Dean Brenner

We’re pleased to contribute once again to Switch and Shift, a business blog focused on “the human side of business.” Our most recent contribution is called “5 Communication Behaviors We All Must Adopt.” In the rapidly-changing business world of the 21st century, there’s an overwhelming need for clearer, more succinct business communication. If we can […]

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 […]

Earlier this week, someone told me that “they are more efficient when they multitask.” Yeah… right. This will be a short post today, because the efficiency of multi-tasking is a complete myth. And there is tons of detail to prove it, including this recent spot on NPR. In last week’s post, I pleaded with you […]

Details matter in business, and in some industries, the details are everything. But the amount of detail we discuss in meetings and presentations, and the way in which we communicate it, is a daily source of frustration in most companies. Ask yourself this question: “What percentage of meetings that you sit in take your time […]

We’ve done a couple posts recently about some things you’ll never hear anyone say in the workplace. You can read those posts here and here. But our point in today’s post is that as you go about your communication in the workplace, be it with colleagues, clients, or teammates, there are a few things that […]

Have you ever listened to yourself speak to your colleagues or customers? Have you ever just recorded yourself in a standard, nothing-special conversation, and actually listened to what you sound like? Try this. Record yourself in a typical conversation or phone call and listen closely to what you sound like. More specifically, count your pronouns. […]

One of the themes that comes up in all of our leadership communication workshops is the concept of “how to be a good teammate.” People always seem interested in the steps towards being a better leader and a better teammate. First do this… then do this… then do this… People like specific steps, and information […]

I got some bad news the other day from a vendor we work with. A major deadline was going to be missed, and a deliverable we were counting on was not going to arrive on time. We had discussed this deadline with our vendor openly and emphatically as being important to us. We needed the […]

I was speaking with my good friend Tom the other day. 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. We were speaking about a few things on the phone, and he shared a story of a contractor […]

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 […]