Building Better Virtual Teams: Be Proactive
Posted On October 14, 2022 BY Dean Brenner
It’s a fact of modern office life: We all have to conduct business remotely. Many of us lead teams of far-flung colleagues or reports. This has been true for a while, but especially so over the last 2.5 years. This isn’t easy. We all know that absorbing information delivered virtually is much more difficult than in […]
When The Ceiling Falls in on You…
Posted On May 18, 2022 BY Dean Brenner
So this really happened to me… yesterday, May 17, 2022. I was getting ready to run a virtual coaching session with three participants, from my office at Latimer headquarters. The session was due to start in about five minutes. And I ran to our learning studio (where we teach many learning sessions and record audio […]
Watching Greatness… in a Conference Call?
Posted On May 11, 2022 BY Hannah Morris
This post was written by Hannah Morris, Facilitator and Coach at The Latimer Group. When I want to improve at something, I study other people who do it well. I watch elite runners and examine their form. I read writers who inspire me and examine how they build a story with prose. One of my […]
“What Is a Foreign Accent? It Is a Sign of Bravery.”
Posted On January 21, 2022 BY Hannah Morris
This post was written by Hannah Morris, Director of Facilitation & Evaluation at The Latimer Group. Author Amy Chua said this, and she is right. Speaking a language that isn’t your native tongue requires taking risks and facing difficulty. It requires embracing the idea that any imperfections are less important than communicating your opinion, feeling, or request. […]
The Obliterated Boundaries Between Home and Work
Posted On October 27, 2021 BY Dean Brenner
I am an amateur history nerd, and love to read political and military histories in whatever precious little spare time that I have. Recently I was reading a short piece about the mental challenges soldiers often have after they leave the battlefield. After Vietnam, and through to present day, we refer to it as post-traumatic […]
Dean Brenner on the Digital Tells Podcast
Posted On October 8, 2021 BY Dean Brenner
I recently had the chance to appear as a guest on the Digital Tells podcast, with Host Sam Norton. Sam and I had a great conversation about communication in the 21st century, and specifically what new demands COVID-19 has placed on our communication skills. We covered a lot of time in a short period of […]
How Language Can Draw Us In or Leave Us Out
Posted On October 6, 2021 BY Hannah Morris
This post was written by Hannah Morris, Director of Assessment & Advancement at The Latimer Group. I have three kids and they all speak a different language than I do. When they start speaking MINECRAFT, I feel lost, and to a certain extent, excluded. It is not something they are doing intentionally or malevolently or even consciously. […]
Creating Engagement Is Hard… But NOT Impossible
Posted On September 27, 2021 BY Dean Brenner
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 […]
Virtual Meetings: Nine Key Strategies For A Stronger Remote Presentation
Posted On September 24, 2021 BY Dean Brenner
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 and been met with what feels like an ocean of silence? Have you ever wondered how to create more engagement? Sure, […]
How Quickly Should You Get to the Point? It Depends!
Posted On July 19, 2021 BY Dean Brenner
My colleagues and I always talk about the importance of getting to the point quickly. So don’t worry… I am not about to contradict twenty years of Latimer teaching. But my colleagues and I also believe in the importance of audience and situational awareness, and that we should always try to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. […]