How often do you sit in meetings and think to yourself “wow… this is a colossal waste of time“? My guess is your answer is some version of “far too often.” The next time you are feeling that way, do some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations. Make an estimate of what you get paid by the hour. And […]
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Category: Presentation Skills
This post was written by Hannah Morris, Director of Assessment & Advancement at The Latimer Group. What elements stand out to you when you meet someone for the first time? We often hear about the handshake, appearance, warmth, and conversation. Making positive first impressions is highly important for our success – both professionally and personally. […]
It’s hard to get people to pay attention any more. A lot of people believe that attention spans are shrinking. But regardless whether they are or not, here is an undeniable fact: there is exponentially more competition for mindshare and attention than ever before. So the net effect is the same — because there is […]
One of my favorite quotes from the late Steve Jobs captures exactly how we feel about PowerPoint here at The Latimer Group: “I hate the way people use slide presentations instead of thinking. People confront problems by creating presentations. I want them to engage, to hash things out at the table, rather than show a bunch of […]
We spend a lot of time leading workshops for our client companies, and we are often impressed with some of the insightful things that are shared in those sessions. Some time ago, we were with one of our most significant client companies and a participant in the workshop, named Paul, started talking about the card game poker. At that […]
“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 […]
Have you ever considered mapping your progress as a communicator? In short, the only way to REALLY be sure you’re improving as an effective communicator is to have some way to measure that improvement. When we work with clients at The Latimer Group, we use a three-stage rubric of Professional-, Leadership-, and Executive-Level communication… So how do we […]
(We recently had a conversation with a good friend of The Latimer Group, who said something really powerful to us. Our friend shared that her firm no longer calls communication a “soft skill.” Instead, they refer to communication as a “power skill.” We LOVE that, and it caused me to write this post, which has […]
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 […]
At The Latimer Group, we speak with our clients and friends all the time about the “New Communication Age” that we live in. Today, communication is not just about having or controlling information. Years ago, in an era when not everyone had access to all the information they needed, the best communicators were, in fact, […]