Uhm......is this your bad habit?

I have a bad habit.

Very often, I don't zip back my bag after opening it. Kind strangers will walk up to me and worriedly caution, "Miss, your bag is opened." Actually, I have lost things too. Still, I never quite learnt to zip up my bag.

Most of us have this or that bad habit. Have you ever thought where it came from? When it started? And most importantly, how to motivate yourself to kick the bad habit?

One bad habit some speakers have is the constant use of Umm, Ahh, Err or You know. When used too much, these are annoying noises to our listeners.

Want to know my Ahh secret, how I stopped this habit?

Very simple. Here's how.

Whenever you are about to say Umm or Ahh, just open your mouth but do not let the sound come out! It may escape the first few times, but later, you will learn to catch it before it slips from your lips. 

Your Ahh when silent, becomes a pause in your speech. Remember what I say about Pauses? Pauses in speech - no matter long or short - are always welcomed by our listeners. So there you are -- cure a bad habit and gain a brownie point. Are you motivated to give it a try?

Now, your turn to advise me how to kick my bad habit of not zipping up my bag, ok?  :)

Footnote:  Talking about habits, author Charles Duhigg of the Power of Habit found a sure-fire way to replace bad habits with good ones. 

Drop us your name and email if you like to receive more information onThe Power of Habit. Let's learn some good habits together!

Zero to One Hundred in 3 lessons

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From Terrible to Terrific

        Absolutely no one. Yes, no one would believe that I used to be horrible at public speaking. No one except my boss, Wander Meijer, who saw me stutter and stammer, turned pale and then turned very red in the face as I stood on the stage to deliver my annual address as CFO of the company.

        Up to then - that was in 2006, I was hopeless at presentations. Did I do anything about it? Yes! I usually make up my lack of confidence with heavy laden PPT slides - full of words, full of numbers, full of pictures. Slide, please speak for me. Did I do anything about it? No. I thought I am too hopeless to be helped by any training. So I suffered silently for many years.

        In 2006, I received a global award from USA Centre of Creative Leadership and with it,  invitations to speak publicly. Out of desperation, I hired a coach to save me. It was baptism by fire with 3 sessions of 1:1 coaching over 2 weeks.

        Surprisingly, my first public presentation post-coaching was so well received. Audiences of C-level calibre generously awarded me with 3.95 out of a maximum score of 4 for content and style. Magically and almost overnight, I transformed from a Terrible speaker into a Terrific speaker. Literally from Zero to 100% confidence in 3 lessons.

        As a result, I am now very passionate in helping you make the same transformation because I know it is very easy. And I promise you, really fun and practical. 

Clean questions

1. And is there anything else about (coachee's words - cw)?

2. And what kind of (cw) is that (cw)?

3. And that's (cw) like what?

4. And where is (cw)?

5. And whereabouts (cw)

6. And then what happens?

7. And what happens next?

8. And what happens just before (cw)?

9. And where could (cw) come from?

Example: M - manager, C - coachee

M: And what you like to have happen?

C: I want to understand why our organisation is not more successful

M: And when (you want to understand why our organisation is not more successful), your organisation is like what?

C: You could say its like a machine

M: and what kind (of machine)?

C: (Pause) It is like a combine harvester, I suppose

M: And is there anything else about that (combine harvester that your organisation is like?)

C: Its flexible with interchangeable parts depending on the type of crop

M: And is there anything else about (it being flexible with interchangeable parts?)

C: Timing is so important. too early or too late and you will miss the opportunity

M: And then what happens?

C: We go through the cycle again

M: and where could that cycle come from?

C: It is the natural order of thins (Pause). That's it. We have to educate the new recruits on the naure of the cycle. They try to rush things or they give up too quickly. If they knew about the cycle......