A very good book on how to read a room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a very good 2025 book by Dr. Mike Bechtle titled How to Read a Room: Navigate any situation, lead with confidence, and create an impact at work. His

chapter titles [and starting pages] are:

 

Introduction [9]

1] Why it matters [13]

 

Part 1 The Three Essentials (for Success) [21]

2] Master Your Mindset – You Can Do this [25]

3] Master the Process – It’s Worth the Effort [35]

4] Master Your Perceptions – You Can learn to See Others Accurately [45]

 

Part 2 How to Read a Room (for Confidence) [57]

5] Observe the Setting, Part 1 – Get the Big Picture [61]

6] Observe the Setting, Part 2 – Get the Small Picture [69]

7] Engage with People, Part 1 – Connect with Anyone [81]

8] Seven Engage with People, Part 2 – Converse with Anyone [91]

9] Plan Your Approach – Customize Your Strategy [103]

10] Execute Your Strategy – Work the Room [115]

 

Part 3 How to Lead a Room (for Influence) [125]

11] Leading the Room [129]

12] Leading by Influence in a Virtual Room [139]

13] Leading by Influence from the Front of the Room [151]

14] Leading by Influence through Written Communication [163]

 

Part 4 How to Serve a Room (for Impact) [173]

15] The Life-Changing Vision for Serving a Room [177]

16] The Challenge of Change [185]

17] Ten Steps Down into Greatness [193]

18] Legacy Time [205]

 

Conclusion [211]   

 

At the end of Part 2, on pages 120 to 122, he finally describes these twelve things (which you can find at Google Books):

 

How to Work the Room: The Basics

 

So, what are the most important things to consider when you’re ready to jump in and work the room? Here are some ingredients you can easily adapt to your own style and personality. They’re not a guaranteed approach but rather reflect commonsense things that humans respond to.

 

Smile. I mentioned this one earlier, but when we’re nervous, we usually don’t know how other people see us. The simplest way to show that you’re open for conversation is to smile whenever you make eye contact with another person. It’s a universal connecting point. Don’t be like the person avoiding eye contact on a bus so no one will choose the seat next to them.

 

Pay attention. When you’re talking to someone, give them direct eye contact to show you’re listening. Ask deeper questions to explore what they said. Don’t glance at the door or over their shoulder. If you’re ready to end the conversation, wrap it up graciously while still being completely attentive, then move on.

 

Encourage honesty. Avoid flattery like a pandemic, Share encouragement and things you admire and respect about them, but only if it’s completely honest, People sense flattery, and it builds a barrier between you.

 

Assume that others want to connect at a large event. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be there. It’s not risky; the worst thing that can happen is that they don’t engage, and you can move on. The best thing that can happen is that you’ll make a new friend.

 

Talk about them. Make them comfortable by focusing on what they’re saying instead of one-upping them with your own story. If they ask, respond. But in general, focus on them. They’ll remember you for it.

 

Say thanks. If there’s a genuine reason for gratitude, don’t just feel it – express it. Your casual, honest affirmation can make someone’s entire week because they probably didn’t know their words or actions had impact. Be the person who makes a difference.

 

Be generous. If there’s a resource you can provide or someone you can introduce them to, do it. If you connect them with things and people they can benefit from, you’ve gone up in value with them.

 

Focus on names. When you hear someone’s name, repeat it. If it’s a name that’s tough for you to pronounce, ask them for help. Names are important to people, and they’ll appreciate the effort to get them right. When meeting someone you haven’t seen for a long time, don’t assume they remember your name; reintroduce yourself.

 

Follow up. If you make a positive connection with someone and want to stay in touch, send an invitation via LinkedIn or another appropriate site as soon as possible after the event. Don’t accept their invitation to lunch or coffee under pressure if you know it’s not going to happen. Just say, ‘I don’t want to say yes now and not be able to make it happen. Let’s stay in touch on LinkedIn and go from there.’

 

Plan on learning something new. Each person you connect with has a unique experience and background. If you’re meeting them for the first time, it will all be new. If they are a colleague you work with every day, don’t assume you know everything about them. Make it your goal to dig deeper and glean something you don’t know. You’ll be enriched by it, and they’ll respect you for drawing it out.

 

Approach non-celebrities. It’s tempting to try to connect with the key players in a room, but the most meaningful connections often come from those who others aren’t approaching. They might be quieter on the outside but noisy on the inside – filled with rich experiences and ideas that haven’t been tapped.

 

Stay positive. Your attitude will set the tone for the conversation. Don’t get sucked into negative talk; divert them into a focus on the positive, optimistic side. You have the ability to influence the way people feel with your approach.

 

The cartoon showing a group of workers came from OpenClipArt.

