Dean Brenner

When we communicate well in the workplace — when we get to the point, when we articulate value, when we make the point clearly — what we are really doing is respecting our audience, and their time. When we do not prepare sufficiently, or make the point quickly and clearly, then what we are really doing is disrespecting […]

Leaders, mentors and people with positions of authority have enormous power in many, many ways. But today our topic is not about the power to make decisions, or set rules or regulations, or run the P&L. No… today our topic is the power to impact the way people around that leader see themselves. Because the […]

Engaging your audience during a virtual meeting is really hard, they say. And most people we work with are desperate for ways to create more engagement with their audience… because it feels next to impossible to create it. I am here today to tell you that it is NOT impossible. Is it hard? For sure. […]

Over the course of this blog, we write frequently about the important ingredients for great communication… clarity and brevity chief among them. Today we touch on another critical ingredient: context. Context is critical. Context creates relevance. Context helps your audience engage and listen. Context helps your audience care. We are all time starved. We are all attention deprived, to varying degrees. […]

My colleagues and I always talk and teach about the importance of knowing your audience, and preparing for your work communication correctly. And at the center of that work is the ability to clarify the message and “the ask,” to try to anticipate what the audience will care about, and the questions or objections they […]

I recently had a conversation with a person I am coaching, and he recounted a story to me. He recently had led a really hard meeting with colleagues, where he made a presentation on a challenging, divisive topic. He was trying to build alignment within the business unit on how to handle a significant business […]

I spend a lot of my time coaching business leaders, emerging and established ones, on their leadership and communication skills. And the best versions of these conversations occur when the leader is willing to make themselves vulnerable and share with me what keeps them “up at night.” The list of things that cause sleeplessness for […]

In the game of golf, not every shot is the same. The variables change with every shot: distance to the hole, your lie, whether you are in the fairway/rough/sand trap, the weather conditions, what hole you are on and the score vs your opponent. All of these variables, and others as well, will dictate which […]

Good morning to our clients and friends around the world! Happy new year! We hope you all had a restful and joyous holiday, and we look forward to charging ahead into 2024 with you. Here is a quick thought to get our year started off correctly, something that we are taking on here at The […]

(Author’s Note: The following story happened on December 6, 2021 during a quiet afternoon at our office. I happened to be sitting at our conference table with my wife Emily. We were having lunch, doing Christmas cards, and just making small talk about all the things we had to get done between then and the […]