Let's face it. We've spent the last 3 years dealing with wild, unprecedented, crazy, depressing, hopeful, heartbreaking, strange, and (add your favorite pandemic adjective here) emotions. No breaking news there. But most importantly, for many of us, it been a time of learning - whether we wanted to or not - the power of the pause.

The word “pause” has been used a lot to describe how, for most of us, we’ve been able to slow down life a bit. It’s been an unexpected...

We don’t grow when things are easy, we grow when we face challenges. – Joyce Meyer

Get Comfortable with Uncomfortable Communication

If you want to improve your communication skills and become a more confident communicator there is one skill you need to begin with, and it may be one of the most challenging. That is getting comfortable with new things that are uncomfortable.  

We’ve all had some recent experience in the demands of doing new things. Like many of...

If nothing else, the pandemic that started in 2020 introduced us to an historical digital experience that has changed business communication. And with it the introduction of endless virtual meetings.

The virtual and in-place communication trend is predicted to be the beginning of new era of standard communication revolution. Safe to say, they are here to stay.

One of the biggest challenges is managing all those virtual meetings. How do you keep participants engaged...

Respect is about how to treat everyone, not just those you want to impress. ~ Richard Branson

How do you spell R-E-S-P-E-C-T? 

Something I hear a lot from people that are having trouble communicating is:  He/she/they just doesn’t respect me. 

Have you ever felt that way?

Why is that? For most of us, not showing respect isn’t something we intentionally do. 

It’s much easier to see what a lack of respect looks like in others, than to...

Becoming a more confident communicator is all about building good habits. Think about brushing your teeth. That’s a habit we learn at a very early age, and over time, it’s something we do without thinking every day. That’s the type of habit you want to develop as you become a more skilled and confident communicator.

Here are three of the habits you can start with.  You will find that when you make these habits part of your daily routine, it will make a huge...

Do you want to learn to prevent communication conflicts before they happen? Well, who doesn’t?

Communication conflicts happen. Even with good intentions, misunderstandings occur, and we can find ourselves in the middle of difficult conversations – not always sure how we got there.

Sometimes we find ourselves getting stuck into communication cycle routines. Other times conflict begins when someone shares an unwanted opinion on sensitive topics as politics, religion or...

It is the recipient who communicates. The so-called communicator, the person who emits the communication does not communicate; he utters. Unless there is someone who listens, there is no communication. There is only noise. ~ Peter Drucker

This blog is all about improving your virtual listening skills.  Please watch the video with my colleague Michael Fraidenburg, an expert in running online meetings. 

The following is a short summary of the importance of improving active...

Communication works for those who work at it. ~ John Powell

How well do you communicate?

Every contact we make involves communications skills - speaking and listening,  speech patterns, the words we use, the tone of our voice, our body language and even the silences all play a part in how successful our communications are.

Self-awareness can be one of the most effective ways to identify and improve your skills. Take this quick assessment to learn more about how well you currently...