Listening

In our coaching and training, we end up discussing the interview process all the time. Many of our clients interview regularly for promotions within their company. And almost all of our clients have to conduct interviews with others, for positions they are trying to fill on their own teams. Part of our coaching process is to ask […]

This post was originally published in February 2017. Earlier this week, my wife and I, along with some good friends, attended our first political “town hall” event, hosted by Chris Murphy, the junior senator from Connecticut and a Democrat. We obviously are living in a highly-charged and emotional political climate in the United States, and […]

Let me get the footnote of attribution out of the way. I “borrowed” that line, with permission, from my great friend and business school classmate, Phil Bonanno. And now back to our regularly scheduled program… My colleagues and I talk all the time about how listening, awareness and respect are critical building blocks of persuasion. […]

This post was written by Dan Cooney, Director of Business Development at The Latimer Group. We all see things differently. Thanks, Captain Obvious! Yes, it’s a truism, but why is this one so important to you as a communicator? You have to understand the perception gap — the difference between what you said and what […]

There is this flawed perception that comes up in workshops all the time. And that perception is that “presence” is primarily created by the way one dresses, acts and speaks. We hear it all the time. First-time participants in our workshops want to separate the overall presentation performance into separate buckets: “Okay, let’s work on […]

We write and speak frequently on the importance of being a good listener. But most of our content is usually focused on listening tactics — how to listen better. But today I want to write about why it is so important to listen well. Listening, at its most basic level, is essentially a commitment to two-way […]

We post frequently on this blog about listening skills. Listening is of critical importance to your ability to persuade, sell, lead, follow… everything in the work place. But here is an important question for you to think about. How well do you listen to people you don’t like? We all come in contact with people […]

Persuasive communication is NOT about screaming louder than the other person. Persuasive communication is NOT about bullying or intimidating someone into agreeing with you. Persuasive communication is NOT about interrupting someone, cutting them off so they cannot finish their point. And persuasive communication is NOT about saying one thing to a colleague and then playing […]

Originally published with the Forbes Coaches Council, February 2019 Think about the best leader you’ve ever seen. What made her compelling? Many of us would say, “She just had ‘it.’ Her charisma was off the charts.” It may be hard to believe, but “it” — that combination of confidence, authority and personality that makes an executive engaging and inspiring — isn’t necessarily an […]

One of the things I listen closely for in our workshops is a certain kind of vocabulary that we call “weak” or “qualifying” language. And when I hear it, my coaching sensors start ringing loudly. Words or phrases like “sort of,” “kind of,” “pretty much,” or “basically,” can be toxic for the speaker and dramatically […]