Are you repeatedly frustrated because your team members (or coworkers, reports or supervisors) do not seem to understand what you are asking of them? You tell them what you want in a direct, clear manner, and judging from their response or the work they present to you, it seems like they heard the opposite! How… Read More »
You know what they say when a joke falls flat: “It’s all in the delivery.” Well, it’s true to a great extent with presentations as well. I’ve had clients who are smart as can be, do a phenomenal job of putting together information in a thorough and logical manner and excel in creating strategies, concepts… Read More »
I recently worked with a client who had become extremely frustrated that his technical creative team did not understand what he wanted for the product he had imagined – a new communications portal. In fact, he felt they actively disregarded his requests in their product designs. He was all the more upset that he repeatedly… Read More »
I recently had an inquiry from a prospective client who said: I am good speaking in situations where I feel supported such those who report to me and associates who I know are on my side, but in situations where I may be questioned or attacked, I tend to lose my train of thought and… Read More »
Have you ever gotten into an argument with someone and you had no idea why or how it started? You had all good intentions, but for some reason the other person took what you said the wrong way. Or have you ever done a really thorough job on an assignment and when your boss saw… Read More »
Well…it’s the time of year when people make resolutions. Rather than resolve to cut out all your favorite foods (virtually impossible to maintain), why not choose a couple of these attainable Communication Resolutions? 1. I will stop saying “just”. “I’m just thinking…”, “I am just writing to say…”, “I just want to mention….” The “just”… Read More »
How did we live before email became the communication mode of choice in the business world? It’s immediate, easy to produce, free, and you can easily include numerous people on a given communication. All good, right? Well, it depends on what you do with it. I work on a regular basis with an administrator who… Read More »
It has been said that, “God is in the detail.” A variation on that saying states, “The Devil is in the detail.” Translation: attention to small things can bring substantial rewards, yet beware the details: mistakes are usually made in the small details of a project. Whichever way you look at it, details matter. And… Read More »
By now, pretty much everyone knows that it’s much more effective – for audience understanding and retention – to use images (such as graphs, charts and illustrations) rather than text. It’s especially important when presenting numbers or other types of technical data and when explaining processes. Clients will obligingly replace their text-only slide with an… Read More »
Have you ever made a toast at a wedding? Spoken at a memorial service? I’ve helped speakers prepare for all sorts of private events but now it seems to be a cottage industry! An article by Bruce Feiler in the New York Times describes how these specialists approach the task, say, of writing a toast… Read More »