High emotion contributes to great opera. It does not, however, serve us well when making judgments about others. This is the argument advanced in "Feeling and Believing: The Influence of Emotion on Trust," a new paper by Maurice E. Schweitzer, Wharton professor of operations and information management, and Jennifer Dunn, a PhD student in the department.
The two researchers conducted five experiments to determine the influence of emotional states -- happiness, gratitude, anger, and guilt -- on trust. Each experiment confirmed that incidental emotions (emotions from one situation that influence judgment in a following, unrelated situation) affect how willing we are to trust others. For example, our anger over a speeding ticket is likely to affect how we judge someone later in the day. The researchers conclude that despite feeling we are rational beings who make clear, lucid judgments, in reality we all walk around in a sea of emotions that are likely to influence how we act in both business and social contexts.
The article, recently published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, stems from Schweitzer's ongoing interest in negotiation, where trust plays a critical role.
When making presentations it is often easy to overlook the importance of your voice.
But without a dynamic and strong voice you may as well not be presenting.
A friend of mine realised this last week. He makes presentations every day, but he managed to get some kind of throat infection which left him speechless - literally.I pointed him in the direction of Vocalzones, a herbal lozenge which
can help speakers and singers maintain a clear voice. He sucked on a couple of the lozenges and his voice was good enough to give his 20 minute talk.Your voice should never be neglected and be allowed to get into bad shape. You should always take care of it. To ensure you keep your voice in tip top shape see this article on
voice maintenance.
Successful individuals are first, last, and always salespeople. They are constantly selling themselves and their ideas to investors, management, co-workers, vendors, and even their families.
An opportunity to sell yourself and/or your ideas can come up on the subway, in the checkout line at the grocery store, after your yoga class - just about anywhere. To be ready to make a useful connection at any time, it's a good idea to be prepared with a short (one minute is ideal) self-promotional speech.
To create effective backgrounds in PowerPoint is one of the most challenging tasks for a presenter, as balancing visual impact, layout balance, properly matching colors while keeping great legibility is nothing that I would consider easy.
