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There is a theme that comes up in every workshop we teach… we live in a really noisy world. The world is loud, there is endless competition for mindshare and attention, and everyone we speak to is drowning in too much information, too many meetings, too much access, too little time. This problem is chronic […]

There are a few questions we frequently hear from our workshop participants. And perhaps the most vexing is the question of detail: how much do I need, where do I put it, how much is too much? Without exception, it comes up and is a major topic of conversation in every workshop. Why? For two simple, […]

We live in a world of distractions, constant and loud. We are expected to be available to everyone all the time, we compete for mindshare with unlimited amounts of content and entertainment, we have a social media landscape which can turn every day into an all-day conversation with friends all over the world. Quieting the mind, and […]

Originally published with the Forbes Coaches Council. We all aspire to be better communicators. We all know that communicating well will help us accomplish our goals, impress our colleagues and our superiors and generate business. We all want to feel confident and project leadership. But while we see the benefits of good communication, we generally think about […]

We’re big fans of Scott Adams’ comic strip Dilbert here at The Latimer Group. Adams consistently offers a funny (and often WAY too accurate) depiction of office life. A colleague of ours recently sent us this one on distracting communication in the workplace. We’ve written about Dilbert before on this blog, and also about how […]

It takes less than 30 seconds for people to decide what kind of person they think you are. What a quaint idea! In fact, Princeton psychologists Janine Willis and Alexander Todorov have demonstrated that study participants make judgments about a person’s competence and trustworthiness in as little as a tenth of a second. One of the […]

Does you message stand out? Do you make it easy for your audience to remember what you say? Does your message make an impact on the mind of your listener? You need to care about this, because there is so much competition for the mindshare of your audience. There are so many things that come at each […]

Not long ago, while teaching a client workshop, one of the participants verbalized a great way to think about business meetings… specifically, a great way to think about the level of information you need to be able to discuss. The participant described the difference between an “index card meeting” and a “full binder meeting.” Some […]

Originally published with the Forbes Coaches Council, August 2019. Many of us likely want to become better communicators, whether your goal is to speak clearly, concisely or persuasively. As individuals, we can work to improve our own communication through preparation and practice of a few crucial underlying skills. We can set out to know our audience, hone […]

[Author’s Note: This post was originally written in September 2019, right as my son was starting fourth grade.] My son started fourth grade this week, and on his first day he brought home something from his teacher that I found profound and inspiring. As he was excitedly recounting his first day, and telling us about […]