Presentation Skills

I have a wide range of conversations with the people I coach. Coaching discussions on communication and leadership skills can cover a lot of territory. But there is a short list of things that seem to come up over and over and over. And at the top of the list is this seemingly simple idea. […]

Over the course of this blog, we write frequently about the important ingredients for great communication… clarity and brevity chief among them. Today we touch on a third critical ingredient: context. Context is critical. Context creates relevance. Context helps your audience engage and listen. Context helps your audience care. We are all time starved. We are all attention deprived, to varying […]

Originally published with the Forbes Coaches Council. Not everyone is naturally a great communicator. In fact, almost all successful communication — persuasive, engaging, inspiring — is made, not born. It requires preparation, skill and practice. Of course, it takes time, and we all know how little we have of that. What helps is to keep some key […]

This post was written by Lauren St. Germain, Facilitator and Coach at The Latimer Group. I love Winnie the Pooh. So much so that I’ve got a collection of quotes from his stories by A. A. Milne on the coffee table in my living room. It’s a little green book called Pooh’s Little Instruction Book and I […]

Does your message stand out? Do you make it easy for your audience to remember what you say? Does your message make an impact on the mind of your listener? You need to care about this, because there is so much competition for the mindshare of every audience. There are so many things that come at each of […]

We hear this all the time, from the people we train and coach. Engaging your audience during a virtual meeting is really hard, they say. And most people we work with are desperate for ways to create more engagement with their audience… because it feels next to impossible to create it. I am here today […]

My colleagues and I write and talk all the time about having a message plan. And furthermore, we write and talk all the time about how strong listening skills can make your message planning stronger and easier. But what do we listen for? Listening is great and important, and most people don’t do it very well. But is it enough […]

Simple idea today, that comes up in our coaching sessions all the time. My colleagues and I talk constantly about great communication skills, and all the things that help create those skills. We believe that when we take the time to prepare for our meetings, presentations and calls, we will do a much better job creating success, and […]

The best speakers I know don’t waste words. The best speakers I know say what they mean, as clearly as possible, in as few words as possible, as often as possible. They don’t waste their audience’s time, or weaken their message, with weak language like “pretty much,” “sort of,” “kind of,” or “a little bit.” Phrases […]

(Author’s Note: I was scrolling through our archive early this morning, looking for inspiration for today’s post. Eventually, I came across this one from several years ago, which spoke to me on several levels. Most of all I loved the reveal of the learning process, and how a good discussion can lead to a steady […]