In 1998 Linda Stone, former Vice President of Microsoft, coined the term continuous partial attention. Stone is quoted in David Rock’s book, Your Brain at Work*, as saying that, “To pay continuous partial attention is to keep a top-level item in focus, and constantly scan the periphery in case something more important emerges”.

I acknowledge that in some situations it is important to have CPA (continuous partial attention). However, CPA can have damaging consequences. Read more…

To make a strong physical connection when you’re speaking to a group of people, cycle through the following technique: ‘Pause, lock & speak’. Here’s an explanation of the technique. 1. Pause: This means that when speaking, always inject pauses or pause gaps between your thought groups (English speakers talk in thought groups). Read more…

When you begin to speak, at a stand-up sales presentation for a large audience, ‘plant’ your feet while you deliver your opening words. After standing in that spot for a time, for your body movement for the rest of your spoken message delivery, think: ‘Move, Stop, Talk’. Read more…

Comedians say that ‘Distance is death’. What this means is that if a comedian is physically, too far away from the audience he/she will ‘die’ (ie. Not get any laughs). What does this have to do with delivering your sales presentations and spoken messages? Simply this. In any interaction be aware of the physical distance between yourself and the audience, even if you’re only interacting with one person. Read more…