| Note-taking |
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Most people - even executives - have a limited ability to take cogent notes and organize them for action. We focus on this as one of the first steps in communicating to cause action. |
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| Listening skills |
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Most people listen with what psychologist Carl Rogers might have called a "Filter-Judge-Rebut" model. We get people out of judgment mode and into real listening quickly. |
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| Writing memos |
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What's the advantage of a well-written memo? Here's the cost of a poorly-written one: Assume it costs $5 for a worker to write a memo (10 minutes to write, $30/hour salary. Obviously a low figure, especially if it's a manager or executive). Now add $2.50 for each person to whom the memo is sent, who has to read and perhaps act on it (assumes about 5 minutes to read and act). Multiply by 120 (assumes one memo written every other working day). That's your annual "memo investment." They'd better be crisp, clear, short and actionable. We teach your people how to do this. |
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| Writing e-mails |
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The average worker in the US receives over 200 e-mail messages a day, and the volume is growing by 35-40% a year. How to write clearer, more actionable e-mails is another of our focus areas. |
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| IMing |
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According to Jupiter Media Metrix, over 11 million workers use instant messaging. We demonstrate ways to make IM a true communications tool. |
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| Writing business letters, reports, and proposals |
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The National Commission on Writing found that one-third of the employees in blue-chip US companies wrote poorly. If that's the case, what do the written communications that come from your company tell your customers, clients, and prospects? And what's the impact on revenue? We stress this as a central issue. |
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| Interviewing job candidates |
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Hiring the wrong person can cost you three times that person's salary. And most line managers have received little, if any, guidance on the right way to interview a candidate. We view the interview as an actionable communications issue, and show line managers how to approach it that way. |
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| Making meetings effective |
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10 people in a room for 2 hours at an average hourly rate of about $30 each (according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics) is a $600 investment (probably a low figure for your organization). Even if your entire organization had just ten meetings a day, that would be an annual "meeting investment" of over $1.4 million. We show meeting leaders and participants how to make meetings worth it. |
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| High-stakes presentations |
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According to Microsoft, there are 30 million Power Point presentations done a day. And according to a survey done by communicateusingtechnology.com, over 40% (that would be over 12 million) of them have annoying elements. And those are just "normal" presentations. What do your high-stakes presentations say? What do they look like? Are they your "best foot forward?" We focus on not just how to make them better, but breakthrough. |
Minimum 6 per class. Large groups will be divided into small sections to provide more effective one-on-one training.
In order to fit with your organization's needs the class may be taught as a one or two day event.
$595 per person per day.
This is our most popular, and most comprehensive, course. It is an integration of the elements from all courses and provides a broad set of business communication skills that linchpin employees can use immediately to be more effective and get more things done.