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  • Internet and Marketing Pioneer Mike Stewart Shares Strategies

    Internet and Marketing Pioneer Mike Stewart Shares Strategies
    2026/09/15
    Bill Lampton: Hi there, welcome to The Biz Communication Show. I’m your host, Bill Lampton, the Biz Communication Guy, in our eighth year of hosting The Biz Communication Show. It’s not just my communication tips and strategies that I share with you, but I bring on expert guests who will give us their tips and strategies. And today, coming to us from Nashville, Tennessee, Mike Stewart. Mike and I met at the Georgia Chapter of the National Speakers Association in 1996, and I’ve been a client of his marketing and internet skills ever since. Mike is a songwriter, publisher, and film composer who has played on hit records as a session musician, owned a successful recording studio, played keyboards, guitar, and bass, and written music all his adult life. In fact, he’s a full-time music biz songwriter. I guess we’ll have to say that Mike got a lot of talent that I didn’t music-wise. In 1996, Mike Stewart discovered the power of audio and video marketing with the internet and proceeded to become known worldwide as the “Internet Audio and Video Guy,” making success selling trainings, music, and production hardware. And there’s so much more I could say about him, but I will say that he’s helped many hundreds of clients, including me, learn tools like YouTube, blogging, Facebook, PPC, podcasting, and a whole lot more. Mike’s own statement about his service is: “I want to help those willing to have an open mind about the music biz internet that I passionately love and embrace.” So it’s both a personal and professional privilege to welcome Mike Stewart to The Biz Communication Show. Hello, Mike. Mike Stewart: Hello, Bill. It’s an honor always, and I just want to deliver some good information that’ll help your audience. Bill Lampton: I know that you do that, and you’ve been doing it since the late mid or middle 1990s when I met you. And you’ve done that globally. I’ve been the beneficiary of your marketing and internet strategies. One major question I believe that people would want to have you respond to: let’s take a business professional who wants to market his or her services and do it via the internet, because that’s the way we are going to get to the most people and do it effectively. What would you say are some of the major guidelines and tips? What do you say to a client who comes to you and tells you, “Mike, I need to get a much wider audience, and I need to get more clients, and I need to get more income, and I’ve heard you’re the guy who can do that.” So, what are the next steps, Mike? Mike Stewart: Well, I think one of the things that a lot of people get confused about the internet and the principles of the internet is they don’t break it down into the really bottom-line basics. There’s two things that marketers know matter, and it’s called traffic and conversion. You’d be surprised how many people are confused by those two terms, but traffic is the people, your targeted audience, finding you. If somebody finds you and they’re not interested in you, that’s still traffic. But what you want is targeted traffic—people who would have an interest in the services and products that you provide that solve problems for them. And then conversion is when they find content that you’ve created, whether it be a website, a website page, or what I’m an advocate of: blogging and podcasting. Because what do those pieces of content do? They build relationships that prove to people that you’re the authority and that you have the solution to their problem. So, you have to learn to get traffic, and you have to learn to make conversion information. What is conversion information? That’s somebody that watches, listens, reads something from you, and then they’re convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have a product or service that will solve their problem. If that ever doesn’t get connected, I call it cognitive dissonance. They don’t understand why they need you, so they don’t want you. And you’ve got to dumb it down and make it so simple. A lot of websites out there talk about themselves, but they don’t talk about what’s in it for the end user. So you always have to think about your marketing: “What problems do I solve, and what’s in it for my customer if they hire me?” And so, there’s only three ways to get found or three ways to get traffic. I call it get found on the internet—that’s traffic. In fact, I love the story: my friend Ray Stevens up here in Nashville, he was the inspiration why I moved to Nashville, he said, “Mike, why in God’s name would I put my music on YouTube?” And I said, “Ray, for traffic.” And he says, “Oh, I don’t want traffic. Have you ever driven around here?” And I said, “No, Ray, it’s not cars on the highway. It’s people on the internet who find your content and respond to it.” And he went, “Oh.” And then, of course, after my consulting, he built a whole new audience on ...
