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,...
read moreTwo Guiding Principles for Effective Meetings and Presentations
July 30, 2024 0 Comments
Meeting the Hybrid Challenge
April 15, 2024 0 Comments
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...
read moreThree Steps to Improve Listening Skills
April 15, 2024 0 Comments
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...
read moreEffective Meetings Start with a Clear Purpose and Context
February 29, 2024 0 Comments
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...
read moreHow a Simple Nod Can Make Business Communication Better
February 29, 2024 0 Comments
We spend a lot of time helping people succeed as trainers, meeting facilitators, and presenters. That work focuses on helping people initiate and manage the conversation that takes place in each of these settings. What we rarely focus on is the role of the people receiving the training, participating in the meeting, or listening to...
read moreThe Power of Paper – Why Meeting Notes Are Still An Important Tool
October 31, 2023 0 Comments
Recently, a learner asked me a seemingly simple question: Should she take notes during the course of a meeting? She wondered if notetaking was an old standard practice that had gone by the wayside or if it was still seen as necessary in current business culture. My answer to her was a resounding, “Yes!” In...
read moreWhen Presenting, “The Ask” Doesn’t Have to Be Aggressive, Just Specific
August 15, 2023 0 Comments
Recently we delivered a workshop for a group of staff members at a Big Ten university. The group was made up of leaders from various parts of the university’s expansive library. They were a fascinating group with truly interesting jobs. These individuals had been asked to meet with small groups of university donors in hopes...
read moreAdapting to Your Default Approach for Better Business Presentations
August 15, 2023 0 Comments
One of the benefits of defining business presentations as Orderly Conversations® is that we can guide learners’ improvement based on their individual responses to the tensions involved. Fundamentally, this tension is between what’s required to make a presentation an orderly process and what makes it a spontaneous interaction. Let’s break that down. Presentations Require Order ...
read moreWhen Sales Leaders Need to Demonstrate “Cause in the Matter”
July 18, 2023 0 Comments
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...
read moreYour Business Communication Motto: Make it Easy!
June 15, 2023 0 Comments
In addition to being a trainer for Turpin, I’ve spent many years teaching communication to undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals. In the course of teaching everything from Composition 101 to complex ideas, I finally hit on one simple goal that can act as a guiding light for everything from emails to keynotes: Make It Easy....
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