Persuasion

This post was written by Dan Cooney, Director of Coaching and Senior Facilitator at The Latimer Group. Credibility. It is an all-important element of being persuasive. When you have credibility, the default setting for your audience will be a tendency to agree. The ability to persuade often comes down to a battle for credibility. Last […]

This post was written by Dan Cooney, Director of Coaching and Senior Facilitator at The Latimer Group. I’m a sailor and I compete locally, often teaming up with family and friends on Thursday nights. We are trying to win, for sure, but the laughs and camaraderie are central to the exercise.  Recently, we competed in […]

My colleagues and I speak all the time about the importance of “knowing your audience.” And many people nod when they hear us discuss this, because we are certainly not the only people who preach this principle. But even though lots of people know about the concept, lots of people also don’t do it very […]

One of the questions I get asked all the time is, “How can I be less nervous when I stand up to present?” Confidence in public speaking continues to be a problem for lots of people. The spotlight is fully on you, everyone is listening, and we all want to do well. It is not […]

This post was written by Kendra Raguckas, eLearning Designer and Facilitator at The Latimer Group. This week I began working on a new eLearning module for creating strong slide decks. In our work with clients, we always give the same advice: make sure your slides complement the speaker, capture the audiences’ attention, and help them […]

This post was written by Dan Cooney, Director of Coaching and Senior Facilitator at The Latimer Group. A Gartner Group study found that two-thirds of workers need to check in with more than one boss to get their work done. Yes, the rise of the matrix organization has contributed to this dynamic, but so too […]

Our three-year-old daughter challenged us a lot this weekend. But I could write that sentence almost anytime. She is strong and stubborn and delightful and hysterical, all at the same time. My wife and I adore and encourage her strength. But we also believe in strong parenting, and rules and limits. Which means we lock […]

Originally published with the Forbes Coaches Council, July 2018. Showing your audience respect has a lot of great payoffs. It makes your audience feel engaged and positive, it can enable a culture of buy-in, in which people feel committed not only to execute a plan or implement a new product but to make it succeed, […]

I was working with one of our best clients last week, FedEx. And during one of the workshops, one of the participants opened the presentation with a quote from Fred Smith, FedEx CEO and Founder: “If change makes you uncomfortable, then you are going to hate extinction.“ Despite the fact that I can’t be certain […]

We have shared many past posts here on the need and importance of clarity and brevity in your communications. Clarity and brevity are often the price of admission to be heard in the 21st century — table stakes — the cost to simply be able to play in the big leagues and have people listen to you. But […]