Dean Brenner

The question I’m asked most often in workshops and coaching sessions is, “I get really nervous when speaking; can you help me eliminate my anxiety?” And my answer is that having at least some anxiety is actually a good sign. It means that, at that moment, you’re engaged. You are plugged into your audience and […]

Persuasive communication is NOT about screaming louder than the other person. Persuasive communication is NOT about bullying or intimidating someone into agreeing with you. Persuasive communication is NOT about interrupting someone, cutting them off so they cannot finish their point. And persuasive communication is NOT about saying one thing to a colleague and then playing […]

Originally published with the Forbes Coaches Council, February 2019 Think about the best leader you’ve ever seen. What made her compelling? Many of us would say, “She just had ‘it.’ Her charisma was off the charts.” It may be hard to believe, but “it” — that combination of confidence, authority and personality that makes an executive engaging and inspiring — isn’t necessarily an […]

I am going share a personal experience with you today… the kind of story that is emotional for a lot of people in 2019 America. It is a story about an interaction I recently had with a police officer. I am making the choice to share this story with you with a healthy dose of […]

Simple idea today, that comes up in our coaching sessions from time to time. My colleagues and I talk all the time about great communication skills, and all the things that help create those skills. We believe that when we take the time to prepare for our meetings, presentations and calls, we will do a much […]

One of the things I listen closely for in our workshops is a certain kind of vocabulary that we call “weak” or “qualifying” language. And when I hear it, my coaching sensors start ringing loudly. Words or phrases like “sort of,” “kind of,” “pretty much,” or “basically,” can be toxic for the speaker and dramatically […]

The numbers may vary from study to study, but the story is generally the same these days: a significant percentage of emails today are initially read via a mobile device. But when it comes to work-related emails, most of the importantemails we write, the ones with some substance on important topics, we tend to write from […]

Do you find it easy to persuade people? That’s a broad question, with an answer that is likely to be some version of, “Sometimes.” Whether someone is easily persuaded depends on a lot. The size of the ask, the environment and situation you’re in, the kind of person you’re trying to persuade, and other variables […]

“Get good at something, and don’t try to be something that you are not. Don’t try to do something that you don’t fully understand, . If you try to be something you’re not, it will come off as disingenuous.” ~L.J. Spinnato, varsity football head coach, Choate Rosemary Hall In this episode of The Message Makeover, […]

Originally published with the Forbes Coaches Council, December 2018. One of our central tenets in teaching persuasive communication is to know your audience. Having an informed sense of your audience’s needs, concerns, and context (did the company just suffer a drop in the stock price, did the VP in the room just get a big promotion, […]