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    42 分
  • Dr. Bev Smallwood Gives Solutions to The Comparison Trap

    Dr. Bev Smallwood Gives Solutions to The Comparison Trap
    2026/08/30
    Bill Lampton: Hi there. Welcome to The Biz Communication Show. I’m your host, Bill Lampton, the Biz Communication Guy. The Biz Communication Show is in its eighth year of bringing you business communication tips and strategies that will boost your business. Fortunately, I don’t rely only on my comments, and neither will you. As always, I have a stimulating, highly informative, and helpful guest. Today, I know that you will be glad to hear from my guest, Dr. Beverly Smallwood of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Dr. Smallwood is a licensed psychologist and professional speaker who has been working with organizations for more than 40 years in nine countries around the world. Bev founded her clinical and consulting organization, The Hope Center, in 1984. In her clinic, she has counseled and coached literally thousands of individuals and families in all the struggles of life. Her clients include hospitals and other healthcare organizations, financial institutions, Fortune 500 companies, and several national governments. She often speaks on burnout. Bev’s the author of the book This Wasn’t Supposed to Happen to Me: 10 Make-or-Break Choices When Life Steals Your Dreams and Rocks Your World. Her upcoming book is entitled All the Rage: Detox Angry Relationships, Build Emotional Immunity, and Find Your Missing Peace. Bev has frequently been featured on TV, radio, podcasts, and other online media. So I know that you welcome me in joining Dr. Bev Smallwood. Hello, Bev! Dr. Bev Smallwood: Hello there, Bill! Bill Lampton: It’s delightful to host you, and I will let our viewers and listeners know that you and I grew up in that same small town— Dr. Bev Smallwood: The same small town! Bill Lampton: —Mississippi. Dr. Bev Smallwood: Look what—I mean, we should be their unique claim to fame, I think. Don’t you? (laughs) Bill Lampton: (laughs) Well, we’ll have to ask some of them about that. I don’t—I don’t think we can—I mean, we’re not in politics, so we can’t just announce it. Dr. Bev Smallwood: Right. Bill Lampton: And now, of course, you’re in, as I mentioned, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where you got your higher education and you’ve had your practice for a long time so effectively. I’d like to begin, Bev, first of all, welcoming you again. Dr. Bev Smallwood: Thank you. Thank you. Bill Lampton: And then secondly, let’s talk about that upcoming book. I gave the title, All the Rage. Dr. Bev Smallwood: All the Rage. And actually, I just recognized that when we sent you that, the subtitle has been changed since then. So let me give the real subtitle. It’s All the Rage: How to Deal with Angry People Without Becoming One Yourself. Bill Lampton: That sounds so vital, and it sounds so timely. I think if any of us spend very much time on the internet at all, it just amplifies, I think, because many people think they have anonymity there, even though their name and picture are there. That’s one place that we find so much anger. And in letters to the editor, I see a lot of anger going on. Dr. Bev Smallwood: Right. Bill Lampton: So what are some of the possible examples of rage that you mention, and then more importantly, how do we address them? What do you suggest that we do to bring a bit of calmness and sanity in the midst of all this? Dr. Bev Smallwood: Yeah. Well, as you said, all you have to do is turn on any kind of media, whether it’s online or the TV or wherever you want to turn it on, and you see that. And the news—I mean, just turn on the news and you’ll see the murders and the violence and all of those things. But even more importantly, Bill, is in our workplaces and in our homes, many of us are living walking on eggshells and not knowing when we’re going to say the wrong thing, or what we can say to whom, and just how to keep our own selves calm so that we’re not controlled by those things that happen to us. Bill Lampton: I think something I’d like to add to that is we’ve mentioned the media, and I would include in that certainly newspapers. I know there’s an old saying, of course, about news: “If it doesn’t bleed, it doesn’t lead.” Dr. Bev Smallwood: Right. Bill Lampton: And I’ve noticed that a great preponderance of news among the newspapers that are left—and of course, we know that’s declining—on many of the newspapers that I see or browse, it has almost become a crime reporting page, and the letters to the editor are very vicious as well. Dr. Bev Smallwood: Right. Bill Lampton: Now, we’ve identified the problem. What do you see as the major causes for this almost universal problem? Dr. Bev Smallwood: You know, I think there’s really been a shift in what we are given permission to say, modeled by people in leadership at a lot of different levels. Things that people would never have said before, now it’s just commonplace to be able to say it. But the thing is that no matter what this culture is saying, as an individual, we have the ability to ...
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    33 分
  • Terry Brock Tells How AI Can Boost Your Business

    Terry Brock Tells How AI Can Boost Your Business
    2026/05/27
    Bill Lampton: Hi there. Welcome to the Biz Communication Show. I’m your host, Bill Lampton, the Biz Communication guy, bringing you tips and strategies on communication that will boost your business. Now in our eighth year of producing this video, audio podcast. And as you know, I do not just share my on— my own wisdom about business communication, but I bring on an expert and our conversation will enlighten you and me both with tips and strategies that will help us boost our business. Today it’s a wonderful privilege to welcome a long-time friend, colleague, associate, mentor, Terry Brock, coming to us from Orlando, Florida. Terry Brock is a communicator and I can underscore that. Since he was a kid, in fact in second grade, he has been writing. He worked as a journalist for many years and his undergraduate degree is in communications working with radio, TV, and newspaper. Today Terry and his partner and fiancé, Gina Carr— and Gina was a recent guest on the Biz Communication Show— Terry and his fiancé, Gina Carr, have a membership program called Stark Raving Entrepreneurs where they help people build their business, leveraging the daylights out of AI and other tech. Today he joins us again to talk about what is happening and how you can move your business to the next level. So, I know you’ll join me in welcoming Terry Brock. Hello, Terry. Terry Brock: Great to be with you, Bill. Thank you for having me on board. Bill Lampton: Well, your— your introduction, which you kindly provided, did not even begin to describe your uh immense qualifications, which I’m very familiar with. Not long ago, Terry, you and I were having a visit, as a matter of fact, you and Gina came to see me here in my home in Gainesville, Georgia, and I remember asking you how many countries you had spoken in, directed seminars in, or done training in. What is that latest number? I know you’re a global presenter, what is that latest number? Terry Brock: Well, the latest as of now is uh 44 countries and counting. So, they would include um places like England and Canada and France and Dubai, and even Texas. And so, you know, a lot of different places there. Bill Lampton: Well, truly, you— you— some people call themselves a global speaker because they made one presentation outside the country, but you definitely are a global speaker. And in recognition of the great impact you’ve had globally, you have received the highest honors available from the National Speakers Association. And I still remember in 1998, I believe it was, you and I met at a National Speakers Convention, and then I had other encounters with you when you lived in Georgia and we were both members of the Georgia Chapter of the National Speakers Association. This was before you set your business and your residence in Orlando, Florida. One of the great traits that you have, and there are many as a presenter, is that you involve your audience. It’s not just [laughter] it’s not just what I would call a— a mannequin with a mouth. [laughter] Just somebody who spews out a message and hope people are getting it. And also, you’re not a novice who, when you want to get your audience involved, you say, “Hey, anybody got any questions?” and there’s this [laughter] there’s this frightening deadly silence. Share with us, please— many of us are presenters, whether we’re professional or whether we’re business and professional people— share with us some of the strategies and techniques that you use, Terry, to get your audience vocally and physically involved in the presentation. Terry Brock: Well, that’s a good question because I think that’s important when you’re connecting with people. You want to find out what it is that’s on their mind. One of the things I found a change that I’ve done recently that helps, maybe this will help some of the viewers and listeners here, often I would ask for, “What would you like to hear about? What topic do you want to hear?” And that’s good, not bad, they might say, “Well this or that.” We work do a lot with AI. So, they’d want to know about using Chat GPT for this or maybe using Gemini for this or how does this tool work, etc. Those are good, but even better is when you can do your research and then lean forward and ask people, “Where are you having problems right now? What are some of the big frustrations you’re having with technology? What’s the biggest problem you bump into with Chat GPT or what are your biggest concerns or worries about it?” Something like that, those kind of questions that are tailored for the market, whatever it is that you’re serving, does a lot better. I think in terms of what a surgeon, a physician would do, when you go into this physician’s office, the physician often doesn’t say, “Well, would you like to know more about this medicine or would you like to know about this medicine?” No, they say, “How you doing? Any pain, any hurt, ...
