One of the biggest communication blocks in any new or anxiety-producing situation (such as performing a presentation at a meeting, asking your boss for a raise or having a heart-to-heart with your significant other) is articulating your thoughts.
You may know all the right things to say—may even have rehearsed your speech over and over and over ("These budget cuts alone have not been enough to put us in the black this quarter;" "Sir, I've been your top-selling rep for three years in a row, but my compensation does not reflect this;" "Honey, I love you, but something's been bothering me lately"—gulp!). But knowing and doing are two different things. Knowing and speaking are different animals entirely.
My own speech mentor (from the public speaking club Extreme Toastmasters in Chicago), Tim Wilson, recommends visual mapping as a way to organize and memorize the words you want to say. Fellow blogger Dave Gray of St. Louis agrees: He's created a lens on Squidoo that houses a variety of mind-mapping demos. Below are links to both Dave's and Tim's public works. When you check out their sites, tell 'em Kealah sent ya!
www.squidoo.com/visualmapping
www.communicationnation.blogspot.com
PowerVoices/about_tim
Oh, and if you have any thoughts or experiences with visual mapping, be sure and articulate them in the comments section. Thanks!
(c) KiKi Productions, Inc. 2009
May 29, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Speak YOUR TRUTH now!