Over the past couple of months, a number of recent articles and podcasts have caught my attention and challenged my point of view for the better. Here are my top selections about culture, innovation, and the future of hybrid workplaces.
INSIGHTS
Why are virtual presentations important? In the new world of work, being able to work fluidly in a variety of modes and using multiple platforms is, and will continue to be, more critical than ever.
Wouldn’t it be great if every message in your inbox clearly communicated, in the briefest number of words, the value and benefit to you of the content and the action you’re being asked to take? What if every communication within your company was just as effective and efficient? It can be. See how.
Virtual selling is business as usual today—and in the future. Find out why that’s great for your business—and how your salespeople can really set your company apart from the competition.
Mandel Communications, known globally for its presentation and conversations skills workshops, fills a major gap in the field of human communications training by announcing its new neuroscience-based, listening skills-building workshop, “The Listening Edge.”
This innovative training is bolstered with a validated, proprietary, science-based personal listening assessment that accelerates this learning and its application on the job.
As we continue to work in remote environments, virtual video meetings are keeping us connected and business moving forward. They’re also leaving us exhausted. The extra mental processing required to navigate screen-based interactions means even those accustomed to frequent meetings are experiencing the burnout. To restore and productivity, consider four alternatives for business communication that eliminate the screentime.
As you and your teams navigate working remotely, we’re publishing tips and best practices for leading virtual meetings, presenting virtually and promoting remote team collaboration. For this week’s tips, here are 3 best practices for encouraging collaboration in your virtual meetings:
As you and your teams navigate working remotely, we’re publishing tips and best practices for leading virtual meetings, presenting virtually and collaborating on virtual teams.
For this week’s tips, here are 3 best practices for improving virtual meeting experiences:
As you and your teams navigate working remotely, we’re publishing tips and best practices for leading virtual meetings, presenting virtually, and collaborating on virtual teams.
For this week’s tips, here are 3 best practices for engaging your teams in virtual meetings:
As you and your teams navigate working remotely, we’re publishing weekly tips for leading virtual meetings.
For this week’s tips, here are 3 best practices for optimizing your virtual meetings.
With travel restrictions, reduced in-person meetings, and canceled events, many organizations have employees working from home. For remote team members interested in brushing up on virtual communication skills, we’ve put together a list of helpful articles.
The scope of the Coronavirus outbreak is changing rapidly, and the way organizations manage their training initiatives is changing just as quickly in response.
Mandel is prepared for times like these and we’re here to help.
We know organizations are putting significant thought into business continuity plans, and we’re standing-by to help our clients with the execution of these plans.
In an era of digital transformation, skill development is all the more critical to organizational success. In 2020, we’ll share best practices for skill-building and keep readers abreast of trends that will help transform teams and drive workplace performance.
The secret to making your next offsite meeting wildly productive isn’t a shiny new venue, expensive catering, or even slick technology. While those things might improve the experience, they can’t guarantee success. What can? The right communication framework and skills.
Read the blog and learn how to make your next team offsite your most productive yet.
Challenging questions, even confrontational ones, present an opportunity. Tough questions, when handled well, can help you and your team strengthen credibility and gain support for your ideas and solutions. The only question is, how to do it well?
Learn Mandel’s 3-step model for skillfully responding — not reacting — to tough questions with confidence and ease.
Imagine being asked to present to your entire company tomorrow. Does the idea of it make you nervous? You might be tempted to get right to work, writing every word down and committing them to memory. Now, what if I said you couldn’t memorize your talk? Whoa, wait a minute. You wonder, “How am I supposed to remember what to say?”
Find out why memorizing is a terrible idea and what you should do instead to prepare for your next presentation.
There’s a treacherous siren threatening learning effectiveness today. It seductively sings, “Don’t make it too difficult. Make it easy.” Now, there’s nothing wrong with trying to make learning more physically convenient for people. But is your learning at risk of becoming too convenient?
Read the blog to discover why learning should be uncomfortable.
How do you feel about building rapport? Many introverts feel uncomfortable when it comes to rapport-building because they think it means having to make “small talk” with others. If that’s you, fear not. You don't need the gift of gab to build good rapport. And having the gift of gab (or being extroverted) doesn't guarantee success either — especially if you're the one doing most of the talking.
Read the blog to get specific rapport-building tips anyone can use to quickly make a strong connection with others.
Listening is the most important communication skill. Why? Because nothing kills relationships or productivity faster than NOT listening. Communication barriers, like poor active listening, cost the average organization a staggering $62.4 million a year. Want to improve your team's listening skills?
Want to become a better active listener yourself? Use these 4 steps to become a better active listener and start having more productive conversations with your colleagues and customers.
What's the one virtual communication skill that nearly everyone struggles with? Hint: um, well, err, still not sure? It's your delivery. This includes things like composure, intonation, energy, pausing, eliminating clutter words, etc. Poor delivery skills get magnified in virtual settings. It's the #1 reason why web meetings and webcasts earn a bad rap.
The good news? Anyone can improve their virtual delivery skills by mastering composure and amplifying their energy. Read on to learn how.
Strong and engaging public speakers are powerful people who make change happen. Through their words and presence, they can influence people’s thoughts, decisions, and actions for the better.
That’s why this week, I thought I’d share 5 of my favorite TED Talks to help you improve your speaking skills. I guarantee you’ll be entertained watching them. But more than that, I hope you’ll feel empowered to become the speaker or change agent you were meant to be.
Mandel Concepts
AE Insights
Briefing Programs
Collaboration Skills
Communication Skills
Company Culture
Conversation Skills
Event Speakers
Global Training
Hybrid Work
Listening
Listening Skills
Mandel Blueprint
Meeting Skills
Messaging Skills
Presentation Skills
SCIPAB
Selling Skills
Storytelling
Technical Professionals
Virtual and Hybrid Meetings
Heather Muir
As Vice President of Marketing, