As we witness the parade of incompetence that has become our Congress, I cannot remain cynical when I find stories like this.

This one is close to home. I know Joyce personally.

Valley woman helps abuse survivors through art.

I hope this energy inspires you to reach out in your own way.
Community service is not only good for business, it is fulfilling for us to share.

Please let me know about community projects in your area.

Your coach,
Michelle Cubas

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by Coachcubas

business coaching, debate, Emotional Intelligence 2.0, Literacy, Performance, speech

How Do You Listen?

October 3, 2008

Coach Cubas’ Debate Post-Mortem—What Can We Learn?

The vice-presidential program ended with a huge sign of relief for the Republicans and Democrats. My comments will reflect tactics and technique rather than my personal comments about the candidates.

This program didn’t resemble typical debate format:
“Debate topics are worded so that one team must succeed and one team must fail or in a draw. They must meet the requirements of the proposition.”

Violation of Rule 10—Any gains made outside of the established procedure are disallowed.
What does it say about a participant who denies the rules. Just to declare that one will answer in her own way was defiant, a tone that later led to Palin’s inability to “hear” what was going on around her as she was fed to the “lions” of blame for a failed campaign.

Observations:

Good use of direct into the camera focus by Palin
Biden changed his vocal tone throughout
Histrionics—Overstatement, overacting, exaggerated responses like inflections
Clichés—sound bites ad nauseum, finger pointing
“Over speak”—reminds me of students who learn “big” words to sound smart.
Inappropriate word choices like, “You betcha . . .”, to sound folksy instead of connecting on a genuine level
Insulting references—defining population segments like Joe 6 Pack and Hockey Moms. These sounded like caricatures out of South Park.
Opportunistic moves
Spelling bee stature (Chris Matthews’ reference)
Staged interview rather than a lively discussion of issues. Waiting to speak rather than an authentic response.

To assist you in planning your next speech or presentation, consider these sample references:

Remember, if you’re listener-centric, you’ll always hit your target.
Give the listener time to process what is being said.
Visual references and metaphors are useful tools to paint mental pictures (memory anchors)
Write the end of your presentation first and work it back. That’s what you want the audience to take away.
Speak in a conversational tone—your listener will appreciate your reaching out to make a connection.

Any questions? Please send me an email if you’re building an idea for a speech or presentation.

Your coach,
Michelle Cubas

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by Coachcubas

business coaching, consumers, Emotional Intelligence 2.0, Marketing, Strategic Plan

We’ve Sold the Soul of Marketing

September 10, 2008

In Response to: Cory Treffiletti What Does The Future Look Like? Or, What I Read On My Summer Vacation

Hi, Cory,

Timely posting during the political campaigns. I’d like to add a third slant to your either/or. As a marketer I’m aware of the sectors, objectives and the “speak” that swirls around my profession. Here’s my rudimentary slant: Remove GREED from the picture. How novel is that!

What that does is remove the barriers and second guessing of getting into people’s heads and actually provides a pure channel to serve the consumers rather than outsmart them. Greed makes the actions self-perpetuating. Look at the spin-off business from this approach. It keeps expanding exponentially like social media. What’s the reality of managing all these elements?

I see current marketing practices as oversell and numbing, an avalanche of information and intrusive to boot. Currently, our biology hasn’t caught up with our technology™ so we’re overwhelmed and don’t know what to look at first. How do you break through that?

The marketing I use is to find out what people need from me (my homework), deliver the message (variety of methods) of how they will benefit working with www.positivepotentials.com, and “show up” for them, not me. As simplistic as it sounds, this approach eliminates the competing “noise” because people are delighted that someone wants to serve them rather than take their money.

My approach is to slow down, take note and deliver. It works well for me, and I’ve been in business since 1982. I use this approach to build my coaching practice because of the multitude of coaches around. I guess marketers have to justify their own existence when only driven by revenues rather than value. I say to that, try running a business without marketing; no justification needed.

One last thought, imagine if the candidates adhered to such a simpler approach, not only would we know more about them, because they would discuss the opportunity of what they bring to the scene, they wouldn’t have to denigrate the opponent. If one is spending millions of dollars, why not promote your own view? I never quite understood why they miss the chance to promote their own ideas.

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by Coachcubas

Mega Community Service

Valley woman helps abuse survivors through art.

How Do You Listen?

We’ve Sold the Soul of Marketing

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