Dean Brenner

We’ve reached a tipping point, I believe, in the use of mobile devices. These tools have had a wildly successful positive impact on our efficiency and ability to communicate. But too much of any good thing can eventually become a bad thing, and that is where we are with mobile devices. And we’re hearing it […]

We talk all the time about message development — clarity of and organization of message make it easier for people to listen to you. And if you do all the right things on your message plan, and then translate it into a good slide deck, the final piece of the puzzle is your delivery. Once […]

My wife and I recently had some bookshelves built in our home, which gave us some much-needed space to display many of the books we owned. So when the job was completed, we had a wonderful night of populating our new shelves. We had a little wine, and we spent hours opening up boxes of […]

Originally published with the Forbes Coaches Council October 2, 2017. There are lots of tips and techniques for crafting a persuasive bit of communication. But there’s one fundamental secret that underlies all of them. What is this secret weapon or becoming a powerful communicator? Honesty. Why? Because to successfully persuade someone, you need to be […]

Good morning all, and happy November! Our primary focus here at The Latimer Group is persuasive communication skills. We teach and coach these skills for a living. But we see our value more broadly than that. Within the context of teaching and coaching stronger speaking and writing skills, we also think it is important to […]

We deliberately used an example of that weak language in the title of this post, to illustrate what it can do to your message and your credibility when presenting. Weak phrases like “pretty much,” “sort of,” “kind of,” or “a little bit,” don’t actually add a lot to your message. Phrases like these make you […]

“Practice puts brains in your muscles.” ~Sam Snead Over the last few months, we’ve published a series of blog posts both here and at Forbes.com on Communication Leadership, and building a presentation, speech, or other communication. How we assess our audience, how we build our message, how we document, and how we deliver that message […]

Listening is a big topic at The Latimer Group. We write on our blog and teach in our workshops about things like active listening and listening bias, as well as some specific tactics on how to listen better. But today I want to write about why being a good listener is so important. Listening, at its […]

Have you ever listened to someone who speaks really well? Who gets to the point? Who makes the point clearly? Who doesn’t waste your time and makes the message valuable? It is SO nice when that happens, right? It is so refreshing when a presentation or a conference call or an important conversation is efficient […]

Originally published with the Forbes Coaches Council at Forbes.com on September 8, 2017. Authenticity and confidence: These are the key elements of a great speech delivery, but developing these elements can feel like bottling lightning. Sometimes we seem to think they are qualities you are either born with or not. People say, “I’m just not a […]