Presentation Skills

We just finished an intensive workshop, designed in multiple modules and spread out over multiple days, with one of our top clients. The topic was Executive Communication Skills, and the goal was to coach a small group of ten rising executive stars in the art of persuasive, executive-level communication skills. We covered a lot of ground […]

We’ve spent a lot of time over the years writing about “the new communication age” and life in a “post-PowerPoint world.” Communication skills have never been more important than they are right now. And one of the best ways to communicate in a powerful way is through the use of story. Story can be used in lots of […]

Most people communicate selfishly in the workplace. Sorry… I apologize for that harsh opinion. But I believe it to be true. Most people communicate with their colleagues, customers, vendors, and suppliers based primarily on their own needs, wants and goals. Most people build their communication (presentations, meeting agendas, negotiation points, talking points) based on what they want, […]

There are a few questions we frequently hear from our workshop participants. And perhaps the most vexing is the question of detail: how much do I need, where do I put it, how much is too much? Without exception, it comes up and is a major topic of conversation in every workshop. Why? For two simple, […]

Here are five of the most common communication problems or roadblocks that we see, with solutions for each: If your communication problem is time, then brevity is your friend. Make sure to shorten your message significantly, and dramatically reduce the amount of detail you try to squeeze in. Reduce your information to a list of “three things,” […]

This post was written by Hannah Morris, Facilitator and Coach at The Latimer Group. When we want to define something, such as authentic presence, we often need to define its opposite. So, what is inauthentic presence and why and how is it problematic? Inauthentic is fake, insincere, not genuine. When someone’s presence is perceived as inauthentic, […]

This post was written by Hannah Morris, Facilitator and Coach at The Latimer Group. Imagine yourself speaking with your closest colleague in an impromptu conversation where you’ve just dropped in to say “hi”. Now imagine yourself speaking with the Executive Leadership Team of your organization as you deliver a presentation about an important issue your department […]

Good morning, friends! It’s a noisy world out there, with lots and lots of things competing for everyone’s attention. And in this kind of a world, it is harder than ever for our message to cut above and through the noise, so that we can be heard. We all need to be heard. We all […]

(Author’s Note: I was scrolling through our blog archive over coffee in the early morning hours yesterday, when I came across this post from several years ago. The story is a simple one, and pretty self-explanatory. But as I always say to my clients, colleagues and friends, the simplest stories often have the most powerful […]

“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 […]