Category: Communication
-
Don’t be Groot. Instead, be a doctor.
In the Marvel films, there’s a character called Groot. He’s a walking, talking tree-like thing (it makes sense when you watch it). And the only words he ever says are “I am Groot”. It doesn’t matter what someone says to him – his only answer is “I am Groot”. We’ve all met lots of Groots.…
-
Ensure meetings trigger ACTION
I hate, hate, HATE pointless meetings. You know the type of thing… Loads of things get discussed. But no actions result. What was the point? Here are four simple steps, to ensure your meetings always trigger action. #1 Before the meeting, create an Actions Table Before the meeting, create a three-column Actions Table The column…
-
Ten Top Tips for written comms
Here are ten top tips to make your written communications brilliant. I know you’ll know them all. But do you do them all? Verbal better? Many written communications should never have been a written communication. Instead, they should have been verbal – phone call, Teams, etc. So, only use written if that is the best…
-
Gorgeous, beautiful titles
If I invited you to a “Chemistry Meeting”, what would you expect to happen in it? Probably that we’ll have a chat, to see if we get on ok – yes? But what if I re-title the meeting, and now invite you to something called a “Kick-Off Meeting”, what do you expect from it now?…
-
Build Enthusiasm (using The 3Ps)
What’s your #1 goal, that involves other people? A payrise, promotion, new job, new customer… Well, this Tip is a proven way to help you nail it. I love it. Here goes… To succeed, you need others to share your enthusiasm about it. But the traditional approach – talking enthusiastically, and hoping others join in…
-
Quick replies to loooong emails
Whenever I get a long email, I always reply saying something like this… Thanks for this. I’m hectic today. Very quickly, please can you confirm what you want me to do with this info? The Sender’s reply always helps me speed-up my reply For example, if they say “It was just FYI”, I might skim-read…
-
Great presentations – the four steps to mastery
To deliver brilliant presentations, there are only four things to master: Interesting content Impactful delivery Impressive visuals Appropriate confidence Master all four, and your presentation will be brilliant. But if any one is missing, it could’ve been better. And if all four are missing, it could not have been worse. How do your presentations stack…
-
Which communications do you do your best prep for?
Which communications do you do your best prep for? Most people’s answers to this are: On a first date; and In a job interview! They then tell me about all the time they invest in choosing carefully how they’ll ensure a great first impression. Also: deciding what topics to talk about, which questions to ask,…
-
To get a ‘yes’, first get a ‘no’
Last year, at the end of my daughter Meg’s job interview, the interviewer asked “do you have any questions?” She replied: “Yes. Please can you tell me if have any reservations about hiring me?” They were surprised by her question. They liked the honesty of it. They thought about it; then said their only reservation…
-
How to shut people up!
We’ve all been in meetings where The Talker won’t shut up. Lovely for them, of course. But not so lovely for us. Other people don’t get to speak. We don’t cover the whole agenda. We might finish late. Which means we start our next meeting by apologising for being late … all because of The…