 

 

Ten simple rules for attending your first scientific conference

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a useful article by Elizabeth Leininger et al. in PLoS Computational Biology for July 15, 2021 titled Ten simple rules for attending your first conference. That article is a 13-page pdf with 23 references. Their discussion includes both in-person and virtual scientific conferences, and advice for mentors. Those ten rules are:

 

Rule 1: Select a conference that aligns with your goals.

Rule 2: Find others to foot the bill.

Rule 3: Know your logistics.

Rule 4: Prepare for the environment.

Rule 5: Learn how to take in the science.

Rule 6: Make a conference strategy.

Rule 7: Make new friends but keep the old; be ready to communicate.

Rule 8: Prepare to (safely) get out of your comfort zone.

Rule 9: Take charge of your social interactions.

Rule 10: Tie up loose ends after the conference.

 

Under Rule 6: Make a conference strategy the third paragraph says:

 

“How do you prioritize what to attend? First, it is good to attend keynote and panel sessions as they provide perspective into the wider concerns of your field and often are forward looking to emerging challenges. Second, definitely attend technical presentations related to your specific area of focus in order to know what research is being done and become part of that community of researchers. Reading papers or watching videos in advance and thinking what questions you might like to ask about the work are great ways to prepare so that you can contribute to the discussion in a positive way. Third, the poster sessions are often short, so make sure you know which posters you want to visit while the presenter is there. Fourth, if the conference offers any first-time or new attendee events, plan on attending those as you will make some connections with other attendees that will make the conference more enjoyable and less lonely. Finally, attending the networking events (see Rule 7) helps you get to know your colleagues as individuals on a personal level (not all discussions are about the research) and also exchanging your research ideas.”

 

And there also is an 18-page pdf article from 2025 at Thompson Rivers University titled The Student Presenter’s Guide to Conferences.

 

On September 7, 2025 I blogged about another article from PLoS Computational Biology  on Ten simple rules for improving communication among scientists.

 

The graphic was adapted from this one at OpenClipArt.

 

 

How many members and clubs does Toastmasters International currently have?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On October 3, 2024 I blogged about how In 2024 membership in Toastmasters International finally began to grow again, after having dropped for three years in a row. In August 2025 Toastmasters International released a 26-page CEO Report as a pdf. As shown above (on page 6), from 2024 to 2025 membership dropped slightly again by 7,077 from 272,338 members to 265,261 members. (From 2021 to 2025 membership dropped by 11.6% or 34,945. At the end of 2020 it had hit a peak of 364,212).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Also, as shown above (on page 8), the number of clubs had dropped from 15,875 in 2021 to 13,833 in 2025. The number for 2025 was just slightly below (13) the 13,846 for 2024. At the end of 2019 it had hit a peak of 16,856.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, as shown above (on page 11), the average number of members in a club rose from 16.5 in 2022 to 17.9 in 2025.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Some demographics are shown on page 19. The most common age group, shown above, is 35 to 44 (22.4%). Only 4% are aged 18 to 24, but 19.7% are over 65.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The most common education level, shown above, is a Bachelor’s degree (38.7%). The current status of Toastmasters is relatively stagnant.

 

 

Seven tips on how to write a great speech

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an excellent short article by Kulamkan Kulasegaram, Douglas Buller, and Cynthis Whitehead in Perspectives on Medical Education on pages 270 to 272 of the July 13, 2017 issue titled Taking presentations seriously: Invoking narrative craft in academic talks. They give the following seven speechwriting tips:

 

1] The act of writing a presentation can yield a clear academic presentation and provide clarity on the topic of presentation.

 

2] Work backwards from key message or conclusion you want the audience to understand at the talk.

 

3] Plot the most efficient and engaging route to this conclusion when writing your presentation. Remove extraneous information that distracts from this conclusion; focus the presentation on the salient points that lead up to your conclusion.

 

4] Each element of the presentation must serve the dual purpose of conveying information and facilitating engagement with the presentation. The effectiveness of conveying information depends on the level of engagement or interaction with the audience.

 

5] Interaction with the audience in a talk means engaging their attention and memory on the concept(s) you wish to convey.

 

6] You can more effectively engage with the audience by designing your talk around instructional design and information processing principles that address the audience members’ capacities for attention and memory.

 

7] Creating presentations is an exercise in creating meaning out of slides, words, and concepts. Revisit your talk once you have completed it and evaluate whether the meaning you want to convey is delivered effectively through the elements of your presentation.

 

The image was adapted from this one at OpenClipArt.

