Category Archives: Articles

Time to Make-over Your VM Greeting

By Phil Stella | Published: December 7, 2022

I’m getting  really tired of ranting about this issue in ‘Communicate ‘Confidently!’. Unfortunately, the problem still exists and I wonder if I’m the only communicator who cares. So, here I go again … and don’t try to stop me.

Talk about making a good first impression! Often, the first exposure your customers, prospects and colleagues have of you and your business is what they hear in your voice mail greeting. Is it caller-centric, clear, focused, helpful, lively and professional? When was the last time you listened to it?

If you’re not sure, call in and hear what they hear. If you like what it says about your business values, style and personality… fine. Leave it alone. If not, it might be time for a make-over. Read More »

Mastering Holiday Event Small Talk

By Phil Stella | Published: December 7, 2022

(With many business groups holding holiday parties or events this month, it made sense to re-run this piece on small talk – timing is everything. Best wishes for successful schmoozing!

A reader recently asked about using small talk at networking events or meetings. My simple response – just say ‘NO’ to small talk. It doesn’t help you that much. Go for ‘Big Talk’ instead. The rest of my rant … Read More »

Surviving Q & A

By Phil Stella | Published: November 1, 2022

As workplace presenters, you have two basic strategies for handling audience questions – holding them until the end or handling them anytime. Both approaches work, but each has some disadvantages. 

There also are two hybrid strategies that involve the best features of both approaches. So, here’s how you can easily survive Q&A and even enjoy the process. Read More »

Five Simple Phone Tactics to Overhaul Your Image

By Phil Stella | Published: November 1, 2022

Most small businesses facing the challenge of improving their image in the marketplace are starring at major investments of time and money. Properly planned and launched, those investments can earn significant positive results.

But what about the rest of us with similar needs but no deep pockets to pull all that off? Are we doomed to endure the mediocre or amateurish image we’ve created by what we’ve done or not done since we started our businesses? Read More »

Long Live Word Power! Always Break the Rules

By Phil Stella | Published: November 1, 2022

Strike out against oppression – there are some rules of grammar you can and should consider break if you want to enhance your routine workplace writing and write free!

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 at Professor Gwendolyn Apostrophe-Dingleberry 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 executive writing coach, she’d turn over in her grave in Grammar Hell. Read More »

Make One-on-One Meetings Work

By Phil Stella | Published: October 8, 2022

Management-staff one-on-one meetings should be a regular component of any organization’s Performance Management system. They allow for maintaining professional relationships and providing constructive ‘Plus/Delta’ feedback.

‘Pluses’ are an employee’s specific tasks, accomplishments or behaviors that are working well and adding value that should be continued or even expanded. ‘Deltas’ are not negatives but specific changes in activity or methods that will improve results. Usually the change is doing less of something that isn’t working or stopping it completely, or doing more of something that would work better. Read More »

Connect with Class

By Phil Stella | Published: October 8, 2022

Have you ever gotten an email like this? ‘Hi Phil, Tony Grosso suggested I contact you. I’d like to meet with you to network and discuss my job search. Let me know some good times to get together. Regards … Chuck Upton.’

While harmless enough, concise and clear, Chuck could have been much more effective, efficient and engaging.  He could have indicated: Read More »

What if You Are the Best Choice?

By Phil Stella | Published: October 8, 2022

Last month, we discussed some strategies to consider when you realize you’re not the right choice for a product or service that your prospect needs. It earned lots of positive comments and some people even indicated that they had never even thought about some of the strategies mentioned. 

So, this topic should be obvious – ‘What if your business IS the right choice?’ Some of the brief 10 steps will be obvious, too, … but, some won’t. So read and heed. Read More »

When You’re Not the One …

By Phil Stella | Published: September 12, 2022

A reader recently asked about what you should do if you conclude you’re not the client’s best choice during the fact-gathering process?

The answer may seem obvious, but let’s get down in the weeds to consider options when you realize that you can’t do it as fast or as well or as inexpensively as the prospect wants.

Read More »

And You Can Quote Me!

By Phil Stella | Published: September 12, 2022

I love using quotes in my writing and presentations – I really do.They can add sizzle, credibility or perspective to the message. However, I’m adamant about including author details.

Few people are so well known that they don’t need any reference, like Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, Winston Churchill or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. For the rest, we need to answer the question readers or listeners often have – ‘So … who is that person?’

Read More »