Persuasion

In all the communication coaching that we do, one question seems to come up all the time. “How do I get my leader to realize he/she needs some coaching as well?” Most leaders are really good at identifying your areas of possible improvement. But the very best ones are also good at identifying their areas of possible improvement. If […]

The other day I was on a conference call with two good friends, one of whom is the CEO of his company. We were catching up on some business issues, and my CEO friend made a comment that stuck with me. His company has had some business transition over the last 12-24 months, and this […]

“That’s not what I said…”“That’s not what I meant…”“You’re not hearing me…” You’ve probably said at least one of those three things at some point in communicating with your colleagues. At first pass, they may seem like simple objections, simple statements to help steer someone to the point you’re trying to make. But if we […]

This post was written by Hannah Morris, Director of Assessment & Advancement at The Latimer Group.  If by chance you, like many of us, have found yourself in a state of overwhelm at some point in the last 12 months, this may help. When we need to re-center ourselves, or bolster our confidence, or focus on a […]

We had a fascinating conversation with a workshop participant last week. He shared a real story, about a presentation he gave soon after he joined his current company. He worked hard at it, he prepared, and he was nervous, but ready. He made the presentation, it seemed to go OK, and then afterwards he asked […]

This post was written by Hannah Morris, Director of Assessment & Advancement at The Latimer Group.  It’s easy to live inside our own heads. We know what we know. As a result, we sometimes start talking, telling a story, asking a question, making a statement, and then realize that the person we’re talking to has no idea […]

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 […]

What does the world of communication look like right now? What are the barriers to getting our point across today, at this moment in time? There are a bunch, and none of them are inconsequential. Truth #1: The world continues to be a really noisy place. There are lots of people and things competing for attention span and mind share, and […]

At the heart of almost everything we teach is the concept of intentionality… preparing and communicating with intention and purpose. Great communication skills don’t just happen. Not without some thought, effort, planning, and yes, intention. In addition to being intentional about your message’s main points, we also encourage being intentional about the structure, sequence and […]

We all aspire to be better communicators. We all know that communicating well will help us accomplish our goals, drive good outcomes, and add value to our colleagues and customers, and generate business.  But while we all may agree on the benefits of good communication, we generally think about poor communication as a momentary setback. […]