Dean Brenner

I think about communication in a very specific way. Communication (or rather great communication) is not a series of memorized steps, standard moves, or a list of tips and tricks. No, I think about it much differently than that. Rather than a series of memorized steps or standard moves, great communication is really about questions and […]

We just finished an intensive workshop, designed in multiple modules and spread out over multiple days, with one of our top clients. The topic was Executive Communication Skills, and the goal was to coach a small group of ten rising executive stars in the art of persuasive, executive-level communication skills. We covered a lot of […]

In nearly every workshop I teach, I ask a question that sounds something like this: “How many of you attend too many meetings that run long?” Nearly every hand goes up, every time. “How many of you get too many emails that are too overwhelming to read?” Nearly every hand goes up, every time. “How […]

“Wow, that meeting was great. I wish it was a lot longer.” “When she explains things everything seems more complicated. It’s great.” “He never gets to the point. I love listening to him.” “His presentations are always so hard to follow. I love feeling overwhelmed.” “Her slide decks look like a passage from Moby Dick. […]

(Author’s Note: This is a piece I originally wrote several years ago. But we republish it every 18 months or so, because the point continues to be true, and because my colleagues and I continue to see evidence of the risk of PowerPoint every single day. As you read this, keep this in mind… your […]

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 […]

Any good coach will always do their best to understand the unique circumstances of the person they are coaching. No two people are the same, and therefore, no two coaching assignments are the same. You have to meet the person you are attempting to coach “where they are,” because a good coaching relationship is exactly […]

In a recent workshop, one participant asked a series of questions about how broad the application of the content we were teaching in the course actually was. I answered in a very “Latimer way,” by saying that our model applies to all forms of workplace communication: meetings, conference calls, presentations, email exchanges, etc. As I […]

In the latest episode of The Message Makeover, we interview Chris Kelly on a range of fascinating issues, from owning an NBA team and reopening a professional sports league during a pandemic, to the rise of social media echo chambers and the loss of privacy, with a little bit of light politics thrown in. Currently, […]

(Hello, clients and friends of The Latimer Group. We are excited to re-introduce you to Fathom, which we launched in late 2019… but like so many other things, lost some momentum amidst the turmoil of 2020. The tagline for Fathom is “Strategies for Creating the Persuasive Organization,” which exactly captures our intent with this piece. […]