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(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 […]

The conversations around creating inclusion in the workplace are critical to every company’s success. People want to be hired by, and stay connected to, organizations that make them feel like they belong, are welcomed, and have a voice. That’s just basic human nature. At The Latimer Group, we want to make sure that these conversations […]

I love podcasts, and listen to a wide range of them: sports, news, politics, crime drama, entertainment… you name it. I love the easy access and the escapism of a good podcast. One of my favorites is called Smartless which is cohosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett, three celebrities who are good […]

AI tools are being used everywhere these days. The efficiency and precision they bring is powerful, but as we mentioned in the blog post, AI: “Use it as a Prompt”, we never want to remove the human element from communication. Powerful, persuasive communication is authentic in tone and content. To achieve this using an AI […]

Level Up Your Listening Skills

Posted On October 17, 2023 BY

I spend a lot more time thinking about listening now than I used to. Why? I am not really sure. It could be my advancing age. It could be parenthood. It could be experience in my job. It could be the influence of some of the people in my life. Probably, it is a little bit of […]

(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 […]

Have you ever listened to that person who says something like “um” over and over and over? After a while, all you hear are the “ums.” How about the person who says “like,” or “you know?” Distracting, right? How about the person who qualifies everything they say with a “sort of” or a “kind of” […]

Simplify Your Slides, Simply

Posted On October 5, 2023 BY

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 […]

Long time readers of this blog know that I am a regular (but not constant) amateur poker player. I have a regular game with a group of friends, and our low-stakes game will range from one table of 6-8 players, to occasionally multiple tables with 15-30 players. It is primarily about having good fun with […]

So often in preparing to communicate, we make a fundamental mistake: we enter what my colleagues and I refer to as “the messenger mindset.” What this means is that our entire approach to communication is about the “delivery of information.” When we fall into the messenger mindset trap, we are only thinking about what we want […]

A book about change

The Latimer Group’s CEO Dean Brenner is a noted keynote speaker and author on the subject of persuasive communication. He has written three books, including Persuaded, in which he details how communication can transform organizations into highly effective, creative, transparent environments that succeed at every level.