Every fall and spring I get a call from an unknown number starting with the area code "517." It takes me a moment but as soon as I answer and hear that nervous young voice asking for "Mr. Markou" I immediately recognize it as a student from my alma mater, Michigan State University (MSU), calling to [Read More]
Email signatures have become a common business communication convention these days. While most people use email signatures to communicate relevant company and contact information, many use this digital real estate to convey campaigns or include key messages. Recently I have noticed an increase in cr [Read More]
The first time I conducted, what I now affectionately call “The Smile Project,” I was sitting on the outdoor patio of a cafe in Lagos, Portugal. It was a January afternoon earlier this year. Picture this: blue sky, light breeze, the sounds of the sea waves nearby, and twenty or so tables full of peo [Read More]
Where do creative and innovative ideas come from? Is it a process or does a flash of inspiration strike some unsuspecting brainstormer in a moment of utter clarity? One day my wife, Katharine (Kat), brought home an interesting drawing from one of her colleagues, Lucy Flanagan, that explored her own [Read More]
I apologize for the delay in this week's article but it required some deep psychological research into the bowels of the human psyche. Last week I received an anonymous email through the website that read like this: Hello - I am a regular reader of The Art of Advice and I thought I'd pose the follo [Read More]
It’s no wonder we call it “Business,” though more often than not, it should be "busy-ness." Ask any business-person “how are you doing?” or “how’s it going?” and most will respond with “busy.” The word “busy” is an empty yet powerfully addictive word. Its use has become a reflex for many people and [Read More]
The following article is a guest blog by Katharine Greis. Katharine is Vice President of Business Development and Event Production at Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG). The opinions expressed within this article are her own and do not in any way reflect those of SMG, their affiliates or partners. CES is [Read More]
Those who have worked with radios use a system of speech codes called “APCO 10 Codes” or “10 Codes” (see APCO: Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials). 10 Codes were adopted to provide clarity and brevity for the operation of two-way radios. Perhaps the best known 10 Code is “10-4” wh [Read More]
When was the last time you gave a presentation to a group of 20 or more people? Were you intimidated or did you own the room? Did you exude confidence or make the audience writhe in their seats? There are endless techniques you can use to perfect your delivery and enhance your presentations but one [Read More]
The other day I overheard a conversation in the airport. Sure, I overhear a lot of conversations at many airports but this one struck me as I waited to board my flight. A sharp-dressed older man in a blue Burberry sport coat, perfectly pressed tan slacks and a custom-tailored shirt was speaking with [Read More]
This week I have the privilege of featuring a talented management consultant and communications guru, Bryan Komornik. Bryan is a Manager with Invoyent based in Chicago with an impressive track record of clients and projects under his belt. A few weeks back, Bryan and I were exchanging tips and tri [Read More]
This article is part three of a three-part series on PowerPoint Rules of the Road. You can read rule one and two that covers recommendations and tips on slide deck format and flow. Fiber The Main Point Ironically, the content of the slides is the last component I generally look at. Only after all [Read More]
This article is part two of a three-part series on PowerPoint Rules of the Road. You can read rule one here that covers recommendations and tips on slide deck format. Flow The Storyline Imagine watching 2 minutes of a sitcom, 1 minute of a reality show, 3 minutes of the news and 5 minutes of a docu [Read More]
It's not often that I rant (well, not THAT often at least) but I have a few things I have to get off my chest regarding slide deck creation (also known as PowerPoint). Like many of of my consulting and professorial colleagues, I spend a lot of time working in the medium of Microsoft PowerPoint and [Read More]
Today EY released our whitepaper titled Building Trust in the Cloud: Creating Confidence in Your Cloud Ecosystem. This piece of thought leadership represents the culmination of collaborative thinking from many of our firm's foremost leaders in technology and business and provides a clear set of con [Read More]
The Dangers of “License to Kill” Phrases OK, so this may not be one of my best blog titles but I thought it very appropriate to illustrate an observation to which we can all relate. After all, ‘tis the season for feedback! Companies with June 30th year-ends are likely in the throes of performance [Read More]
Channeling Negative Energy Through a Positive Outlook Kung-Fu has been described as the study of energy redirection. One of the core tenets of this ancient Chinese martial art focuses on channeling the aggression of one’s opponent into positive energy used as a defense or counter-attack. Watching a [Read More]
The world is filled with problems, boundless problems! Some problems are easy: what should I have for lunch? What color socks should I wear today? Should I get gas now or see how far I can drive on the yellow light (well, maybe that one is not so easy)? And some problems are difficult: how do we c [Read More]
Do you create a lot of presentations? Slide decks are a reality of business these days. Love it or hate it, slide decks are a nice way to present complex topics in a simple format, or so it would seem. Every year I spend many hours with my students discussing how to put together winning presentatio [Read More]
It has been said that everyone's favorite topic is themselves. After all, it's the topic we know the most about. Who better an expert about ourselves than ourselves? The irony of this observation is: in a conversation between two people who only discuss themselves, neither one gets to discuss their [Read More]
