50 Speen Street | Framingham, MA 01701 USA
Phone: +1 (617) 739-3330 | Email: [email protected]
Visual aids can help or hurt a presentation. Whether you are using PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi, slides, video, a software interface, or other visual support, you need to make sure that the visuals won’t distract from the presentation. Many speakers have chosen abandon visual aids altogether and even proclaim that they are above using such tools. However, well-utilized visuals will significantly improve a presentation. This training will teach the best visual aid practices and offer the opportunity to practice techniques with individualized coaching feedback. Listeners will appreciate how the skillful use of visual aids truly enhances your presentations.
Speakers must prepare to answer real questions about their topic. Sometimes, listeners ask friendly, genuine questions, but often, you might be tasked with answering aggressive or set-up questions. In either case, the ability to handle even the most challenging question in a clear, comfortable, and competent manner is an important skill. Whether you have been called to answer questions at a congressional committee, in a sales meeting, or during a team presentation, this module will teach you how to hear and understand questions in order to respond with practical answers.
Have you ever wondered how some people always have the right thing to say at the right time? There is an art to handling yourself well in just about any setting—from dealing with an angry customer to holding a political debate or managing a contentious investor meeting.
Imagine yourself in front of the executive committee, the board of directors, the press, or a client, and someone requests that you speak on an unfamiliar topic. Perhaps you are asked a tough question that you hadn’t anticipated. What do you say? Thinking on your feet is a module that teaches you how to process and organize your thoughts quickly in a way that will help you communicate clearly and with confidence
What two words would you like people to say about you after you have left a meeting or a conversation? The answer defines your communication style. Style coaching is one of our most popular leadership and management offerings. It allows senior executives, managers, and emerging leaders to achieve their personal vision of how they wish to present themselves. Our coaches work with clients on their core communication skills, beginning with their two style words. The result is authentic, comfortable, and effective leadership or management capabilities.
Most crucial business communication occurs between leaders, managers, board members, and shareholders. Because Boards advise and direct management teams on key decisions, it is critical that leaders and managers clearly communicate the vision, metrics, and progress of the organization. Having worked with thousands of managers and board members, we have developed valuable insight into how relationships, presentations, handling questions, and more can affect your communication success. Whether you’re new to senior management or an old pro, this module will allow you to hone your Board and shareholder presentations and share your thoughts in a clear, concise manner. Our guidance will help you strengthen your relationships and effectiveness with your Board and shareholders.
Since the 1990s, coaching and mentoring have become widely used to develop employees in the business world and are important skills for anyone in a managerial or leadership role. Learn how to communicate in both coaching and mentoring styles while learning the differences between the two. Among other things, learn Socratic questioning, goal setting, skills in accountability, and ways to inspire that lead to complete development.
At times, speaking with coworkers, your staff, your boss, and, yes, your customers can be difficult. They may come to you with stories about their problems or your mistakes. They might even mistreat you. We need to remember that there are always two sides to every story. Learn how to diffuse difficult situations and become the difficult person’s advocate rather than the enemy.
When relationships are strong, you can communicate anything. When they are not strong, even the simplest feedback becomes difficult. This module provides an understanding of why and how strong relationships are created using our original research, which has unveiled the two most essential characteristics for building a solid working relationship. This module utilizes practice to strengthen the techniques and skills that foster trusting relationships.
Listening is not just about hearing—it involves the understanding and evaluation of what is heard. Whether you’re in a face-to-face meeting or talking on the phone, leaders and managers must exhibit comfort and proficiency in six specific areas of listening, or messages can be misunderstood. These qualities and techniques are the focus of this module. In addition, this module covers the top ten barriers to listening and how to overcome them. This is one of our most popular topics.
Have you ever felt that your listeners were confused? Have listeners ever asked you to get to the point? Truly connecting with your listeners is fundamental to all communication and critical for a successful presentation. This module teaches you how to make your point and engage all of your listeners. It does not provide a one-size-fits-all methodology but instead covers a whole range of skills from which you may choose the best approach for specific groups.
Business speaking requires a mixture of information and persuasion. Both are critical, and you use both in different situations and for various reasons. The distinction between these two types of speaking is that informative speaking lists data and impartially clarifies and enlightens with no particular goal other than making information clear. Persuasive speaking urges a partisan decision, favors a position, and tries to garner acceptance for that position. In many presentations, the speaker will use both information and persuasion in order to convince the listeners.
This training will help you understand the difference between informative and persuasive presentation. It teaches how to implement these concepts in your content and delivery and the three ways of persuasion that are used in virtually all presentations we see today. You’ll learn how to choose the proper mode of persuasion and how to match your message to your listeners.
Do your listeners ask you to repeat keywords? The ability to speak clearly is an important skill, no matter who you are. There are several ways to lose your listeners, but poor articulation, mumbling, and lack of volume are the most preventable. Don’t force listeners to work harder to understand the words coming out of your mouth! This module on communication excellence will teach key sounds and practice techniques to ensure that you are speaking clearly.
Your customers will often pay attention to how you sound as much as what you are saying. A positive interaction can depend on your tone and inflection, speed, and projection.