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    36 分
  • John Ray Explains The Generosity Mindset

    John Ray Explains The Generosity Mindset
    2026/05/15
    Bill Lampton: Hi, there. Welcome to the Biz Communication Show. I’m your host, Bill Lampton, the Biz Communication guy. Every week, hosting a conversation with an outstanding business communication expert so that you and I can learn tips and strategies that will boost our business. Today, it’s an absolute delight to host again, as he’s been our guest several times, John Ray, coming to us from the Greater Atlanta Metropolitan Area. John Ray works with consultants, coaches, attorneys, fractional executives, and other professionals who sell expertise. He helps them diagnose and express their value, price accordingly, and build business through trust, not pressure. He’s the author of the five-star rated book, The Generosity Mindset, which redefines generosity as a professional asset, not as giving everything away. So, I know that you will join me in welcoming our expert for the day, John Ray. Hello, John. John Ray: Bill, what a delight to be with you, as always. Thank you for having me back. I really appreciate that very much. Bill Lampton: Well, I— I benefit every time, and I know that our viewers and our listeners benefit as well. You have built a wide reputation, John, as an expert on pricing. A topic that really, until you tackled it, I’m not sure that I heard very much advice about that. And I think of how [laughter] I could have used that advice three decades ago when I launched my career as a professional speaker, consultant, coach. And like many people, I was ready to take a fee, [laughter] not recognizing that there were options. So, one of my first uh questions, which I think our viewers and listeners will want to know is, what prompted you to get into the topic of pricing, to study it closely and carefully, and then to teach many hundreds through your seminars and through your book? To teach them how to maximize the rewards for the service that they provide. What prompted you to do that, John? John Ray: Well, that uh— that is an easy ans— question and answer for me. Basically, uh skinned knees and— and uh t-shirts in the drawer of— of bad pricing, bad engagements. Uh you know, I— I— I came out of corporate like a lot of people do, uh that don’t really know how to price their expertise, and they don’t know that they don’t know that. Um you know, they— they do what I did, which is kind of use others as a benchmark. And when others uh are pricing inadequately, that by definition, that makes your price inadequate. And we all suffer from that. And so, I saw this problem with my clients as well. And so, I got passionate about it. And— and the— the thing about it is, this— this is not information that— that is widely available to uh small business people and— and particularly expert service providers, like consultants and coaches and fractional executives that go out on their own, like I did, to uh and they’ve got a particular expertise, and they start their business. And, you know, there— there are just not a lot of resources immediately available. There are plenty of good ones out there, but they’re just not immediately available to uh people like us. And so, that’s what got me passionate about it. I went uh down that bunny trail, you might say, learning. And uh eventually, that led to me really focusing my practice around that and, you know, writing the book. Bill Lampton: So, as you say, you really tackled what was a needed topic, but in many ways a neglected topic. And as I said a minute ago, I really had not heard much about pricing services until I started attending your seminars and then soon after that, reading your wonderful book, which we will talk about. What, John, are some of the pricing mistakes— two or three that you see entrepreneurs, solo practitioners make? Who— um tell us what are— are some of the mistakes that you run across commonly with your clients and talking with people individually? Tell us— tell us what are some of the mistakes that you— you not only identify, but you help correct? John Ray: Yeah. So, I— I call them the red flags of inadequate pricing. Uh that’s my nomenclature for— for it. And uh you know, one of those is hourly pricing. If you’re pricing by time, pricing by the clock, uh your— your price by definition is inadequate. Um uh pricing is an input. It’s not— ha— has nothing to do with the outcome that the client receives— the transformation you bring. And it’s genu— genu— genu— generally— I’ll get that out in a second— very uh ha— ha— has no relation whatsoever and— and and much, much uh smaller than a lot of clients would be willing to pay when it’s calculated that way. Another few that I see are uh when— when an expert service provider accepts every client that comes their way. I mean, by definition, your price is too low because some of those folks that are coming your way are price-sensitive. They’re— they’re— they’re uh cheapskates. I mean, they...
