Biesenblog
Riveting Insights on Communication, Storytelling and Presentation Skills
5 Reasons You Should Take Questions From Your Audience
I keep hearing speakers talk dismissively about audience Q&A. They feel it's a distraction from their message and they treat it as an afterthought. But I believe that whenever it's technically feasible you should always take questions from your audience. Based on...
Dead or Not, Email Makes You a Better Writer and Thinker
E-mail is a sinkhole where knowledge goes to die. People have been predicting the death of (and perhaps by) email for years, and the debate on the issue continues. I find email indispensable—at least in my professional life—and I was fascinated by this story on the...
My Little Heart Scare and Doctor-Patient Communication
I learned some valuable lessons about doctor-patient communication last week—and all I had to do was spend the night in the hospital. This is a tale of two healthcare professionals: one offered assurance, and the other almost gave me a heart attack. (Which would have...
Communication is Like Cake: Know When to Say When
How much communication is too much? That's a question that inevitably arises whenever I do a presentation or interview. Specifically, people will ask: When expressing emotion, how much emoting is too much? When doing business, how much chit chat is too much? When...
Act Your Way to Workplace Success: 3 Rules
Sometimes the keys to workplace success can be found in the most unexpected places. Like on the stage. Back when I was an improv student, I came across this great blog post called The Perfect Actor. It was written by Mick Napier, who's a legend on the Chicago comedy...
How to Write a Eulogy: Lessons From My Dad’s Funeral
My father died a year ago tomorrow, on September 11 of all days, and I was privileged to deliver a eulogy. For anyone struggling with this task, my advice is this: the first rule of writing a eulogy is there are no rules. And ignore anyone who pretends there is....
Does the First Draft of Your Writing Have to be Bad?
I must be a bad writer, because very often my first drafts are pretty good. And pretty close to what the final product ultimately looks like. Maybe my standards are low. Maybe I'm not the writer I think I am. Maybe I'm not a very good editor. Hemingway famously said,...
Free Guide: 7 Fatal Presentation Errors and How to Avoid Them
In today's attention-deficit world, you have to grab your audience right off the bat. So you can't afford to make unforced errors at the start of your presentation. That's why I put together this new quick-guide called 7 Fatal Presentation Errors and How to Avoid...
To Improve Your Writing, Stand Outside of It: 7 Tips
Sometimes the best way to improve your writing is to stop editing and tackle it from a completely different perspective. The Limits of Editing and Revising When I wrote my first book, I figured that after almost a year of revising and editing, I pretty much had it...
Six Public Speaking Tips From Ashton Kutcher
Ashton Kutcher's speech at the Teen Choice awards is getting a lot of attention, as well it should. It offers some solid public speaking tips that we can all learn from. Kutcher does a lot of things right. He clearly connects with his audience and speaks with passion...
Ditch the Elevator Pitch — Tell Your Story Instead
An elevator pitch can be a handy tool for networking, but it will only take you so far. If you really want to make a connection and influence people to act on your behalf (hire you, buy from you, help you in any way), you need to learn how to craft and tell the story...
Jeff Bezos’ Master Class in Employee Communications
The news that Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post was a shock. Almost as shocking was the textbook way he handled the delicate communication to employees. The Post is much more than a newspaper. It's practically a national institution -- one that many people, not...
