is to awaken the possibility in other people.” This is what Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic, says. And, how do you know you’re doing it? “If their eyes are shining, you know you’re doing it… It’s about how many shiny eyes are around [...]

Why oh why do presenters put so, so much text on their PowerPoint slides?

Michael Hinton — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:06:09 +0000

Recently the LinkedIn HR discussion group I follow asked the question: “PowerPoint slides loaded with paragraphs of text … is this laziness? Lack of awareness? Do people really think this is good visual support? What do you think?” The answers: they don’t know what they’re doing they don’t know they don’t know what their doing [...]

Be aware, be very aware

Michael Hinton — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:44:49 +0000

Dale Carnegie once said people will judge you not only by what you do, but also by how you do it, and what you say, and how you say it. In other words, words and speech matter. True, but strong and silent men and women have even more problems. Because in the real world people will judge you not [...]

If the US Army is embracing social media, you can too!

Deborah Hinton — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:19:56 +0000

Imagine this paragraph from the opening letter to the US Army’s social media policy - Army social media – Optimizing online engagement - written for your organization: “Social media is constantly evolving, and it is not going away. Soldiers [read - our employees] have always been and always will be our best story tellers –they are the Strength of the nation [read - our business or organization or community]. Social media helps us connect America [read - our customers or donors or shareholders and their families] to its army [read [...]

Thriving in chaos

Deborah Hinton — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:59:36 +0000

According to a recent article in Fast Company, This Is Generation Flux: Meet The Pioneers Of The New (And Chaotic) Frontier Of Business, we’re in trouble. The volume and pace of change is relentless and uncontrollable. We can’t know the future. And the past may or may not be relevant. It’s chaos. “Our institutions are out [...]

Rest, renewal & the global situation

Deborah Hinton — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:50:29 +0000

When you drive a big rig, the time you drive and rest is regulated for safety reasons. When you fly a plane, the time you fly and rest is regulated for safety reasons. When you’re a senior leader making decision that affect 1,000s, maybe 100,000s, of people – employees and customers and communities – you [...]

Learning from the Bishop’s wife

Deborah Hinton — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:57:29 +0000

It’s that time of year in the household. The time of year when we dust off all our of our old and favourite Christmas movies. Last night we watched “