 

 

Ten simple rules for improving communication among scientists

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an excellent 14-page article by Carla Bautista et al. in PLoS Computational Biology on June 23, 2022 titled Ten simple rules for improving communication among scientists. It has six authors and 31 references. Those ten rules can be grouped into three areas: Speak, Join, and Assess, as is outlined and shown above [Figure 1]:

 

  1] Know your audience

  2] Use social media

  3] Listen how other scientists present their work

  4] Network with scientists and ask for feedback

  5] Get involved with scientific organizations

  6] Create opportunities to practice public speaking

  7] Organize scientific meetings

  8] Identify and enroll in scientific activities

  9] Collaborate with other scientists

10] Pace yourself! Don’t overcommit

 

The sixth section begins:

“Scientists communicate about their research throughout their careers. Learning how to give talks of different lengths and for a variety of audiences is an essential skill. Many platforms offer different types of talks for diverse audiences (e.g., the general public or more specialized audiences) and environments (e.g., academic or less formal interactions). Practicing your public speaking with diverse audiences and settings will teach you to adapt your presentation style and goals for each public speaking engagement. The presentation format is also essential; for example, poster presentations are generally more interactive and a presenter might be stopped and asked questions providing more room for discussion.

Practicing to communicate with broader audiences and communicating your topic without jargon will improve communication with fellow scientists (see Rule 4, especially with those outside your field of study. Therefore, aim to find places (or organize them yourself, see Rule 7) where you can practice presenting longer 1-hour talks or shorter 15-minute seminar-style presentations.”

 

 

 

 

Cracker Barrel made their new logo too abstract and then they dropped it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The old logo for the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain has founder Dave Evin’s Uncle Herschel nostalgically sitting in a wooden chair next to a barrel, as is shown above on the wall of their Boise location.

 

A press release on August 19, 2025 at PR Newswire titled Cracker Barrel Teams up with Country Music Star Jordan Davis to Invite Guests to Discover “All the More” this Fall described the abstract new logo:

 

“Its more popular menu offerings like farm fresh scrambled eggs and buttermilk biscuits even serve as inspiration behind the hues of a refreshed color palette featured in the new campaign. Anchored in Cracker Barrel's signature gold and brown tones, the updated visuals will appear across menus and marketing collateral, including the fifth evolution of the brand's logo, which is now rooted even more closely to the iconic barrel shape and word mark that started it all.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That new logo with the sideways barrel and minus hoops (shown above) was so abstract that the Wikimedia Commons web page said:

 

“This logo image consists only of simple geometric shapes or text. It does not meet the threshold of originality needed for copyright protection, and is therefore in the public domain.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I squeezed it, squared off the bottom and top, and added a pair of hoops to produce the more recognizable version shown above.

 

The new logo got a lot of negative feedback, and it quickly was dumped. For example, an article by Lorraine Taylor at Fox News on August 22, 2025 is titled Cracker Barrel faces customer criticism after ditching iconic 48-year-old logo for new design. A second article by Ali Abbas Ahmadi at BBC News on August 26, 2025 is titled US restaurant chain Cracker Barrel scraps new logo after backlash. A third article by Megan Cerullo at CBS News Moneywatch on August 27, 2025 is titled Cracker Barrel refreshed its logo and paid the price. Here’s what brand experts say went wrong. Experts said they went generic and severed the logo from its roots. A fourth article by Sarah Fortinsky at The Hill on August 27, 2025 is titled White House claims credit after Cracker Barrel reverts logo.

 

 

How to construct and deliver an elevator pitch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An elevator pitch is a brief marketing speech that provides a synopsis of who you are and what you do. There is an excellent specialized article by Leslie A. Caromile et al. at the BMC Proceedings on November 26, 2024 titled How to construct and deliver an elevator pitch: a formula for the research scientist. It has links to the following six figures:

 

Purpose of elevator speech [Figure 1]

Analyze your audience [Figure 2]

Context of elevator speech [Figure 3]

Developing a scientific elevator speech [Figure 4]

Major components [Figure 5]

Example [Figure 6]

 

A blog post at Northeastern University Online MBA on September 9, 2024 is titled 7 Essential Tips for Crafting a Winning Elevator Pitch. They are:

 

Identify your goal

Understand your audience

Keep it concise and clear

Tell a story

End strong

Practice and refine

Be confident

 

There also is another post at the UMass Amherst Iconnect blog on September 20, 2024 titled How to Give a Great Elevator Speech (With Examples) which has the following sections:

 

How to Write an Elevator Pitch

Who are you?

What do do?

What’s unique about you?

Call to action (or What’s your ask?)

Something memorable

 

Finally, there is an undated three-page pdf article from the Princeton University Center for Career Development titled What is an elevator pitch and why do I need one?

 

The elevator door image was adapted from Wikimedia Commons.