Phil Stella

COSE 2011 Volunteer of the Year Award

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“It was a true pleasure having Phil serve as our 2011 Small Business Conference Task Team Chair. He came with great ideas, passion and commitment for taking our conference to the next level. At COSE, we are so grateful to have incredible volunteer leaders like Phil and we find it of utmost importance to recognize … Read more

More Phil’s Faves

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Looks like this new content item was a hit, based on reader reactions. So, a few more ‘Best Practices’ you’d hear in one of my workshops: Err on the side of over-communicating important messages to increase your probability of success. Go beyond the ‘first word you can think of’ or the ‘word you usually think … Read more

Escalator Speech – Revisited

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I recently responded to a comment about my take on ‘escalator speeches’.  The reader liked it and indicated that you’d have to be fast and to the point to make it work. He also offered his own sample. Yes, the whole point here is fast, concise, focused and to the point. His escalator speech – … Read more

January Good Read

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Another good title to add to your Bookshelf: ‘Get Connected: the Social Networking Toolkit for Business’, Starr Hall & Chadd Rosenberg, Entrepreneur Press, 2009

Why are so many content experts terrible speakers?

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I recently engaged in a LinkedIn discussion group on this topic … Fortunately, lots of content experts are terrible speakers and sometimes they hire people like me to help them. Here are some thoughts I share with my executive coaching clients who fall into that category: Content experts who automatically think they’d be great presenters … Read more

Always Break the Rules

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Last month’s piece on ‘WordPower’ generated some interesting off-line conversations. One reader asked about which traditional grammar rules you could break today … and get away with it. Here’s a summary of that dialogue.

I hated traditional grammar in school like most people … and most writers. So, I routinely break some time-honored practices today just to have fun, flaunt my sense of independence and creativity and get back as Sister Mary Apostrophe for all her abuses in 11th grade English class. If only she could know that I earn some of my living as a professional freelance writer and business writing trainer, she’d turn over in her grave in Grammar Hell.

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Surviving the Q&A

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We recently discussed some effective strategies for handling audience questions – you can choose to hold them until the end, invite them anytime or try one of the hybrid strategies described in detail. So, someone asks a question. Now what do you do? Here are some Best Practices to help you survive and thrive during Q&A.

  • Look directly at the questioner and listen intently for the concept or main idea behind the question. This helps you deal with the actual question, not the first few words. Wait patiently until the person finishes.
  • Don’t jump in with your answer. Make sure you know what the question is all about. If you’re not sure, ask for clarification.
  • Don’t thank them for the question or indicate, “That’s a good question.” These contrived attempts at courtesy don’t accomplish anything except taking time away from your answers.

Maximize Your Tradeshow ROI

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Many sales professionals and entrepreneurs use business expos and trade shows to market their products and services and network with prospects, clients and colleagues. If that strategy works for your business, here are four Best Practices to help you maximize your trade show experience, ROI and value.

1. Work Your Booth

  • Stand in front of your booth and warmly greet people passing by.
  • Don’t eat or sit – you came to work.
  • Don’t chat with booth mates when you could be chatting with prospects.

2. Ask Good Questions

  • Ask brief, focused questions like “What do you do?” … “Do you use (service or product you provide)?” … “Who provides it now?”… “Would you like some information on our (service or product)?”
  • Ask for their cards and wait for them to ask for yours. Don’t just stuff one in their bag.

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Gangster Quote-ables

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If you’re a fan of gangster movies like I am, try weaving these classic gems into your workplace conversations and presentations: *  ‘Talking is something you can’t do judiciously unless you keep in practice.’ Kasper Gutman (played by Sidney Greenstreet), ‘The Maltese Falcon’, (1941) *  ‘You can get farther with a kind word and a … Read more

Phil’s Faves

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Here are three of my favorite tag lines from my business writing workshops and coaching engagements: ‘The only thing worse than a bad email is a good email that should have been a phone call or face-to-face chat instead.’ ‘Everything you write or say at work projects your image of professionalism, courtesy and credibility … … Read more