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One of the strongest and most enduring myths about drowning is that it is loud. Thank you, Hollywood…. Drowning is often incorrectly depicted with lots of splashing and screaming for help. But in reality, it doesn’t happen that way. Not even close. Drowning, in fact, almost always happens completely silently. The silence is caused because the […]

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 participate in cover way more […]

(Author’s Note: I was recently scrolling through our archive of old blog posts. And I came across this one, which I wrote in 2014. It is a simple story about an interaction with my then-four-year-old son, where he outmaneuvered me at the frozen yogurt shop. But as is often the case, the simple story illustrates […]

Relationships matter. A lot. In all aspects of our lives. Relationships are the connective tissue, and create the fabric of our existence. And considering the journey all of us have been on over the last 12 months, I have been thinking a lot lately about relationships. In our work lives, we have to do a […]

I think about communication in a very specific way. Communication (or rather great communication) is not a series of memorized steps, standard moves, or a list of tips and tricks. No, I think about it much differently than that. Rather than a series of memorized steps or standard moves, great communication is really about questions and […]

We just finished an intensive workshop, designed in multiple modules and spread out over multiple days, with one of our top clients. The topic was Executive Communication Skills, and the goal was to coach a small group of ten rising executive stars in the art of persuasive, executive-level communication skills. We covered a lot of […]

In nearly every workshop I teach, I ask a question that sounds something like this: “How many of you attend too many meetings that run long?” Nearly every hand goes up, every time. “How many of you get too many emails that are too overwhelming to read?” Nearly every hand goes up, every time. “How […]

“Wow, that meeting was great. I wish it was a lot longer.” “When she explains things everything seems more complicated. It’s great.” “He never gets to the point. I love listening to him.” “His presentations are always so hard to follow. I love feeling overwhelmed.” “Her slide decks look like a passage from Moby Dick. […]

(Author’s Note: This is a piece I originally wrote several years ago. But we republish it every 18 months or so, because the point continues to be true, and because my colleagues and I continue to see evidence of the risk of PowerPoint every single day. As you read this, keep this in mind… your […]

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 to speak […]