Dean Brenner

Have you ever listened to that person who says something like “um” over and over and over? After a while, all you hear are the “ums.” How about the person who says “like,” or “you know?” Distracting, right? How about the person who qualifies everything they say with a “sort of” or a “kind of” […]

Over the last month, we have spent nearly every day in workshops with some of our top clients. And in every single one, the concept of terrible PowerPoint slides came up. Everyone wants to know how to make their slides simpler. Everyone wants to have a “Steve Jobs” level of simplicity with their slides. But […]

Long time readers of this blog know that I am a regular (but not constant) amateur poker player. I have a regular game with a group of friends, and our low-stakes game will range from one table of 6-8 players, to occasionally multiple tables with 15-30 players. It is primarily about having good fun with […]

So often in preparing to communicate, we make a fundamental mistake: we enter what my colleagues and I refer to as “the messenger mindset.” What this means is that our entire approach to communication is about the “delivery of information.” When we fall into the messenger mindset trap, we are only thinking about what we want […]

Everyone always wants to talk about leadership. Every organization is obsessed with training its leaders, present and future. And many professionals invest in developing their own leadership skills. Important stuff. But leadership is only a part of the equation for a successful organization. The other part… and in some ways, the more important part… is […]

Everyone needs to know how to sell themselves. Sometimes we are in the midst of a formal job search. Sometimes we are building out our network, and are thinking about the next job. Sometimes we are auditioning for a promotion. Sometimes we are building the necessary relationships to sell more of our products and services. […]

There is a mindset I hear people articulate from time to time… and that mindset is that your presence is primarily created by the way you look and carry yourself. I heard this again recently in a workshop I was teaching, and the participant said that they did not have the wardrobe to create a […]

We spend a lot of our time in workshops, on this blog, and in all our conversations with our clients, discussing the importance of good communication skills. We always talk about the power of listening, of being prepared, of having goals and talking points and plans… all of it matters. When you take a good […]

I was speaking with my good friend Tom not long ago, and he said something to me that really resonated. Tom is a business owner, and the definition of a “straight shooter”. He doesn’t tolerate people who waste his time or who don’t deliver as promised… and he is not afraid to say so. We […]

Author’s Note: I wrote this piece exactly three years ago, on September 11th, 2020, and then reposted it again in September 2021 and 2022. And based on the number of emails and comments I received each time, it was clear that it resonated loudly with many. And everyone who knows me, knows I love meaningful […]