by Paul Quinn | Oct 15, 2021 | Communication Skills, Presentation Skills
Many years ago, I lived in a large apartment building and had an upstairs neighbor, “Dave,” who was a compulsive talker. With Dave, there was no such thing as a conversation “in passing,” because every conversation quickly turned into a hostage situation. An affable...
by Paul Quinn | Oct 10, 2021 | Presentation Skills
There was a time when giving presentations meant copying a certain style of delivery. The “proper” presenter spoke with a resonant voice for radio, didn’t move much, and used stiffly controlled gestures. He or she was expected to formally demonstrate perfect poise and...
by Paul Quinn | Oct 1, 2018 | Communication Skills, Healthcare, Workplace Etiquette
Anyone who has spent a few nights in a hospital knows how stressful the experience can be. In addition to physical pain or discomfort, nighttime interruptions by hospital staff and the steady beeping of bedside monitors can make sleeping difficult. Worries about one’s...
by Paul Quinn | Sep 26, 2018 | Communication Skills, Interviewing Skills, Presentation Skills
Hey, America—why this massive, meaningless, middling overuse of “kind of” and “sort of” (aka kinda sorta) in public and private discourse? Like uptalk, that ubiquitous rising inflection that makes statements sound like questions, kinda sorta is the death blow to...
by Paul Quinn | Jul 12, 2018 | Presentation Skills
Uptalk, also called upspeak, is when a statement is made with an upward-drifting inflection that makes it sound like a question. For example, a declaration of fact such as “I have a new car” sounds like “I have a new car?” — in contrast to a falling pitch that...
