Early in my career I had a boss who was the king of the word but. His coaching sounded something like this: “You’re a strong team player, determined and driven, BUT what we need to work on is …” and “I appreciate your willingness to stay late last night, BUT …”

Every time he complimented me, the compliment would be followed by but. As a result, I stopped listening to what he said before the but and only paid attention to what came after.

Have you ever stopped to consider how many times you use the word but? I’m not saying you can never speak this word again. However, be careful of the context in which you use it. But and however can have negative connotations. For example, suppose you are in the boardroom with your team discussing how to improve sales. A team member says, “I’m really struggling in my territory because most of my clients have cut back on their budgets.” You respond, “I understand it hasn’t been easy, BUT we have a business to run and you need to increase sales.”

Your communication skills can be improved. Listen to my other recommendations, and your business will begin soaring toward success!

Listen to today’s podcast here.

On our website, WomensMedia you should read this: Communicating With Impact and Influence , or this: Be an Effective Listener!

It may help to listen to Powerful Communication For Women —How To Change “I Speak Like A Girl” to “I Know What I’m Talking About”
or read it here.

For quick updates for business women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here.

by Sharon Michaels (Read about her here.)

(Listen to it here.)

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Over the past 20-plus years, I’ve had the pleasure of starting several business networking groups. Some of these groups have proven to be more successful than others. Through trial and error, I’ve come up with a checklist of what I believe it takes to create a successful and productive networking group.

Listen to today’s podcast here.

Be sure to visit our site, WomensMedia to get Expert Advice for Business Women.

On our website, WomensMedia you should read this: Table-Talking Your Way to Networking or Be Visible — Connect!

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here, or SharonMichaels here.

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by Sharon Michaels (Read about her here.)

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Between 1997 and 2006 women-owned businesses grew at nearly twice the rate of all U.S. firms. If you currently own your business or are thinking of starting a business, you may be wondering, What exactly does it take to be a successful entrepreneur?

The United States Department of Labor has something it calls the “Entrepreneurial Quotient.” It lists common characteristics that successful entrepreneurs share in common.

I will now go over each of these with you and wish you the best on your road to success!

Listen to today’s podcast here.

Be sure to visit our site, WomensMedia to get Expert Advice for Business Women.

On our website, WomensMedia you should read this: Ten Success Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs or The Power of Accountability

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here, or SharonMichaels here.

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By Stacey Hanke (Read about her here.)

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Do you walk into a room like you belong there? Does your posture communicate confidence—or uncertainty?

Last week I attended a conference and was observing individuals as they walked into the room. The individuals who caught my attention walked into the room as if they were saying, “I’d rather be having a root canal than entering this room.” Their posture conveyed a lack of confidence and credibility. Not only did they walk with hesitation, but their seated posture communicated uncertainty.

If only we could see what others see when we enter a room, sit in a meeting, or participate in a face-to-face conversation. If you want to be taken more seriously and have more impact and influence, a powerful place to begin is with your standing and seated posture.

The challenge with communication behavior is that there is no right or wrong. Throughout this year’s podcasts, I’ll give recommendations on what I’ve found are the most effective ways to communicate with impact and influence.

Listen to today’s podcast here.

On our website, WomensMedia you should read this: Table-Talking Your Way to Networking, or this: 8 Tips for Fearless Communication in the Workplace .

It may help to listen to Gender Communication with Authority And Care —A Business Woman Can Be Careful Without Losing Her Authority
or read it here.

For quick updates for business women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here.

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by Suzanne Doyle-Morris  (Read about her here.)

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Today, we’re going to talk about one of the most important skills a professional woman can have—the ability to read budgets and be fluent in figures—to take her career to the next level. As we all know, in organizations money talks. Knowing how to show the amounts you save or generate for your organization is a fantastic way to raise your profile.

When I wrote Beyond the Boys’ Club, initially some of the women I interviewed said they hadn’t always seen the political value of presenting these figures in the best light, and sometimes had to learn through trial and error. Angela Mohtashemi, a director at PwC, learned that presenting her budget figures in the right way determined how much she was given to spend on an ongoing basis. It also established her credibility. She learned through developing a strong and much-needed relationship with the finance manager. She explained to me, “The first year I was here, I didn’t understand how focused they would be on the numbers and I didn’t take it seriously enough. I thought if we performed well, the numbers would take care of themselves. My team consistently achieved, but the numbers were not representative of all we had accomplished. The finance manager began to explain to me some of the basics—like why it was better to have a larger number appear in a certain box than in another box, for example—and how important it was for a department to bill small pieces of internal work as well.”

Angela continued, “Or even making simple changes as to which day we billed a client, so that the credit showed for one month and not the next. Small changes made our numbers—the same output we already had—suddenly appear much stronger. What I didn’t realize was that many of my peers were getting that type of support; I just hadn’t known to ask for it.”

The informal training also worked well for the finance team, as they had received criticism that they didn’t communicate their services well enough internally. This gave them valuable practice and helped make others aware of what they could do for specific departments. Similarly, another woman I interviewed, Mary Hensher, head of IT at Deloitte, found the need to move out of always being in the IT department, an area in which she could have become marginalized because of its distinction from the main fee-earning areas of the global firm. She knew she needed to spread her wings and build relationships in other areas. Similarly to Angela, she got the wider-ranging contacts she needed initially by presenting budgets—one of the most important things she could learn to do in an accountancy firm. She said, “If you spend all your time in the IT data centre, you are not going to get to talk to the people who are your customers. You have to put a real effort into being recognizable. I don’t walk around with a screwdriver or a spanner, because there are others who can do that, others who are fundamental to the organization. You shouldn’t have the head of IT doing that.”

