Presentation Skills

Do you ever have to participate in a standard, regularly-scheduled meeting within your company, where you (or someone you work with) presents updated data and information on the business/project? (I am sure your answer is “yes.” Most of us have.) Do these meetings end up feeling like the same meeting over and over and over […]

There are a few scenarios that show up frequently in our workshops. And one of the most common is a request from a participant to help them sell their idea/initiative/recommendation. Nearly every day, we work with people who have looked at the problem, done the research, and believe they have the correct solution or idea […]

I have a wide range of conversations with the people I coach. Coaching discussions on communication and leadership skills can cover a lot of territory. But there is a short list of things that seem to come up over and over and over. And at the top of the list is this seemingly simple idea. […]

Not everyone is naturally a great communicator. In fact, almost all successful communication — persuasive, engaging, inspiring — is made, not born. It requires preparation, skill and practice. And of course, it takes time… and we all know how little we have of that. If we are going to build a successful communication foundation, let’s […]

One of the most common, and most tactical, comments we get from workshop participants is this: I understand why you want me to simplify my materials/slides. But I need to be ready for questions that may come up, and I need to be ready to support the person who wasn’t there. And I don’t want […]

Here is a conversation we regularly have with new clients… New Client: “I have a big presentation coming. Will you take a look at my slides?” Me: “Well, before we get to the slides, what is the point of the presentation?” New Client: “Here, it is on the slides.” Me: “I don’t care about the […]

In all of our workshops, we always ask participants about their goals for the session. And we get lots of great answers to that query, often with some ambitious and lofty goals like “I need to win this big piece of business“… and just as often, we hear seemingly more modest goals like “I just […]

Have you ever led a meeting, handed out the slide deck, began discussing the topic and while still on slide 1 or 2, most of your audience has already flipped to the last slide? I’m sure you’ve seen this before… Perhaps you’ve been the one flipping to the last slide, or perhaps you were the […]

The people we speak with, or to, are under no obligation to actually listen to what we are saying. With so many choices available for information and content, it’s very easy for people to “change the channel” away from you and your message, and divert their attention to a message more relevant to them. As […]

Our work at The Latimer Group is all about helping our clients build strong and powerful communication skills. And to do that effectively, we have to be able to help them assess two things: current strengths and weaknesses, AND a path towards improvement. One without the other just isn’t that helpful. Skill development, in any […]