Even as our professional expertise grows, it's important not to forget the basics. That’s the bottom line of the podcast episode, “Check Yourself,” part of NPR’s Hidden Brain series. Host Shankar Vendantam explains that after groups of doctors implemented changes to their usual processes—such as procedural checklists, staff introductions pre-surgery, and a reflection on surgery basics—their teams’ success rates improved.

The whole story is worth listening to, but consider this takeaway, which we found particularly interesting: Introductions encourage participation. “When people have the opportunity to introduce themselves,” one surgeon states, “they are much more likely to speak up later, and there’s more equality of talking.”

The full episode is about fifty minutes long, but to listen to the tip, fast forward to 43:37.

Hearing the words “I need you to attend this networking event tonight on our behalf” can trigger a series of extreme reactions in an otherwise rational person. In this Huffington Post ARTICLE, Susan O'Brien discusses how networking is a skill set that can be learned without having to get an MBA or attend Swiss finishing school. It starts with knowing how to introduce yourself.

At SpeechSkills, while we feel strongly that speaking from bulleted talking points creates a more engaging style than reciting a memorized script, there is one situation where practicing your text verbatim can be helpful — your professional introduction or “elevator pitch.”

Knowing exactly what to say in the first few moments of meeting someone will not only help you to feel more comfortable, you will likely be viewed as more self-assured and credible.

In a recent study, 64 men and women read a paragraph that contained the word "hello." Phil McAleer, of the University of Glasgow, extracted the hellos and asked 320 participants to listen to the voices and rate them on trustworthiness, aggressiveness, confidence, dominance and warmth. When listening to the voices, "what we find is that they all seem to perceive that one voice is the most trustworthy and another voice is the least trustworthy," he says, "and the same is true of all the other personality traits that were tested."

Understanding what behaviors send what messages is fundamental to effective communication. Read the NPR article to learn about the study, and read The Credibility Code to learn about the non-verbal behaviors that are under our control.

A good presentation begins with a strong opening hook. A masterful hook not only entices the listener to pay attention, but is deeply relevant to the content of the presentation. Check out the link below for an example of an excellent hook by William Ury, co-author of Getting to Yes, as he delves into the topic of difficult negotiations. When there seem to be only 2 sides to an argument, and both sides are deeply opposed, Ury is dedicated to finding the third way. He illustrates this with an enlightening anecdote about 3 brothers and 17 camels.