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    35 分
  • Keith Nabb Helps Clients Decipher Medicare Jargon

    Keith Nabb Helps Clients Decipher Medicare Jargon
    2026/04/24
    Host: Dr. Bill Lampton, The Biz Communication Guy Guest: Keith Nabb, President of Affordable Medicare Solutions Dr. Bill Lampton: Hi there! Welcome to the Business Communication Show. I’m your host, Bill Lampton, the Biz Communication Guy. Our goal, as you know, is to provide you with communication tips and strategies that will boost your business. Today, we’re talking about a topic that confuses almost everyone: Medicare. If you’ve ever tried to navigate the jargon, the “parts,” and the “plans,” you know exactly what I mean. My guest today is a true expert in making the complex simple. Joining us from North Georgia is Keith Nabb, President of Affordable Medicare Solutions. Keith has been helping people navigate the insurance world for over 30 years and is a top producer in the industry. Keith, welcome to the show! Keith Nabb: Bill, it is an absolute pleasure to be here. I’ve looked forward to this for a long time. Dr. Bill Lampton: Keith, let’s jump right in. When people hear “Medicare,” they often think of a massive, confusing government machine. From a communication standpoint, what is the biggest hurdle people face when trying to understand what Medicare actually is? Keith Nabb: You hit the nail on the head with the word “jargon”. In our industry, we love our acronyms—CMS, GEP, SEP, IEP. When a consumer hears these, their eyes just glaze over. The biggest hurdle is that the government uses letters for everything. You have Part A, Part B, Part C, and Part D. Then, to make it even more confusing, we have Plans A through N. People mistake a “Part” for a “Plan” all the time. My job, and the job of any good communicator in this field, is to translate that “government-speak” into plain English. Dr. Bill Lampton: That is so true. It’s like a different language. How do you approach that first conversation with a client who is clearly overwhelmed? Keith Nabb: I use analogies. I tell people to think of Medicare like a house: Part A is your hospital coverage. It’s the foundation and the walls. You’ve paid for this through your taxes while working. Part B is your medical coverage—doctors, tests, outpatient stuff. This is the roof. You pay a monthly premium for this. Part D is your prescriptions. Part C (Medicare Advantage) is like a condo. Someone else manages the exterior, and it bundles things together. If I can give them a visual or a concept they already understand, the “jargon” becomes less scary. Dr. Bill Lampton: That’s a brilliant strategy. It’s about finding common ground. Now, what about the timing? I hear people talking about “Enrollment Periods” and getting penalized if they miss them. That sounds like a communication nightmare. Keith Nabb: It is. There is so much misinformation out there. People get bombarded with mail—sometimes 50 pieces a day—when they turn 65. The most important thing to communicate is the “When”. You have a seven-month window around your 65th birthday to sign up. If you miss it, and you don’t have other “creditable” coverage, the government can charge you a late enrollment penalty for the rest of your life. Our job is to be the “signal in the noise” and give them the exact timeline they need to follow. Dr. Bill Lampton: Keith, you mentioned you have a team of agents. How do you train them to maintain that high level of clear communication? Keith Nabb: We focus on listening. A lot of agents want to show how smart they are by using big words. I tell my team: “You have two ears and one mouth for a reason”. We ask questions: “What are your specific doctors?” “What medications are you taking?” “What is your budget?” If we don’t listen first, we can’t communicate a solution that fits. We also use a “Teach Back” method. After explaining something, we ask the client to explain it back to us. If they can’t, it means we didn’t communicate it clearly enough. Dr. Bill Lampton: That “Teach Back” method is a classic communication tool, and it’s wonderful to hear you’re using it in such a technical field. Keith, before we wrap up, what is one final piece of advice for someone who is about to start this journey? Keith Nabb: Don’t do it alone. You don’t pay a broker or an agent anything—the insurance companies do. Find someone who is an “independent” broker who can look at all the plans, not just one. And most importantly, find someone who speaks your language, not the government’s. Dr. Bill Lampton: Excellent advice. Keith, how can people get in touch with you and your team at Affordable Medicare Solutions? Keith Nabb: The best way is our website: affordablemedicaresolutions.com. You can also call us at 770-945-5261. We’re here to help you decipher the jargon. Dr. Bill Lampton: Keith Nabb, thank you for being a fantastic guest and for shedding light on such a complex topic. And to our viewers, remember: clear communication is the key to any successful business ...
