Home Archives for communications skills
August 16, 2008 1 Comment

The Company Rocks: Words Blog

Welcome to my latest blog “The Company Rocks Words!” Here, you will find short video tutorials offering you “tips & time-savers” when you use Microsoft Word. You will also find articles and commentary on our use of words to communicate ideas and to share information. We will examine which words work better than other words – and the reasons why they are effective.

I train individuals and groups to get the most out of MS Word for Windows. And, I train clients to improve their communications skills. My clients range from students to Fortune 500 executives. I have trained clients in a variety of industries; in the United States, Canada and Australia.

Most of my clients realize that they use only a fraction of Word’s powerful features. And… they want to learn how to tap into Word’s power in order to:

  • Save time
  • Be more productive
  • Present text in a clearly understood, professional manner

On this blog, I will share my tips with you via video tutorials. Each lesson will be brief (between 3 and 5 minutes) and to the point (1 concept per video.)

Many of these tips will show you how to transition from your familiar work in MS Word 2003 to the dramatically different Word 2007 interface.

The current version, 2007, is quite different – to say the least! Many clients are initially intimidated by the radically different interface. I will help you to transition to the new version – when you are ready.

So, check in often to see the latest tips that I add to the blog. And… please feel free to share your own “tips and time-savers” with our readers.

Ask questions. I will answer them individually as quickly as I can.

Sincerely,

Danny Rocks

Link to this post!
Filed Under: Communications, MS Word, Word Tips Tagged: ,
March 25, 2008 Leave a Comment

Vocal Graffiti – You Know

Speaking in public is a challenge. Most people fear it. Speaking in public, with cameras recording what you say and how you say it, is even more challenging. When your audience watches the video – days, weeks or even years later – it no longer appears to be a “live event.” The “live” audience that applauds your spontaneity, given the heat of the moment, is a different audience from the one that views the video through a different filter. The filter of time. The filter of history. The filter of “gotcha!”

This is the audience who will point to your grammatical lapses as proof that you are not as educated as you claim. This is the audience who can now “prove” that you lack the experience that you claimed to have. This is an audience that most speakers completely disregard – at their peril!

This is the age of YouTube. This is the dilemma that Sen. Hillary Clinton finds herself in. YouTube sleuths and the Mainstream Media are falling all over themselves to show how Sen. Clinton’s recollection of her “dangerous” arrival in Bosnia is dramatically different from her actual arrival as documented by news reports on the scene those many years ago.

It is not just the case that the “video never lies.” The “video never dies!”

The video is always there, lurking in the archives, ready to bite us wherever and whenever. And video is now viral – its reach is global and instantaneous.

So… if you are already fearful of speaking in public, you have a few more things to learn: Continue reading “Vocal Graffiti – You Know” »

Filed Under: Business Communications, Communications, Presentations, Public Speaking Tagged: , , , , , ,