Corporate training for companies committed
to promoting career development
We teach executive-level communications skills in four major categories. The purpose is to equip managers and C-level executives with the skills required for their professional development and your organization’s overall success. We are committed to helping your organization tell its story to the internal and external audiences that drive standout performance.
| 1 | Verbal communication skills |
| 2 | PowerPoint presentation training |
| 3 | Business writing seminars |
| 4 | Media training (traditional and Social Media) |
Speaking the |
Getting the power out of PowerPoint |
Putting words |
Making headlines |
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Technically, we all speak the same language. In practice, though, it never ceases to amaze us how often and easily misunderstandings occur and proliferate. This stalls idea-sharing and slows or even kills the implementation of new initiatives. It also damages employee morale and customer relations. Poor verbal communication results in:
This happens because effective communication isn't as simple as saying what you mean, it's how you say what you mean that is crucial. The good news is that the spoken word can be exceptionally powerful, especially because it's used in so many situations and venues. Strong verbal skills attract people to us and motivate them. Indeed, communication is the glue that holds an organization together. We can help. We will teach your people:
Once these skills are learned they can be applied to greater effect in any situation - ranging from one-on-one conversations to meetings, speeches, presentations, business negotiations, performance reviews, voicemail messages and so on. Let's put the power of skillful verbal communication to work at your organization. |
Sitting through PowerPoint presentations is considered a bane of corporate life. Yet presentation software isn't about to go away because there's no substitute for its ability to focus attention, mix media and deliver a multi-sensory experience that accords with people's various learning styles. That's provided PowerPoint is used properly. Executives such as Apple CEO Steve Jobs and environmental activist Al Gore have raised the PowerPoint presentation to an art form. The good news is that far less exalted and highly-produced PowerPoint presentations can be extremely effective for everyday executives, if they learn the presentation skills that are so often overlooked by even the most experienced corporate leaders. This training module teaches executive-level PowerPoint and general presentation skills. It emphasizes taking command of a room, connecting with one's audience and conveying ideas through visual thinking, rather than slides heavy with text and bullet points. It also teaches how to best display those ideas in a well organized PowerPoint deck. Training is presented in an interactive format, with examples and vigorous discussion from start to finish. Participants will learn:
This training program is designed for managers and executives who want to enhance their authority, prestige and persuasion skills by learning more effective presentation techniques, particularly while using PowerPoint or other presentation software programs. It is best - though not mandatory - for students to already know how to assemble a very basic PowerPoint deck. |
Writing has never been a more important business skill than it is today. Alas, most professionals consider it secondary or non-essential. This is catastrophic. The invention of email alone dictates that effective written communication is more important than ever. Poorly designed and written marketing proposals, sales letters, website copy, reports, memos, presentations, press releases and speeches result in lost business and cast an unprofessional light on companies with otherwise valuable products and services. Everything a company does is driven by the written word. Every important initiative is communicated and documented in writing. Yet, most companies never train their people how to write with clarity, accuracy and brevity, let alone how to add power and persuasion to the important thoughts and concepts they must communicate. The result is a company that doesn’t understand the importance of creating a narrative, or the tremendous payoff that comes from effective storytelling. Stories bring companies to life by making them real to customers. People remember stories and share stories, not facts, figures and lists of products and services. Want an example? Apple is a company that has used the principles of narrative and storytelling to both turn itself into a marketing icon and has extended those principles into its legendary product development process. Your business can do the same. It just needs to be shown how to put words to work. |
Media has always been important and treacherous territory for American business. It’s only gotten more important and treacherous with the dawn of Web 2.0 and Social Media technologies. Traditional interactions with newspaper, magazine, TV and radio reporters still foil many executives and communication departments because they misunderstand how newsrooms conduct business. Story positioning and interview preparation is often poor or non-existent. Steps to safeguard a story’s outcome are routinely overlooked, as are follow-up procedures. Companies now have the luxury of creating their own communication platforms because Social Media has come along. Finally, corporate brass can tell their own story in their own words. The problem is most companies don’t know where to start, let alone how to map out a coherent and abiding strategy. Some are horrified by how volatile Social Media can be and how quickly their messaging can pinwheel out of control. Misplay your hand with traditional or Social Media and the mishap will likely be propagated by the full speed and viral capacity of cyberspace. A popular and ill-conceived response to the dangerously expanded media landscape is to homogenize company communications or adopt a bunker mentality. The homogenized approach calls for loading down executives with talking points that make their media interviews and public appearances robotic and repetitive. That’s not exactly the kind of strategy that gives a company or its leadership personality or market identity. The bunker mentality drives many companies to take a seat on the sidelines, believing if they don’t seek out and participate in media coverage they avoid unintended consequences. That strategy often worked in the days of traditional media with a limited number of news outlets. It is not an option in today’s environment where a company’s employees, customers, shareholders, vendors, competitors and detractors have global channels at their fingertips to comment, for better or worse, on its performance and adherence to principles. To sit mum while your reputation is being gutted on Twitter or Facebook is a suicidal option. Effective media training can put a company and its executives back in command of their own destiny. The point isn’t avoiding or controlling damage, it’s about establishing a company brand, narrative and transparency that’s consistent with the radically changed sensibilities of the marketplace. Give us a call and we’ll help you deploy the power of traditional and Social Media in ways that build your reputation and capture market share. |