Loud & Clear

Loud & Clear

by Karen Berg
Released May 2008
Publisher(s): Career Press
ISBN: 9781564149879

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Book description

“Whether you’re training a junior account executive in presentation skills or media training a CEO in the middle of a PR crisis, Karen Berg delivers, helping find a winning bottom line message no matter the need.”

—John Frazier, executive vice president, Quinn & Co.

Loud & Clear is essential for everyone who needs to know how to get what he or she wants from anyone. Whether you need to get a message through to an employer, team, committee, your staff, your neighbor, teacher, student, or spouse, this book will show you how to get their attention by:

• Using your head. Before you even think about opening your mouth, you need to think long and hard about the person you want to influence and how to say what you want.

• Connecting with your listener(s). Berg will show you how to establish chemistry and intimacy with your listeners—from an individual to a stadium-sized audience—to make them want to listen to you.

• Keeping their interest. Why “soft” communication, such as story-telling and picture-painting, are important devices and how to use them effectively. Plus, how to avoid the dreaded “drone factor.”

• Saying it right. Speech and body language techniques make a lasting impression.

• Anticipating and overcoming the negatives. How to recognize disaster before it strikes, and handle it when it does.

Each chapter also features a topic-specific “plan of attack,” plus plenty of client stories, checklists, worksheets, and quizzes. For an employee trying to get a raise, a committee leader who needs to motivate a team, a traveler trying to book a better flight, or a student trying to clinch a better grade, Berg’s proven methods will help you say what you mean to get what you want.

Karen Berg, CEO of CommCore Strategies, is a communication strategist and international speaker who has trained thousands of professionals for crisis management, shareholders meetings, management presentations, government and expert witness testimony, product launch campaigns, media interviews, and more. Coauthor of the million-copy best-seller Get to the Point, Berg is a recognized industry trendsetter whose views on communications issues are featured regularly in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Redbook, Working Woman, McCall’s, and other publications. Frequently interviewed on communication trends, she has appeared on CNN, CNBC, and Today in New York. Berg lives in White Plains, New York

Table of contents

  1. Praise
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Table of Contents
  5. Dedication
  6. Introduction
  7. STRATEGY 1 - PROBE: Targeting Your Audience
    1. Who Are These People?
    2. Crowded House
    3. Anticipating the Agendas of Others
    4. Changing Obstacles Into Opportunities
    5. Stranger in a Strange Land
    6. Excursions in Unfamiliar Territory
    7. Crossing Cultural Borders
    8. Entering a Different Generational Zone
    9. Relationship Sabotage
    10. Whippersnapper Whips Up a Miracle
    11. Scoping the Territory
    12. The Bearer of Bad News
    13. Probe: At a Glance
  8. STRATEGY 2 - POSITION: Massaging Messages and Maneuvering Meetings
    1. Thoroughly Modern Memory
    2. What’s in a Word?
    3. Thanks for the Memories
    4. How the Other Half Thinks
    5. The Message Map
    6. Take Control of Your Life, Please
    7. Maximizing Your Message
    8. Speak Up!
    9. Meetings, Miscommunication, Madness
    10. Getting It Under Control
    11. A Crisis for Christopher
    12. Please, Not Another Meeting!
    13. Position: At a Glance
  9. STRATEGY 3 - PERSUADE: Mastering the Cornerstones of Persuasive Communication
    1. Better Living Through Chemistry
    2. Chemistry Chameleon
    3. Bullying Backfires
    4. Clarity Is Key
    5. What Works?
    6. Listening Skills
    7. E-mail: Clarity Killer?
    8. Curbing Communication
    9. Is Anybody Out There?!
    10. Incredible Credible
    11. Credible by Association
    12. Putting on Your Game Face
    13. Consistency: Its Own Reward
    14. Persuade: At a Glance
  10. STRATEGY 4 - PERFORM: Putting on Your Best Show With Media Old and New
    1. Step 1: Gearing Up: Mind, Spirit, and Body
    2. Work It Out
    3. Hone the Zone
    4. Creativity Out of Bounds
    5. Take Them at Hello
    6. Stage Fright
    7. Step 2: Breathe
    8. Vocal Dis-chord?
    9. Step 3: Practice
    10. Digital Dancing
    11. Step 4: Dress the Part
    12. Clothing
    13. Step 5: Grab ’Em and Never Let Go
    14. And Now Introducing...
    15. Presentation Perfection
    16. Your 15 Minutes Have Arrived!
    17. Perform: At a Glance
    18. The Bottom Line
  11. STRATEGY 5 - PREEMPT: Squashing Out the “No”
    1. Be Prepared for Anything
    2. A Crisis for the Coach
    3. Minimizing Disruptions
    4. Staying Grounded
    5. Getting a Grip (on Your Audience)
    6. Dealing With Difficult People
    7. Cross That Bridge
    8. Bridge-Building Tool Kit
    9. Paul’s Prickly PR Pickle
    10. Slanting It in Your Direction
    11. What Never to Say to a Reporter
    12. Preempt: At a Glance
  12. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Product information

  • Title: Loud & Clear
  • Author(s): Karen Berg
  • Release date: May 2008
  • Publisher(s): Career Press
  • ISBN: 9781564149879