Public Speaking Skills

As you think about your next meeting, presentation, or sales call, consider how difficult it may be to persuade this audience to act on your message. Moving someone to action is a challenging task, especially if minds and behaviors must be changed in the process. But it can be done, and there are ways we […]

This post was written by Dan Cooney, Director of Coaching and Senior Facilitator at The Latimer Group. “Look, talent comes everywhere, but having something to say and a way to say it so that people listen to it, that’s a whole other bag. And unless you get out and you try to do it, you’ll never […]

This post was written by Dan Cooney, Director of Coaching and Senior Facilitator at The Latimer Group. Credibility. It is an all-important element of being persuasive. When you have credibility, the default setting for your audience will be a tendency to agree. The ability to persuade often comes down to a battle for credibility. Last […]

My colleagues and I speak all the time about the importance of “knowing your audience.” And many people nod when they hear us discuss this, because we are certainly not the only people who preach this principle. But even though lots of people know about the concept, lots of people also don’t do it very […]

One of the questions I get asked all the time is, “How can I be less nervous when I stand up to present?” Confidence in public speaking continues to be a problem for lots of people. The spotlight is fully on you, everyone is listening, and we all want to do well. It is not […]

This post was written by Kendra Raguckas, eLearning Designer and Facilitator at The Latimer Group. This week I began working on a new eLearning module for creating strong slide decks. In our work with clients, we always give the same advice: make sure your slides complement the speaker, capture the audiences’ attention, and help them […]

Originally published with the Forbes Coaches Council, August 2018 It’s a fact of modern office life: We all have to conduct business remotely. And many of us have to bring together a team of far-flung colleagues or reports. We all know that absorbing information given to us over the phone or through video conferencing is much […]

Here is a great way to think about your message, in three acts. ACT I: The Open You meet your audience, and your audience meets you. Your goal is to get them engaged right away, and the best way to do that is showing them what will be coming. Give them the topic, the main […]

Originally published with the Forbes Coaches Council, July 2018 Have you ever run a virtual meeting — over the phone or by video — and felt like no one was on the other end of the line? Have you ever asked a question in that situation and been met with what feels like an ocean […]

We coach people to be as persuasive and powerful in their communication as possible. But sometimes, your audience is just not open to what you have to say. Our clients often share experiences where the audience is not always open minded. Some of our clients tell us, “They don’t want to hear that from me,” […]