Friday, May 23, 2008

Carolyn Howard-Johnson Shares "How to Say It Better"

Visiting my public speaking class recently was Carolyn Howard-Johnson. Carolyn knows about being effective and producing results. She's an author who has published novels, poetry, short stories and "how to" books. She has won oodles of awards and honors. She's a speaker, teacher, actress and community leader. And, as the founder of Authors' Coalition, she is a guide and mentor for other authors. In short, Carolyn is a "whirling dervish!" So who better qualified to coach my UCLA Extension public speaking students on "how to say it better?" After each presentation, Carolyn shared her feedback. Some of her tips included (1) to use stories and anecdotes to bring your points to life (2) to replace the impersonal "people" and "they," which are distancing, with the personal and unifying "I" and "we" and (3) to eliminate slang and filler words ("like", "you know"). Little changes like this make the difference in coming across as a professional with credibility. Thank you, Carolyn, for your time and coaching!

1 comment:

Carolyn Howard-Johnson said...

This would be a great blog in any case, Pam. You are so diligent in recording the goings-on that make great marketing for a coach and author like you. But with all the Authors' Coalition related activities in addition to my fun visit with your class...well! It just couldn't be better. LOL.

Very best,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Award-winning author of This Is the Place, Harkening, Tracings and the HowToDoItFrugally series of book for writers
www.howtodoitfrugally.com