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    37 分
  • Gina Carr Describes Business Benefits of Artificial Intelligence

    Gina Carr Describes Business Benefits of Artificial Intelligence
    2026/04/13
    Sure, here’s a script from this audio: Interview Script Host: Dr. Bill Lampton, Business Communication Expert. Guest: Gina Carr, CEO of Stark Raving Entrepreneurs and AI Specialist. Bill Lampton: Hi there! Welcome to the Business Communication Show. I’m your host, Bill Lampton, the Biz Communication Guy, once again bringing you communication tips and strategies that will boost your business. Yet, this is not a solo act. I bring you those tips and strategies through a guest, a highly qualified business communication expert. Today, I am so delighted to introduce you to Gina Carr, the visionary CEO of Stark Raving Entrepreneurs, where she empowers leaders to harness AI-driven tools for transformative marketing and sales strategies. With an MBA from Harvard and an engineering degree from Georgia Tech, Gina—affectionately known as the Tribe Builder—specializes in cultivating passionate communities of raving fans. As a dynamic international speaker and serial entrepreneur, she’s founded multiple successful ventures, including an award-winning real estate firm and a chain of community magazines. I knew her way back then when she was in those ventures. Gina, formerly the CEO and speaker curator of TEDxDuPree Park, now resides in Orlando, Florida, with her fiancé, Terry Brock. She’s an advocate for animals, freedom, and plant-based living. Her zest for life inspires all those around her, including me, for a long time, I can assure you. So, let’s now welcome Gina Carr to the stage! Hello there! Gina Carr: Hello there! I am delighted to be here. Bill Lampton: Well, it’s terrific to have you here. As the introduction qualified, you’re a highly credentialed guest who has mastered business communication for a long time. Gina, many of our podcast viewers and listeners are entrepreneurs. Some are long-time entrepreneurs who started, as you and I did, about three decades ago. Some are new entrepreneurs—a few of those by choice, some because the business they were in no longer included them. For all of us who are entrepreneurs, I think of your MBA in business from Harvard University. Judging by what you’ve learned as a highly successful entrepreneur, what are some of the business and communication tips that you would give today to those who are entrepreneurs? How do they make it? Gina Carr: Well, that’s such a great question and something that I think many entrepreneurs ask themselves every day: what is the key? What am I going to do? What will make me successful? I would say the number one thing is that you really need to be clear about who you serve and what problem you solve. And as much as those are important, why you do that is also important to you, because there’s going to be a lot of ups and downs on the entrepreneurial road and you’re going to need to be clear so that it comes across to your potential clients as well as sustains you. You also need to be very clear about how you are going to make money, how you’re going to monetize. That may sound obvious, but it is not. Especially for people who are coaches, speakers, authors, people who are in professional services—but they’re not so much traditional professional services like an attorney or an accountant—how to price those services, I think, can be tough for a lot of entrepreneurs. And then my final main tip here might be a surprise, but it’s going to be: work out. And I say that because I know that it’s important to have that at least one nugget of your day—and I think it’s important to exercise every day—one nugget of your day that you are in total control and that provides stability and confidence to your life that comes across through so many other aspects of your business. It’s like powering up my battery on my phone; I need to charge it every day. It’s like a power-up session for your body and your mind, and I find if I do that, it really helps me in every area of my day, especially in my business. Bill Lampton: I would echo, underline, and emphasize everything you said. First of all, to be clear about what we are offering and to be able to state it with clarity. There are many wonderful consultants who can help us refine and define how we state our mission. It’s important to have help from others on that. Gina, this takes me back to the first year I was an entrepreneur. I remember so well having lunch with someone who also was a member of the National Speakers Association, and I knew that I needed some advice from him. So, I took along a draft of my website. He looked at it, and of course, with pride of authorship, I was thinking he’d say, “Oh, this looks great, this will be a real winner, you’ll attract clients.” But what he said to me was, “What you’re doing is just presenting your credentials,” which is a mistake that many entrepreneurs and even seasoned business people make. I put my degrees, I put clients I’d had, and it all focused primarily on my qualifications. But you and I ...