Plus, words matter! Your choice of words, such as “customers,” “clients,” “guests,” or “patrons,” will shape their perception, and perception shapes service communication. Don’t let your choice of words become a distraction during a customer interaction. This teaches participants the various sounds of service and how to master their sounds to best communicate with customers.
|
Speak with Confidence
FREE! PUBLISHED 6 TIMES A YEAR
Helpful, practical advice on how to communicate better at work and at home.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Speech Improvement Company respects your privacy. We won’t share your personal information with anyone, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
|
|
Five New Ways to Combat Remote Team Loneliness During Coronavirus
Understandably, employees who are used to seeing each other every day are especially feeling this disconnect. And, with coffee shops and restaurants closed, remote employees who were always 100% remote no longer have their routines those routines.
Employees converting to a remote role are afraid that they won’t get the social stimulation they need to stay motivated and engaged at work. Working from home can lead to endless distractions. Work productivity can be sluggish and fragmented. At most companies, the work they did has slipped away, or they are unable to generate new sales or profits. All of this adds up to be a strain and a sense of isolation.
As an Executive Communication Coach who specializes in Effective Remote Communication at The Speech Improvement Company, I am offering a few of our newest tips to help conquer remote work loneliness during the coronavirus pandemic.
1. Bet on the weather. This idea is fun and costs nothing to roll out. To be clear, gambling at most places of work is illegal, so it’s best to keep this a light and fun activity with no actual money at stake. (Think a March Madness type pool but renamed March Sadness!) Perhaps the winner can gather donations to their favorite charity or bragging rights for six months. Maybe they get a paid day off on their birthday. Any prize helps it feel more exciting. To bet on the weather, it can be elaborate or straightforward. Commit to a few cities to bet on, commit to how you will bet – by temperature, by an icon on an app, by weather activity (rain, thunder, fog, partly sunny), or any parameter you like. This could be a one-time event on a Friday afternoon meeting or a weekly event. Even with prizes that have no monetary value, you are creating a new sense of fun and friendly competition.
2. Set up a remote lunch meeting with a surprise guest. Have one person on the team volunteer to bring in a special guest to a lunchtime meeting – their pet, child, friend, neighbor, or anyone who would be willing to pop on the video call for a few minutes. If they can access the meeting link remotely, anyone in the world can be your Surprise Guest, like your parents or spin class instructor and, is a fantastic way to get to know your team members and shake up the monotony of meetings.
3. Plan a company-wide talent show on a Friday afternoon. Invite anyone and everyone who would like to take part – your spouse, partner, dog, bunny, child, or yourself. Let family members in your home tune in as well. After all the performances are complete, use a poll or chat feature to determine the top three winners of the talent show. Winners will receive a prize with no monetary value like a royal background on the next four video calls, or a crown mailed to them that was handmade by a fellow team member.
4. Send a handwritten letter to a team member. When permission has been given, list all team members’ names and home addresses alphabetically in an Excel document. Everyone writes a handwritten letter to the person under them on the list. If this is not appropriate in your organization because home addresses are private, handwrite the letter, take a picture of it, and send it electronically via email or IM. While the idea of pen pals has long been forgotten, the concept of receiving a handwritten note is still a lot of fun.
5. Host a weekly live edition of “Lifestyles of the Bored and Quarantined.” Have one team member walk around their house for 10 minutes before a team call to give their team a virtual tour. What they share is up to them, but ideas include pets, plants, kids, favorite rooms of the house, the backyard, or wildlife. These meetings are a fantastic no-cost way to get to know each other more and create stronger remote team bonds.
These WFH ideas are fresh off the press and just in time for the continued social isolation and mandatory work from home policies. We expect all team meetings will be remote meetings for at least a few more weeks, possibly much longer. Use these tips to combat loneliness, strengthen your remote team bond, and have a sense of playfulness during this time of fear and the unknown. Remember, you can depend on your team to help get you through these times, even if you are not in the same office, city, or country.
While this post offers fun and playful ideas, remote work loneliness can be serious and upsetting. We encourage you to talk to someone about it – a boss, teammate, spouse, or friend online. When you open up and share what you’re feeling, you give someone the chance to support you, and, in return, you hear how others might be feeling as well. Once you’ve talked to someone about your feelings, you can more effectively support each other and get the emotional support you need to keep plugging away.
Author
Laura Mathis
MORE POSTS
Cross-Cultural Conversations: Why Do We Misunderstand Each Other?
The topic of misunderstanding has many angles to discuss; it’s hard to pick one — tone, choice of words, inflection, context, etc. Let’s look at teams that have members from other cultures. Now, remember, each group has its own culture, so when you see me use the word culture, it does not only mean different countries; it might mean other departments. The specific word I’ll focus on for this discussion is IDIOM. Definition an expression
Pause and Consider Your Pauses
Pauses in conversations serve several important functions and are an integral part of effective communication. A pause can signal the end of one thought and the beginning of another; a break between two related thoughts can give the speaker a moment to gather their thoughts or indicate that the speaker is searching for the right words. Pauses can also convey the speaker’s emotions, such as hesitation, uncertainty, or discomfort. In some cultures, long pauses are
Are You Seeing What I’m Saying?
In a fast-paced digital-hybrid work environment, effective communication is crucial for success. Speakers want to be both heard and understood. One of the best tools we use to help clients is lining up their verbal and nonverbal cues. Our message becomes clearer and more impactful when our words and body language sync. We listen with our eyes. By using appropriate hand gestures, facial expressions, and body posture, we can emphasize key points, convey confidence, and
QUESTIONS? NEED HELP?