Last week I sat in an audience judging seven new business pitches from local entrepreneurs. With some combination of anxiety and excitement, each entrepreneur made their case in less than five minutes, hoping to get the audience to understand and buy in to a concept they’ve spent substantial time developing. Which entrepreneur got the most
My last article presented 10 forms of personal reactivity that everyone should carefully manage. Whether it’s anger, anxiety, worry, blame, insecurity or lack of boundaries, emotional triggers disrupt relationship health. While those reactions might be our default responses, awareness helps us interrupt the patterns and make different choices about how we behave, especially in challenging
Recently, I came on too strong with someone. My voice was a bit loud and aggressive. My words were harsh. I was right to be upset, but my reaction only escalated the situation, and the relationship was strained as a result. In the end, I’m not sure anything productive was accomplished. Perhaps I drove my
One summer while away at college, my roommate and I rode our bikes 10 miles through the city of Boston to the ocean. We randomly arrived to see streams of elegantly dressed people moving toward a large pavilion. “What’s happening?” we asked. “John Denver concert!” Wow, we thought. This looked incredible. To see John Denver
I wrote the following in January, 2016. Since then, I’ve exchanged diapers for youth sports. Pandemic restrictions have come and gone but full schedules and high demands remain the reality. Perhaps, like me, you need to re-establish your limits to enjoy greater clarity and connection with others. ***** When I started my day last Sunday,
Thanks to my wife, my kids have better homework habits than I had. They recently told me about how many kids in their class were “freaking out” about an upcoming summative test. “But we,” they explained, “are feeling pretty relaxed about it because we’ve simply been paying attention and grinding out the homework.” I couldn’t
I didn’t use ChatGPT to write this article, unlike my last one. However, I’ve been thinking about ChatGPT “prompt engineers” who make close to $350,000 without any previous professional experience. Essentially, a prompt engineer asks ChatGPT really good questions in order to get really good responses. Call them AI Whisperers. It makes me wonder, do
After my article last week about the five keys to “being heard,” a friend challenged me to write a follow-up on writing an email you want someone to read. Since many people are turning to ChatGPT for marketing and writing support, I thought I’d ask it some questions on the topic. Hope you enjoy this
In September, 1928, a Scottish physician discovered the world’s first antibiotic: penicillin. This groundbreaking advancement earned Sir Alexander Fleming knighthood and the Nobel Prize. Yet, soon after this achievement, he began publicly warning that bacteria could become immune or resistant to antibiotics if exposed to non-lethal quantities. Few listened to him. Despite his warnings, the
Recently, after stopping in a hardware store with my sons, one of them pointed out that my accent had shifted. Apparently, without realizing it, I spoke to the man working in the hardware store with a very strong “Minnesota accent.” It was surprising to have this pointed out since I didn’t notice the shift. According
Matt Norman is president of Norman & Associates, which offers Dale Carnegie Training in the North Central US. Dale Carnegie Training is a global organization ...READ MORE