Learning to present your best numbers is especially important for women who are not in direct profit-and-loss roles. Most board memberships are given to executives with direct profit-and-loss experience in operational roles. This is problematic for many women who may want to progress to board level positions but work in marketing, HR, or even finance, which are less likely to have many directors visible and reporting to the board. Many women do not know that this type of experience is a virtually unspoken prerequisite to board membership. Some women may unwittingly hinder their careers by eschewing these types of responsibilities or not directly requesting this type of experience early on in their careers.

So, make sure you get comfortable with the language of budgets and spreadsheets so you can use them to your team’s advantage.

Listen to today’s podcast here.

Be sure to visit our site, WomensMedia to get Expert Advice for Business Women.

Or on our website, WomensMedia you should read:

Business Women Can Play in the Boys’ Club or

Budgeting: The “B” Word

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here.

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by Nancy Clark (Read about her here.)

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I like to include the latest research whenever I can so you’ll feel confident when you buck conventional wisdom. However, perfection is tough to measure. If you want the truth, you only have to ask yourself, “Am I guilty of thinking my work is not good enough because it’s not perfect?” Whenever you answer “yes,” I want to you put time above perfection on your priority list and take another look.

Sometimes that 2-page report is sufficient for the task and that 76-page rendition you could deliver would set you back in three ways.

See my advice and my tip to help business women succeed.

Listen to today’s podcast here.

Be sure to visit our site, WomensMedia to get Expert Advice for Business Women.

Or on our website, WomensMedia you should read:

Advice to Business Women by Carol Bartz, CEO Yahoo! or

How You Can Be An Effective Listener

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here.

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by Sharon Michaels (Read about her here.)

(Listen to it here.)

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From experience I know that growing a business takes time, energy and money. It is extremely exciting to find credible resources that provides a valuable business service and is free to use. In fact, the site you’re on right now, WomensMedia.com is one such resource.

Personally, I’m a big believer that if I can learn a new how-to or gather a time saving success tip, it is worth my time to use the resources available to me. And if they are free, so much the better!

Here’s what I recommend for you.

Listen to today’s podcast here.

Or on our website, WomensMedia you should read:

Women in Business – Do You Have a Fear of Selling? or

The Right Way to Promote Yourself Using Social Networking

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here.

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by Suzanne Doyle-Morris (Read about her here.)

(Listen to it here.)

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Have you ever stayed up late or worked weekends on a report or project only to see the credit go to the person who presented it all? Well, that used to be me. I started to notice this tendency in college, and then in my first jobs and then again when I earned my Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge, looking at the experiences of women in male dominated fields. And eventually, rather than continue to be victimized, I realized I had to learn one of the key lessons that very successful women know (the lesson I want to talk to you about today) — and that is how to use public speaking to get ahead in your career.

While stereotypes abound about ‘the chatty woman,’ the truth is that it is mostly men who present at conferences, who chair meetings and who lead presentations. Nowhere is this more true than in fields that already suffer from a dearth of women. Speaking in public is one of the most common fears, and certainly one that can be debilitating to a burgeoning career. It can sound daunting initially, but you don’t have to start with speaking to an audience of thousands. In fact, most women begin to add public speaking to their careers by leading meetings and giving presentations.

Listen to today’s podcast here.

Or on our website, WomensMedia you should read:

Business Women Can Play in the Boys’ Club or Communicating With Men at Work

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here.

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By Stacey Hanke (Read about her here.)

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While there are few boring topics, there are plenty of boring communicators. We all possess one major delivery skill that determines whether or not our message causes listeners to yawn and nod off. It’s our greatest asset—our voice.

The sound of your voice shapes the attitude of listeners even more than the words you speak. The key to getting your message across is to convey believability and gain trust. No matter what you say, your message will not impact your listener unless you are believable. And you can achieve believability through your voice.

Listen to today’s podcast here.

Or on our website, WomensMedia you should read this: What Keeps Women from Reaching the Top?

For quick updates for business women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here.

Sign up for the WomensMedia Newsletter. We make it easy!

(Listen to it here.)

Be sure to visit our site, http://www.womensmedia.com/ to get Expert Advice for Business Women.

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Starting out in rocket science and computer technology, I was often the only woman in the room.

That’s another way of saying, the stereotype others had of me didn’t fit with the group, I was well aware of these assumptions.

I’ll bet you’ve had the feeling—at one time or another—that people have stuck a stereotype or label on you that made you out to be less than you are.

You may have felt like an outsider to their groups.

In their minds they could be thinking:

• She’s not important,
• She’s not educated,
• She’s not capable,
• She’s not assertive,
• it could even be, “Oh, she’s a mother.” and further questions might end right there.

You can see how this limits the opportunities a person is willing to offer you. In my Business Tip of the Week, I discuss how you can prepare ahead to cancel these negative, incorrect, stereotypes.

Listen to today’s podcast here.

Or on our website, WomensMedia, you may want to read What Keeps Women from Reaching the Top?

For quick business updates you should follow me on twitter here.

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