Blogs

Want to improve communication skills for yourself or your team?
Read our Blogs and download our Infographics for helpful tips, techniques, and advice you can put to use today.

Two Guiding Principles for Effective Meetings and Presentations

Dale Ludwig
July 30, 2024
Two Guiding Principles for Effective Meetings and Presentations

We shot a few videos recently focusing on some of the fundamental aspects of our work. Here are two that define meetings and presentations as Orderly Conversations. Understanding the consequences of that definition helps facilitators plan and run more effective meetings. Meetings and Presentations are Not Speeches Transcript: “When it comes to improving face-to-face communication,...

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Meeting the Hybrid Challenge

Barbara Egel
April 15, 2024
Group of people around a table conducting a hybrid meeting with people on a monitor joining virtually.

Like it or not, hybrid meetings (some people in a room together and others logging in virtually) seem to be here to stay. We’ve all gone from “I’d better learn to use Zoom” to clicking on Join Meeting in our sleep. However, mastery of the software doesn’t mean mastery of the process of planning and...

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Three Steps to Improve Listening Skills

Dale Ludwig
April 15, 2024
Four people actively listening to the speaker in a meeting at a round table.

Active listening is one of the many communication skills we help our clients develop in our communication skills workshops. Like so many communication skills, we need to be intentional in their use until they develop into a habit. Recently, I read an article in the Harvard Business Review titled “What Is Active Listening” by Amy...

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Effective Meetings Start with a Clear Purpose and Context

Barbara Egel
February 29, 2024
Speech bubble that says “Today’s Agenda”

We were in the midst of a complex, multi-part training at a Fortune 500 company, and the topic of conversation was employees being invited to meetings but having no idea why they were invited or what they were expected to contribute. One of us asked whether meeting invitations came with a topic description or a...

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Professionalizing High-tech and High-stakes Training Techniques with Ex-military Personnel: A Case Study

Greg Owen-Boger
December 5, 2023
Picture of first responders receiving Turpin training

When people participate in Turpin workshops, individual members and teams enjoy a host of secondary benefits beyond greater comfort with their own communication skills. Managers and leaders are often pleasantly surprised by how team meetings become more efficient, leadership skills start to emerge, relationships blossom, and so on. We often hear that teams “Turpinize” their...

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When Librarians Become Fundraisers for Their University: A Case Study

Greg Owen-Boger
November 27, 2023
Librarians sitting at tables learning to fundraise

When people participate in Turpin workshops, individual members and teams enjoy a host of secondary benefits beyond greater comfort with their own communication skills. Managers and leaders are often pleasantly surprised by how team meetings become more efficient, leadership skills start to emerge, relationships blossom, and so on. We often hear that teams “Turpinize” their...

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Professionalizing Subject Matter Experts to Become Expert Trainers in a High-Tech Active Learning Classroom: A Case Study

Greg Owen-Boger
November 1, 2023
Room in which SMEs learn to facilitate expert learning

When people participate in Turpin workshops, individual members and teams enjoy a host of secondary benefits beyond greater comfort with their own communication skills. Managers and leaders are often pleasantly surprised by how team meetings become more efficient, leadership skills start to emerge, relationships blossom, and so on. We often hear that teams “Turpinize” their...

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