The master key that opens the door to powerful delivery is honest connection with your audience. Outstanding speakers know that they must at every moment be connected with the real people in the audience, for a real purpose that matters to those people, and without hiding behind any slick "stage personality." This is what generates the trust essential for persuasion.

When talking with someone, did you ever get the feeling that they were not being 100 percent honest and upfront with you? While many people have felt this way, whether it's a business owner, manager, parent, co-worker, coach or consultant, I'm often told that they really don't know how to handle it. Take a salesperson, for instance. Instead of confronting a potential customer about this innate concern, they take what this prospect says and try to do their best to work around it, even though they know that the prospect isn't telling them something.

By keynoting at association conferences, CEOs and other top executives use speaking as a platform to introduce their companies' brands into new markets and solidly position them in established markets. Their speeches created "3D branding," a customized experience that constituents can feel, touch, and interact with. Giving speeches also leverages the credible endorsement of the association and, if made part of a systematic approach, starts building a community of evangelists. Yes, the applause feels good, too.

Marketers need to perfect their ability to really listen and understand their clients' and prospects' needs, perspectives, objectives. Unless they sharpen their skills, the marketing content they develop won't connect.

As Readers treat e-mails as phone calls, e-mail per person on a day has exceeded phone calls and direct mail. E-mail recipients have become more sensitive in how they react and respond to an already overloaded inbox.

The primary method of corporate information delivery has switched from telephone to e-mail, and the deluge of e-mail now forces marketers and relationship-builders to wonder why their e-mail campaigns are stagnant, ineffective and resulting in single digit response rates.