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    36 分
  • Diana Damron Tells How to Build Trust Through Civiliy

    Diana Damron Tells How to Build Trust Through Civiliy
    2026/03/31
    Dr. Bill Lampton: Hi there! Welcome to the Business Communication Show. I’m your host, Bill Lampton, the Biz Communication Guy, bringing you tips and strategies that are certain to boost your business and mine. And I don’t bring you these tips and strategies solo; I bring them through a conversation with a lively, highly qualified guest. And today, we certainly have that guest coming to us from Montana: Diana Damron. Diana Damron has one goal: help individuals, teams, and organizations build trust from the inside out. She enlists what she calls the 3 Cs: Civility, Communication, and Character, to perform that transformation. Diana is a former television anchor who works with organizations to create, grow, and maintain cultures of trust. Described by her clients as “The Human Whisperer,” Diana has made it her mission to take on the toxic workplace and replace it with a culture of trust. Diana’s latest book, Civility Unleashed: Second Edition, is a “how-to” book for those who want to foster and work in an environment where talented people can thrive. Additionally, Diana provides readers with a transformative 5-step civility tool. And I want to say, a couple of months ago, I read that book, benefited from it greatly, gave it a five-star review on Amazon, and I encourage you to get Civility Unleashed: Second Edition. Along with Diana’s TEDx talk, she’s been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Southwest Airlines’ LUV Lines, and national television and radio interviews. She’s a former television anchor, co-host, and reporter who studied with nationally and internationally renowned speech experts. Recognized as a mental fitness coach, Diana is certified by the International Board of Certified Trainers and is a certified partner of Everything DiSC. Now, as for her sense of humor, Diana stopped taking herself too seriously the day that she walked off the runway at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel during a national modeling competition and fell right into the laps of shocked audience members. While Diana didn’t take home the Runway Model of the Year award that year, she did leave as National Model of the Year for Television. So, I know you will join me now in welcoming Diana Damron. Hello, Diana! Diana Damron: Hey Bill! It’s so great to be here. I’m laughing because I always think back about walking off the runway. It was a packed house, too. It was absolutely jam-packed. Now, the good thing was, there—the guys who caught me were these two really good-looking gentlemen who were kind of spotters. They were great, but yes, my—I was walking in air for a while. Dr. Bill Lampton: Up in the air, right? Diana Damron: Pop—yeah, up in the air, exactly. Dr. Bill Lampton: Well, I’ve had my “chivi-chays” moments, I call them. I—I think the one that I talk about most often is when I was MCing a college event with about 500 people in the audience, and they were honoring their alumni, giving four alums what they call the Medallion Award. And I had gotten the bios to read about them to introduce them, and I’d read them over very carefully, as you would do as a TV anchor. And when I was in the middle of reading one of the bios, the audience just erupted in laughter, and I couldn’t figure out why. Did I say something profane? So, I sat down, and the person next to me explained that I was supposed to have said that the lady who was being honored had written a play about the college in 1956, but unfortunately, Diana, I said she wrote the play in 1856. Diana Damron: (Laughs) Oh, I gotta tell you, when you do anything live, anything can happen. Absolutely anything can happen. Yep, yep. Dr. Bill Lampton: Yes, and— Diana Damron: She looked great for her age, right? Dr. Bill Lampton: (Laughs) Oh right, I mean she wasn’t that ancient, but—fortunately, we met afterwards and she had a great sense of humor, so it worked out okay. And you and I know, as longtime presenters, whether it’s on radio, TV, a seminar, a keynote speech, we know that we’re going to goof. In fact, one of the things I do when I’m coaching a client about speaking, on the handout I give them, I put “Don’t try to be perfect,” and I misspell “perfect.” I say “P-R-F-F-C-T,” and they say, “Hey, you misspelled that!” I said, “Yes, but you got the point, didn’t you?” And we have to learn from our mistakes, laugh at them, and just move forward, don’t we? Diana Damron: Yes, and it makes us so much more human when we’re not perfect. Dr. Bill Lampton: Yes, I don’t want to hear a mannequin with a mouth, you know? Diana Damron: Right. Dr. Bill Lampton: An absolute robot. We’re getting to your theme of civility. Diana Damron: Mhm, mhm. Dr. Bill Lampton: Was there something in your own work experience that drove you to delve into this topic, to become an expert in it, to write a book about it now in its second edition, to speak on the topic of civility, hold seminars, talk about it in ...
