3 New Year’s Resolutions for Better Communication
Posted On January 5, 2015 BY Dean Brenner
Happy new year to all! We trust and hope that your holidays were happy and healthy. We’re back today from a well-deserved and welcomed break, and are excited for a great 2015. Over the course of our holiday break, we spent a lot of time thinking about the year gone by, and the year to […]
Year-End Thoughts from The Latimer Group
Posted On December 16, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
We’ve been reflecting a lot lately here at The Latimer Group… not only on 2014, but also on the last 8-10 years. The business environment has changed dramatically: more demands on our time, more access to information, more channels to communicate than ever, social media, lean organizations, a cacophony of opinion on everything… the world […]
4 Steps to Help You Get to Know Your Audience
Posted On December 15, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
Whitney and I are planning in earnest for another trip to Australia for client work, in 2015. We’re finalizing dates, logistics, content, etc. And when we are getting ready for a big trip with lots of client time, we always make sure to spend some time getting (or remaining) familiar with the client’s situation. We […]
Great Speaking Starts with Great Listening
Posted On December 10, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
Many people want to be known as great speakers. Many people want to be known as the person who can make the point in a clear and compelling way. And many work on this skill by focusing initially on the wrong things. Speaking well and sharing information is, first and foremost, about knowing how to […]
Knowing Your Audience is Complex
Posted On December 3, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
I am out in Minnesota, teaching a three-day workshop on executive communication skills for our largest client. And over the course of the day yesterday, the group had a great conversation about the complexities of understanding audience perspective. Knowing your audience is critical to great communication… we all know that. But in 2014, the business world […]
The Most Important Skill in Business
Posted On December 1, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
If you can persuade others to think or act in a certain way, influence their decisions and behaviors, and build consensus among your colleagues, you have competitive advantage. Period. Full stop. In the 21st century business world, (where information is more available, attention spans have plummeted, organizations are leaner, and everyone is less loyal and […]
Practice DOES Matter
Posted On November 20, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
I had an outstanding experience yesterday with a workshop participant from one of our major client companies. This young man had participated in one of our one-day presentation skills workshops about six weeks ago. And then he signed up for a different workshop this week, a two-day “executive communication skills” workshop. In the October session, […]
The Global Need for Respect
Posted On November 17, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
During the past year of client work, we’ve spent time with professionals from over 25 different countries… busy, ambitious, successful, intelligent professionals. They worked in finance, engineering, marketing, communications, procurement, and all sorts of leadership and management positions. Our client base is certainly a diverse group! And any time we have an intense period of […]
The Death of Spin Communication
Posted On November 10, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
The recent election cycle in the United States has made one thing very clear to me… that we have now reached a critical breaking point in our tolerance for “spin” communication. What is “spin” you ask? Anyone who lives in the USA knows exactly what it is, because that is all we hear anymore in […]
What Happens When Politicians Forget to Be Leaders?
Posted On November 2, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
Today’s post was written by Whitney Sweeney, Director of Client Relationships at The Latimer Group At The Latimer Group, we teach the importance of leadership communication. To be a leader people will want to follow, you must know how to deliver your message in a way that people will hear and internalize. You must be […]