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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.
  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

 

In these unprecedented times, your people are relying on your insight and direction. Effective communication is every leader’s best tool and using it appropriately is the key to moving business forward. Your employees, peers, vendors, partners, and others all need clear, concise, and useful information.

Our team of Executive Communication Coaches will be joined by renowned crisis expert Dr. Kevin Becker to give you a framework for essential management communication. During this webinar you will learn the three most important things that must be communicated during a time of crisis and proven techniques for putting it all in place immediately.

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How Can Disaster Psychology Help Business Through the Coronavirus Crisis?

In recent years, the world has seen a number of significant large-scale disasters; some caused by nature and some caused by humans. For many, the words “disaster” or “crisis” evoke images of buildings in shambles, decimated communities, and families who are homeless and uncertain where their next meal will come from. Until recently, these disasters included only such events as tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and terrorist attacks. These days it is the coronavirus that is bringing us pictures of people wearing masks, being quarantined, schools closing, and so on. This current crisis has wreaked havoc with the stock market and the investments of millions of people. That alone is creating an economic crisis.

Indeed, the current financial crisis has been referred to as an “economic tsunami”. Undeniably, the current conditions have caused communities to come to a complete standstill. The trauma has been severe for many companies, and leaders worldwide have spoken in terms usually reserved for those occasions when a hurricane or earthquake has occurred. Rallying cries of hope and promises for “a full recovery” can be heard from leaders across the globe.

In the United States, since the disaster of 9/11, there has been significant research in the areas of Disaster Psychology and Human Communication which offer important insights into how people operate and what motivates them during times of crisis. For political leaders and business professionals, understanding some important disaster principles and practices can mean the difference between success and failure as the crisis and subsequent economic troubles unfold. (more…)

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16 Mar Managing Employees Remotely (Recorded Webinar)

Managing Employees Remotely

Overcoming challenges in communication,
motivation, and employee engagement

Watch the Recording Now

The coronavirus is forcing many of us to work and manage remotely. With large numbers of employees working remotely for the first time and reading frightening headlines daily, managers have a whole new set of challenges to continue leading effectively.

Watch our webinar and you will learn:

  • The key challenges to remote work
  • Five important skills for effective remote collaboration
  • How to motivate and engage employees

This is a unique opportunity to fine-tune your communication skills. You will learn proven strategies you can put to use immediately with any remote employee or team to keep them focused and productive.

This recorded webinar is for:

Managers, Project Managers, Leaders, and anyone who wants to maximize their remote communication and collaboration skills.

Watch Now

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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…)

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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.

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