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    33 分
  • Kristina Rhoades Discusses Communicating With the Disabled

    Kristina Rhoades Discusses Communicating With the Disabled
    2026/03/20
    Bill Lampton: Hi there. Welcome to the Biz Communication Show. I’m your host Bill Lampton, the biz communication guy, and our eighth year with the Biz Communication Show bringing onto the show business communication experts, and through our conversation, you and I can pick up business communication tips that will be very valuable for us. Today I have a guest, I don’t often know my guest, but I have a guest that I’ve known for a dozen years or so, delighted to bring onto the program today Kristina Rhoades. Kristina Rhoades is a long-time disability consultant and advocate, a writer, motivational speaker, and proud wife and mom. A former Ms. Wheelchair California, she has had a career in the disability industry modeling and marketing for a variety of products that improve accessibility. Kristina has an MS in organizational leadership and a BA in mass communication. She resides in New Mexico with her husband, who’s also her childhood best friend Jacob, and their 14-year-old daughter Cameron. In her spare time, she enjoys making art and jewelry, volunteering in the local community, and supporting live music. So I know you will welcome Kristina Rhoades. Hello Kristina, great to see you. Kristina Rhoades: Hi Bill, it’s so good to be with you again. Bill Lampton: Well I think back Kristina to how we first became acquainted and how I recognized right away as a speech coach and as a professional speaker, what a role model you are for communication. Even today a few minutes ago, you and I were talking about when you were with the radio station WBCX at Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia, where I live and where you lived at the time, and I happened to put on Twitter that I had always enjoyed participating on radio, and so you texted me back and next thing I knew, we had a very brief interview, you said let’s get going, and for two years, we had the opportunity to work together co-hosting what we called the Business Communication Corner. And so you are not a novice in the communication business. What I believe our viewers and listeners would like to know first is, how did you develop your presentation skills? I think of your vitality, I think of your diction, I think of your nonverbal messages, it all just comes together so vibrantly and you’re one of the most listenable radio colleagues that I’ve ever associated with. So tell us, I don’t think those things just happen, how did you develop those skills? Kristina Rhoades: Oh well thank you first Bill for the kind words, I appreciate it very much. Um, I think it’s a bit of a two-part answer for me. Um, part of it’s my personality, I’ve always been an outgoing person, um, very social, I enjoy people, I enjoy talking to people, but I do often wonder how much of that came from just my life experience as well. So being somebody in a wheelchair, uh, I often am approached by strangers, um, people ask questions about my situation or about my wheelchair or about my disability. Um, I’ve had when I was young, very many medical appointments and um, situations where I am, you know kind of being interviewed and grilled by um, a therapist or a doctor or a nurse or different people trying to fit me for a wheelchair. So I wonder if um, those experiences growing up helped just build my courage and my comfort in talking with strangers and being kind of in the spotlight or you know going in public and having a whole room of people look at me because I’m in a wheelchair might’ve made me a little more comfortable um, you know being having attention on me. So I wonder that. But I also have to give credit to Brenau University, which is where we met and what you were just referring to where WBCX the radio station was. Um, that’s where I received my BA in mass communication and I stayed there as well to do my MS. Um, and I guess coming in with a natural inclination and interest in public speaking and um, communication, Brenau really helped me hone my skills and develop um, really all the pieces that I need to to properly give a presentation and to put put my thoughts together in a manner um, that are that are easily digestible by my audience. Um, so I have to, yeah, I have to give lots of credit to Brenau. Bill Lampton: I think we could say that uh unlike um many of your younger colleagues, you were basically on stage for for your childhood. Now one one point I know we have talked about before, your disability was at a very young age and your mother had a wonderful way of dealing with that. And she made you feel special in ways that other people might not get the kind of encouragement and support that you did. Uh let’s go back to when you were 18 months old and there was a swim meet that you were engaged in, maybe swim competition, tell tell us about that and your mother’s role in that please. Kristina Rhoades: Oh Bill, thanks. Um, not sure if it was a competition or you know I don’t really know what to call it, but I’ll give a little background...
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    35 分