What You Need to Know To Tell Your Story
Posted On February 28, 2023 BY Dean Brenner
At The Latimer Group, we talk and write all the time about the ability to communicate clearly. That is our purpose, our mission, our raison d’etre. To succeed in the 21st century global business environment, you need to be able to communicate with your colleagues, employees, customers, prospects, and shareholders, and you need to be […]
How to Choose the Appropriate Tone When Speaking
Posted On February 16, 2023 BY Dean Brenner
Sometimes it is hard to know the right way to say or write something. Sometimes it is hard to know the correct tone to take. How should I speak to these people? How formal or informal should it be? The answers depend on lots of things: the nature and seriousness of the topic; the level of […]
A Slide Template is NOT a Message Plan
Posted On February 14, 2023 BY Dean Brenner
One of the best parts of the client workshops we teach is that our clients are really smart people. We are blessed to be able to work with so many companies, which are full of bright, qualified, hard-working people. Sure… I am kissing up to our clients this morning… but it also happens to be true. And frequently someone […]
A Universal Business Problem
Posted On February 9, 2023 BY Dean Brenner
We have clients across a range of industries and on five continents. And no matter where we go, no matter what the industry is, everyone complains about the exact same thing. Everyone wants their colleagues, customers, vendors or partners to simply get to the point. We, all of us, have a chronic business problem of […]
The Most Important Building Block of Powerful Communication
Posted On February 7, 2023 BY Dean Brenner
Learning how to become an expert in anything is complex… mastering an athletic skill, inhabiting a character in a play, communicating in a powerful way, or anything else. Expertise, in any endeavor, is not easy to accomplish. Whenever I take a close look at the training and preparation habits of elite performers (something I do […]
5 Ways to Sound More Confident During Q&A
Posted On January 31, 2023 BY Dean Brenner
Lots of people spend time working on their preparation for their presentations. But for many, we spend considerably less time preparing for what follows the presentation… the Q&A. And in fact, one of the questions we hear most often in our coaching sessions is this: Can you help me sound more confident, when I am […]
Start with Clarity and Brevity (But Don’t Forget the Context, Impact And Value)
Posted On January 26, 2023 BY Dean Brenner
When you speak to an audience — be it a room full of executives, a staff meeting, or a one-on-one phone call with a client — keeping a few key concepts in mind can help you get your message across persuasively and powerfully. Clarity, for example, ensures that your audience understands exactly what you are saying; brevity […]
Repeatable Preparation Leads to Repeatable Performance
Posted On January 24, 2023 BY Dean Brenner
Let’s talk about elite performance today. Every business leader or business owner knows that running a successful business is really hard. It is a competitive endeavor of the highest order. The things required to build, grow, and sustain a successful business is a long list. There are hard choices and performance requirements that pop up […]
The Key to Building Credibility
Posted On January 19, 2023 BY Dean Brenner
Let’s talk about building credibility… real credibility. Not the short term version of credibility that comes from a referral or a common friendship or the personal courtesy of someone giving you a chance. No… let’s talk about the long-term credibility that is built by you, your actions and your performance. Real credibility is created in […]
The Psychology of Weak Language
Posted On January 17, 2023 BY Dean Brenner
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 […]