Communicating in a Masked World (Continued): What Else Gets Muffled?
Posted On September 25, 2020 BY Hannah Morris
This post was written by Hannah Morris, Director of Assessment & Advancement at The Latimer Group. In Dean’s recent post about the impact of masks, he addressed new challenges to conversational communication. Indeed, the combination of muffled voices and invisible lips makes it far more difficult to catch every word that is said – especially for those […]
Are Communication Skills about Nature or Nurture?
Posted On September 23, 2020 BY Dean Brenner
Can great communication skills be taught? Or are they entirely natural? Let’s try to answer that via a story. My wife and I have two children, 10 and 5. At their respective ages, the age gap is pretty big. They like different things, play a little differently, have different expectations… exactly as you would expect […]
Forensic Preparation for Stronger Connection
Posted On September 21, 2020 BY Dean Brenner
How do you prepare for that big sales call, or that important meeting with your boss? If you prepare at all (not trying to insult you, but a shocking number of people still try to “wing it”), and if you are like most people we meet, then your prep goes something like this… organize your […]
Check on Your People, People
Posted On September 18, 2020 BY Dean Brenner
We are now six months into a health crisis that has changed everything we do… the ways we work, go to school, socialize, shop, vacation, walk past others on the street… there are very few things that are the same as they were in early March 2020. When we all “went home” from work and […]
Great Business Communication Is Not About You
Posted On September 16, 2020 BY Dean Brenner
The hardest thing for any subject matter expert (SME) to do is to explain his or her area of expertise in simple and clear ways. When we are “in” it, when we are living the topic every day, and when we know a lot about it, it is really hard to distance ourselves from it and […]
The Flag on my Front Porch, and the Currency of Vulnerability
Posted On September 11, 2020 BY Dean Brenner
I love the quiet of the early mornings. One of my favorite things to do is wake up early, pour a cup of hot coffee and just listen to the silence. I start my day that way as often as possible. It centers me. And it is even more powerful on important days and anniversaries […]
The Message Makeover Podcast: The Art of Connecting with Your Customer, with Phil Bonanno
Posted On September 11, 2020 BY Dean Brenner
In this episode we interview long-time friend and advisor Phil Bonanno on the art (and a little bit of the science) behind understanding your customer, and figuring out how to connect with them. Phil has a unique take on human connection, and how it plays into the ways we communicate and sell. And he is […]
It’s About the Journey AND the Destination, Part 2 of 2
Posted On September 9, 2020 BY Hannah Morris
This post was written by Hannah Morris, Director of Assessment & Advancement at The Latimer Group. In my last post, I presented the analogy of message as journey – a way to visualize, approach, craft, and deliver an effective presentation. The journey happens in three parts – open, content, close – and the itinerary is tailored to […]
It’s About the Journey AND the Destination, Part 1 of 2
Posted On September 7, 2020 BY Hannah Morris
This post was written by Hannah Morris, Director of Assessment & Advancement at The Latimer Group. Do you ever find yourself rambling in the middle of a presentation? Or do you find yourself planning to include key points… and then forgetting them in the moment? These are common problems, and there are ways to avoid them. When […]
In Praise of Teachers
Posted On September 4, 2020 BY Dean Brenner
This blog and our company are all about communication skills. And one of the most important elements of communication is gratitude. So, here we go. Time for a little gratitude. My colleagues and I know good teaching when we see it. Not only do we teach communication skills every day. But we have a lot […]