Dean Brenner

I love to garden. Anyone who regularly reads this blog knows that. I write about it all the time. Its relaxing, gets me outside breathing the fresh air, and there is a distinct sense of satisfaction that comes from creating something and watching it grow. I also love the rhythm of the seasons with gardening. […]

Have you ever considered mapping your progress as a communicator? In short, the only way to REALLY be sure you’re improving as an effective communicator is to have some way to measure that improvement. When we work with clients at The Latimer Group, we use a three-stage rubric of Professional-, Leadership-, and Executive-Level communication… So how do we […]

(Author’s Note: I was scrolling through our blog archive over coffee in the early morning hours yesterday, when I came across this post from three years ago. The story is a simple one, and pretty self-explanatory. But as I always say to my clients, colleagues and friends, the simplest stories often have the most powerful […]

This is a killer episode, and we say that with great humility. In the latest episode of The Message Makeover Podcast, we interview Dr. Jared Horvath, an award-winning cognitive neuroscientist who has lectured at Harvard University, Harvard Medical School and the University of Melbourne. What’s special about this conversation? Dr. Horvath is the guy who […]

There is a disconnect that I witness every day. The disconnect is between our own perception of what is “clear” and what others think about that clarity. When we have an idea or a strategy or something in our head, and we have thought it through and worked it out, in our own minds it […]

(Author’s Note: I recently had a friend call me and ask for help with a toast, for an in-person wedding later this spring. He was really nervous about it because… its a wedding toast. Many people get nervous about speaking at weddings. But in addition, his nerves seemed to be coming from the fact that […]

One of the strongest and most enduring myths about drowning is that it is loud. Thank you, Hollywood…. Drowning is often incorrectly depicted with lots of splashing and screaming for help. But in reality, it doesn’t happen that way. Not even close. Drowning, in fact, almost always happens completely silently. The silence is caused because the […]

Details matter in business, and in some industries, the details are everything. But the amount of detail we discuss in meetings and presentations, and the way in which we communicate it, is a daily source of frustration in most companies. Ask yourself this question: “What percentage of meetings that you participate in cover way more […]

(Author’s Note: I was recently scrolling through our archive of old blog posts. And I came across this one, which I wrote in 2014. It is a simple story about an interaction with my then-four-year-old son, where he outmaneuvered me at the frozen yogurt shop. But as is often the case, the simple story illustrates […]

Relationships matter. A lot. In all aspects of our lives. Relationships are the connective tissue, and create the fabric of our existence. And considering the journey all of us have been on over the last 12 months, I have been thinking a lot lately about relationships. In our work lives, we have to do a […]