Public Speaking Skills

Hello friends, Our blog remains our primary form of regular communication with all of you, and the activity on our site is something we are really proud of. We also enjoy it when a reader reaches out with a comment or a question, which happens all the time. But as we have reviewed our site […]

This post was written by Hannah Morris, Director of Assessment & Advancement at The Latimer Group.   We often remind people that communication is about a lot more than words. But there are also moments where we need to sit back and appreciate the power of words. As someone who has been fascinated by language my entire life, […]

The short answer is, “Yes, absolutely.” The slightly longer answer is, “Yes, but you have to work at it.” Some will have to work a lot. Others maybe a bit less. But anyone who wants to be good at this, needs to work at it. A case in point… We recently had an individual at […]

One of our central tenets in teaching persuasive communication is to know your audience. Having an informed sense of your audience’s needs, concerns, and context (did the company just suffer a drop in the stock price, did the VP in the room just get a big promotion, is a merger shaking everything up?) allows you to craft […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]