14 May Ten Things Professionals like about Zooming

Inquiring Communication Coach: What do you like about Zooming?

I conducted a non-scientific poll of my business clients to learn:

Top  10  Things Professionals Like About Zoom

1. You can wear your PJ bottoms (just watch the camera shot).
2. You can look at yourself all day, for better or worse.
3. You don’t have to smell fish cooking in the microwave.
4. You get to use your own bathroom.
5. You can squeeze your stress ball without anyone knowing.
6. You get to see an occasional baby, kid, cat, dog, or gerbil.
7. You may get to hug someone between meetings—Awww!
8. You can wear your most comfy decade old shoes.
9. You can make coffee your way.

Number 10 : Write anything YOU like (if you do) about Zooming in the comments below.

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30 Apr Attend our Workshop: Thinking on Your Feet

90-minute, online, interactive workshop

Thinking on Your Feet

Thursday, May 21, 2020
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM EDT

$99 per seat

THINKING ON YOUR FEET is always a strong indicator of confidence and competence. Next to controlling nervousness, it’s our most requested training topic!

Two things will happen during this 90-minute workshop:

First, you will learn specific techniques that will help you strengthen your ability to think on your feet and express your thoughts with clarity and confidence. We will teach and demonstrate these techniques in a simple and practical manner.

Second, you will practice the techniques in breakout groups. The number of participants will be limited to ensure that every participant will have ample opportunity to practice.

Yes, we are doing all this online! It promises to be an enjoyable and productive learning experience…and you’re invited!

Register Here

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14 Apr Five Ideas for Encouraging Participation in Virtual Meetings 

Research and experience tell us how important equal and energized group meetings are to morale and productivity. 

Yet, clients using virtual audio or video conferencing say that engaging all participants, holding attention, and controlling interruptions and overlapping speakers are significant challenges.

Make sure you are incorporating these five essentials in your virtual meetings:

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1 Apr Dr. Dennis Becker at World Speech Day

Dr. Dennis Becker, founder of The Speech Improvement Company, spoke on March 16 at World Speech Day. The honor of representing North America was given to him in recognition of his stature as a worldwide expert in human communication.

World Speech Day is a day to celebrate speeches and speechmaking that change the world – socially, politically, in the arts, business, and religion. This is their fifth year and featured a Master Class of speakers from 120+ countries delivering speeches and taking questions from viewers and listeners. This year’s theme was Classical Rhetoric and its Effect on Contemporary Communication.

Dennis’ 15-minute live-streamed speech was entitled “Aristotle’s Patterns of Reasoning.” He took this 3,000-year-old content and showed its use and value in today’s world. Of course, his comfortable and “shirtsleeve” English style benefitted viewers and listeners across the globe.

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24 Mar Communicating During Crisis (Recorded Webinar)

30-minute recorded webinar

Communicating During Crisis

Navigating Essential Conversations

Watch Now

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16 Mar Managing Employees Remotely (Recorded Webinar)

Managing Employees Remotely

Overcoming challenges in communication,
motivation, and employee engagement

10 Mar Running Effective Remote Team Meetings

To curb the spread of coronavirus, organizations are encouraging employees around the globe to work remotely. Setting clear guidelines for how, when, and why teams operate remotely helps form cohesion. How do you create a collaborative agenda with remote meeting attendees, allowing all remote team members to remain engaged during team conference calls? This blog post offers tips based on our experience training companies on how to communicate effectively when using digital platforms and how to collaborate and manage remotely.

Admit it, when there is no video aspect to a conference call, it’s not unusual for employees to hit mute, (or not), and do a variety of tasks during phone conferences and remote team meetings, such as checking and composing email, scrolling Twitter, eating a sandwich, and (gasp) going to the bathroom?! (more…)

8 Mar Speaking Tips

The PPI consists of 10 questions to ask prior to the business presentation process.  These 10 questions relate to listener analysis, and therefore your needs:

1. Why am I speaking to these listeners?
2. Why are they listening?
3. What relationship do we have?
4. What relationship do listener members have to each other?
5. What do they know about this topic?
6. What would they like to know?
7. How will they use this information?
8. What are they doing the day before I speak?
9. What will they be doing the day after?
10. What are the logistics of the event:time, location, room

description, temperature, seating, lighting, and sound?

The information you gather from these 10 questions will make the job of preparing a speech much easier.  In addition, your listeners will be more likely to respond positively if they feel that your research has helped you prepare specifically for them.

12 Feb How to Be a Good Listener In Groups

Intuitively, we all know that many speakers are nervous when presenting. Yet, when attending a meeting or conference, we rarely think about how we, as  listeners, can help the  speaker  be more comfortable. Though most of my team’s time is spent focusing on coaching speakers to be more confident and effective, as a listener,  you  can help as well. 

Here are five practical tips for being a great listener in a group setting:

1. Provide non-verbal feedback. Speakers are sensitive to listeners’ facial expressions and posture. It helps to grin, show facial interest, smile if appropriate, and use a slight forward lean. 
2. Get cozier.  Have you noticed that the front row at a meeting or conference is often empty or sparsely populated? Speakers benefit from feeling connected to their listeners, so, in a large group, be brave and sit as near to the speaker as possible.  
3. Ask questions.  It is uncomfortable when the presenter asks if there are any questions and then…crickets!  Yes, it can take courage on your part to speak up. But, knowing that you are helping the speaker feel better may get you going.  
4. Avoid distracting behaviors.  Presenters notice everything because they can SEE everything from their vantage point.  Know that you are not invisible and avoid talking to colleagues, fiddling with papers, or your handbag. If you need to cough more than several times, best to move into the hallway. 
5. Approach the speaker afterward. Whether it’s a small group meeting or a large conference, presenters feel uplifted when they know their information or style is appreciated. Offer a sincere compliment if you can. Conversation with the presenter is a boost to networking too! 

4 Feb BUILDING RAPPORT QUICKLY

Investor meetings are difficult enough because you need to tell your story, what makes you unique, and why you are the right company for them to invest. In reality, though, the most difficult and important part is building the necessary rapport with the investors.

Investors need to see a potential business relationship that they can develop. Do you have goals, values, beliefs, and drivers that align? How do you know what those are for your investors? How do you connect in this way?

It is not easy. It is one of the reasons our executive communication coaches are brought in to help. It goes beyond process and structure into the psychology of communication and how to apply it. There are three steps you can take to better position yourself to build rapport quickly with investors. (more…)