If you’ve been presenting in corporate settings for a while, you already know the basics. You prepare, you organize, you deliver. But if you’re honest with yourself, you may also recognize a habit that’s hard to shake: you’re still thinking about your presentation more than you’re thinking about your audience. That shift, from delivery to...
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You already know that storytelling is a powerful tool. It personalizes ideas, creates emotional connections, and clarifies complexity. In fact, you’re already a storyteller. You share what happened in line at the grocery store, the reckless driver on his phone who almost ran you over, and the upset during the big game last night. The...
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If you’re like most professionals we work with, you’ve sat through more than your fair share of murky meetings and aimless presentations. They often begin with chit-chat, segue into updates, and then meander through discussions with no clear sense of why everyone’s there or where the conversation is going. This kind of ambiguity slows progress,...
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You’ve read the reports. You’ve seen the surveys. The number one concern business leaders have about their workforce is a lack of soft skills, especially communication. It’s a concern that transcends industries, job levels, and functional areas. And if you’re like many leaders we talk with, you’re wondering how to address it in a way...
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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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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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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...
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Something we can all relate to is being confused when sitting through a presentation. The presenter is talking in circles, and the slide on the screen is a jumbled mess. We struggle to make sense of the information on the slide, and then we realize we haven’t heard a thing the person has said. Sound...
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Anyone in the position of having to deliver similar content on a repeat basis faces the problem of how to keep things fresh. Maybe you’re in sales and have to talk about the same information in every sales call. Maybe you deliver the same presentation at different conferences. Maybe when rolling out an HR initiative,...
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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...
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