Professional Communication Archives | Page 3 of 5

What our clients are saying about us

Occasionally, I have a client ask for the chance to write about how we’ve helped him or her with their business communication skills. This week, Curt Gosman from Now Courier shares his thoughts…

“I had been working with a client for about a month, providing nearly daily cost analysis of their in-house delivery vs contracting with us, when suddenly communication from them stopped and I became concerned. After a couple of long weeks, I inquired and found there had been a personnel change, which of course would mean starting over from scratch. Not sure what to do, I consulted with Ellen Dunnigan, my business communication advisor, who gave me the confidence and advice to contact the CFO. Reluctantly, I called and was directed to a decision maker who was only slightly aware of their total company logistics need — yet at that very moment, was having a specific and pressing need […]

Email Communications: 10 Tips on making a memorable first impression

Practice these tips and I promise you’ll feel that your message was better received and understood. Not only that, increase your efficiency on making it through your inbox. Be Heard. Get Results.

Hit the Floor and Give Me 20! – Is Business Coaching Right For You?

Coaching's three most common uses include leadership development, remedial performance improvement, and optimizing strong contributors. Most coaches meet with executives in person or by phone, either every other week or once a month for about a year, though they increasingly are available for emergency consults.

2022-04-22T08:33:00-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Leadership Presence, Professional Communication|Tags: executive presence, executive presence advisors, Professional Communication, professional communication advisors, professional communication advisory firm, professional communications, Public Speaking, public speaking firm|Comments Off

5 Things You Can Do Right Now To Improve Your Next Presentation

There have been many articles written over the last decade especially take a peak inside this magician’s tophat. I came up with five Jobsian tricks you can adapt to make your next presentation a little better without spending hours and hours in front of a mirror.

2022-04-22T08:33:00-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Professional Communication|Tags: executive presence, executive presence advisors, Professional Communication, professional communication advisors, professional communication advisory firm, professional communications, Public Speaking, public speaking firm|Comments Off

MultiTasking is a Myth! Now What?

A slew of cognitive studies over the last five years have shown that what we think is multitasking is in reality over-active and distracted brain activity. The brain can only focus on one process at a time, so we’ve actually become expert “start-and-stoppers.” What’s worse, our attempts at multitasking slow us down, as errors increase and fatigue quickly clouds any accomplishments we think we make.

2022-04-22T08:33:00-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Professional Communication|Tags: executive presence, executive presence advisors, Professional Communication, professional communication advisors, professional communication advisory firm, professional communications, Public Speaking, public speaking firm|Comments Off

Swing and a Miss

baseball-player-583658_1280 Today’s guest blog post is written by Matthew Williams, Communications Intern at Accent on Business.

For a long time, networking evoked a negative albeit vivid image in my mind. A large group of middle-aged strangers getting together in a large conference room drinking, laughing at unfunny jokes, and passing around business cards all the while trying to sell insurance or burial plots. I’m not entirely sure where this image came from but I was certain it was not the game I wanted to play.
From the time I entered college until the time I left, I would constantly hear professors espouse the virtues of networking:

“It’s not just what you know,” they would say. “It’s about who you know. If you don’t learn to network the odds of finding a good job are slim.”

I’d like to say that hearing this message repeatedly over time softened […]

2022-04-22T08:33:01-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Professional Communication|Tags: communication, conversation, executive presence, executive presence advisors, Professional Communication, professional communication advisors, professional communication advisory firm, professional communications, Public Speaking, public speaking firm|Comments Off

What separates a good speech from a great speech?

A good speech has a clear, relevant message supported by facts. A great speech has a clear, relevant message supported by stories that make the topic being discussed more interesting and more memorable.

The goal of every speech is to be memorable and informative. People are inundated with messages and speeches in some shape or form on a daily basis. How can you help make your message stick? One of the simplest ways to make a speech memorable is to tell a story that serves as a real-life example of your message. A relevant, well-told anecdote engages audience members in a way that PowerPoint presentations or statistical data can’t. When an audience is engaged, they are more likely to retain the information being presented. If the story is interesting enough they may even relay it to someone else, spreading your message even further. People […]

2022-04-22T08:33:01-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Leadership Presence, Professional Communication, Public Speaking|Tags: executive presence, executive presence advisors, Professional Communication, professional communication advisors, professional communication advisory firm, professional communications, Public Speaking, public speaking firm|Comments Off

How to “Work” Your Networking

human-757444_1280 As an entrepreneur or an employee, your average day is filled with interactions with others. In addition to phone calls, formal speeches or presentations, training sessions, media interactions, and numerous dialogues with colleagues and customers or clients, networking events can be some of the most important venues for making a good first impression!

Many people are reluctant to meet strangers at networking events due to introversion or shyness. The simple truth is that many –if not all—of those same people feel similarly and are hesitant to initiate conversations in new social situations. Similar interests help former strangers become professional contacts and possibly even friends! Take the initiative to approach someone and introduce yourself with confidence, class, and charisma. The bright fist impression you make with the effectual body language and a strong, clear voice could open up doors to your personal and professional […]

2022-04-22T08:33:21-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Exclusive Content, Leadership Presence, Professional Communication|Tags: executive presence, executive presence advisors, Professional Communication, professional communication advisors, professional communication advisory firm, professional communications, Public Speaking, public speaking firm|Comments Off

Who’s On First?

sport-640831_1280 Proposals delivered by multiple people from the same company or organization are interesting to watch from a “30,000 foot” view. There are many people involved; each has an agenda. What is their focus? Who should talk, when, and for how long? What is everyone’s individual role? Did the group come across as they envisioned?

Here’s a scenario for you: a business with two different teams — the creative team and the sales team — will be proposing to a potential client. Each of these teams go into a proposal with specific goals. The creative team is, by definition, creative. The creative team, of course, wants the prospect to embrace the concepts and strategies, to love the ideas, and to imagine the success that can come from their wonderful design. And this can be duly accomplished if the vision is unambiguously portrayed by a […]

2022-04-22T08:33:21-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Professional Communication|Tags: executive presence, executive presence firm, executive presence training, Professional Communication, professional communication advisory firm, professional communications advisors, Public Speaking, public speaking firm|Comments Off

Hone Your Listening Skills To Boost Your Career

Good listening is crucial to effective communication and career success. However, only about 10% of us listen properly. Most of us don’t know how to listen intelligently, systematically and purposefully.

Business call

Think about your most recent conversations at work. If you remember what you said better than what you heard, you’ve probably developed some pretty bad listening habits. Instead of really listening, you let your mind wander while others were talking. You were thinking about what you were going to say before the others had finished. Poor listening can cause snafus in the office such as missing important appointments, misunderstanding directions, misinterpreting valuable suggestions or addressing the wrong problems.

There is little doubt that disgraceful listening habits have hindered many managerial careers. According to several estimates, about 45% of a manager’s typical day is spent listening. Some managers believe they earn up to 60% […]

2022-04-22T08:33:22-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Professional Communication|Tags: executive presence, how to listen better, how to listen effectively, professional communication advisors, professional communication advisory firm, professional communications, public speaking advisors, why listening is important, why you should listen|Comments Off