by Franklin Wordsmith | Nov 6, 2018 | Leadership
“You attract more bees with honey than vinegar,” my grandmother—and maybe yours—used to say.“Yah, yah,” I used to reply sarcastically to myself, as I tuned her out.It turns out she had the makings of a good leader.It’s Science, but not Rocket ScienceCase Western...
by Franklin Wordsmith | Nov 4, 2018 | Leadership
Maybe like me, you thought that empathy was putting yourself in another person’s shoes. It turns out that’s one kind — but there’s a second type that’s better. Using the latter does more than make the people you’re with feel better....
by Franklin Wordsmith | Oct 24, 2018 | Leadership
When I became president of the Illinois Chapter of the National Speakers Association (NSA-IL) this year, I knew my leadership style needed to change.In a sentence, my traditional approach had been “give me a project: I’ll lead it and get it done.”That could...
by Franklin Wordsmith | Aug 9, 2016 | Culture, Persuasion
I can think my case for why a client should change a speech to make it more interesting to his audience makes this a no-brainer. But sometimes he still won’t do it.Before we start mumbling about clients having all of the money and none of the sense, it’s time to look...
by Franklin Wordsmith | Mar 8, 2016 | Leadership
After giving a workshop on creating elevator pitches, I checked in with people as they left. One woman said, “This was really useful. Except this guy at our table wouldn’t stop talking. So some of us didn’t get the chance to practice.”I knew this guy. (We all do.) I’d...
