Dean Brenner

We write and speak frequently on the importance of being a good listener. But most of our content is usually focused on listening tactics — how to listen better. But today I want to write about why it is so important to listen well. Listening, at its most basic level, is essentially a commitment to two-way […]

We spend a lot of time here coaching people on how to get the outcomes they want. And in some cases, the outcome is a sale of a product or a service. But in many cases, the outcome is the “sale” of an idea or a plan. The vast majority of persuasion that happens in the […]

So often in preparing to communicate, we make a fundamental mistake: we enter a messenger mindset. Rather than establishing a clear goal and aiming to persuade our audience, we set out to inform, to update, to share. On this path, we end our inquiry with a period: here’s what I need to say, full stop. But […]

It’s a common occurrence in the business world. You prepare a meeting, presentation, or speech for a certain length of time, only to find out that you have a lot less time than you planned for. Sometimes we even learn our fate as we are walking into the presentation. We’ve spoken a lot lately about […]

“Getting them to embrace their humanity in front of an audience is a leap, and often times, people don’t want to do that…When you are talking to an audience, you are trying to move people, and the best way to do that is to talk to them like they’re people.”  – Bryan Gildenberg, Chief Knowledge […]

In so many organizations, we see discussions around problem solving go wrong. To be an effective problem solving organization, there has to be a framework of questions that will lead towards full alignment on the issue. Once we have that alignment, then we can have a serious conversation around legitimate solutions. In a world where everyone […]

We post frequently on this blog about listening skills. Listening is of critical importance to your ability to persuade, sell, lead, follow… everything in the work place. But here is an important question for you to think about. How well do you listen to people you don’t like? We all come in contact with people […]

Originally published with Forbes Coaches Council, February 2019. Death by PowerPoint. Or as Dilbert put it: “PowerPoint poisoning.” It’s software that is so despised that it has been banished by Amazon and banned from military strategy meetings. It’s easy to hate on PowerPoint. After all, it’s often the single common denominator between all the boring presentations and too-long meetings we […]

Have you ever sat through a meeting, or a conference call, or a presentation, and thought to yourself, “Oh my god… I wish this person would get to the point…“? Yeah. Me too. Many, many times. We all know what it feels like to have our time wasted by someone who just won’t, or can’t, get to the […]

Communication clarity is really hard in the 21st century… a mantra I have recited over and over in this space. It’s hard because of the noise, the competition for mind share, and shrinking attentions spans. But often the best way to combat difficulty and noise is to focus on the most simple, basic elements of […]