public speaking

Webinar Training


This is the one area where media training skills and presentation training skills intersect.

Presentation Skills are important, but how does it relate to the world of webinars. This video bottom line’s what to worry about and common pitfalls.

The Dale Carnegie technique doesn’t work any more: “Tell the audience what you’re going to say, say it; then tell them what you’ve said.” Sometimes it is quoted as “Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em, tell ‘em, then tell ‘em what you told ‘em.”

This will bore your audience and cause them to start reading their email until you say something interesting!

Reading a PowerPoint to them for an hour won’t work either.

Watch closely so you can know the do’s and don’ts when it comes to webinars and webinar presentation skils. Presentation skills are not some elusive set of skills that you must take years to learn. You can quickly take these communication tips and implement.

The 55-38-7 “Rule”


Debunking the 55%, 38%, 7% Rule: If you have ever taken a public speaking course, you probably have heard of the so-called 55%, 38%, 7% Rule. This rule states that 55% of the meaning of communication is body language, 38% is in tonality, and 7% represents the words, content or messages.

In this video, I show that this does not seem to be true. Of course, you be the judge and weigh in.

Dr. C.E. “Buzz” Johnson, a Certified Trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, wrote in a 1994 issue of Anchor Point magazine:

“…If these percentages were really valid it would mean that the learning of foreign languages could be greatly abbreviated. After all, if the words only account for 7% of the meaning of communication, we should all be able to go to any country in the world and simply by listening to the tone and carefully observing body language, be able to accurately interpret 93% of their communications!”

Professor Albert Mehrabian, Ph.D., of the University of California, Los Angles (UCLA), is credited as the originator of the 55%, 38%, 7% Rule. He and his colleagues conducted two studies on communication patterns and published the studies in professional journals in 1967.

Mehrabian published the results of his work in two books, Silent Messages (Wadsworth Publishing, 1971) and Nonverbal Communications (Aldine Atherton, Inc., 1972).

Mehrabian has stated (Anchor Point, 1994) that he never intended his results to be applied to normal conversation (and probably not to public speaking either). He only wanted to help his readers resolve incongruent messages regarding liking and disliking. Thus, his research has useful, albeit limited applications, which have been blown out of proportion.