Dean Brenner

We all aspire to be better communicators (or rather, we should.) Strong communication will help us accomplish our goals, drive good outcomes, and add value to our colleagues and customers, and generate business. All good things. But while the benefits of good communication are easy to identify, most people tend to think about poor communication as […]

Some of us trust our colleagues quickly,  and only when a colleague does something to betray that trust do we reduce it or take it away. Others among us do not trust quickly, and rather make all colleagues earn the trust before we give it. Which of the above describes you? It’s important because it […]

There are a few questions we frequently hear from our workshop participants. And perhaps the most vexing is the question of detail: how much do I need, where do I put it, how much is too much? Without exception, it comes up and is a major topic of conversation in every workshop. Why? For two simple, […]

Good morning, friends. I am writing to you today, with fresh memories from a memorial service I attended yesterday, for a long-time mentor and friend of mine. This person lived a full, generous, successful life in all ways. He was a giant on Wall Street, and in his community, constantly taking an interest in the […]

We all know how it feels to have our time wasted. Have you ever been in a meeting/presentation/conference call that seemed to have no purpose? Or where the speaker could not get to the point? Or where you wondered why you were even there? [Pause for you to nod in agreement…] Have you ever listened […]

My colleagues and I write all the time about the characteristics and keys to great communication. Many of them are obvious… preparation and practice are near the top of any list. But there is another component to great communication, that often goes unnoticed in our fast-paced, back-to-back-to-back meeting world. Time management, and creating a short […]

Hello friends! We are continuing our latest blog tradition of fielding your questions about effective communication. And our recent post on July 13 struck a chord with many of you. We got several good responses to our post on the need for leaders to “practice what you preach.” So let’s review some of the best […]

We get inquiries all the time from managers, directors and organizational leaders about a need for communication training for their teams. And in nearly every conversation, the leader is very clear about the needs and weaknesses of his or her team. Then, when we actually conduct the training, and once the participants get comfortable enough to speak […]

Here are five of the most common communication problems or roadblocks that we see, with solutions for each: If your communication problem is time, then brevity is your friend. Make sure to shorten your message significantly, and dramatically reduce the amount of detail you try to squeeze in. Reduce your information to a list of “three things,” […]

Many people want to be known as great speakers. Many people want to be known as the person who can make the point in a clear and compelling way. And yet many work on this skill by focusing initially on the wrong things. Speaking well and sharing information is, first and foremost, about knowing how […]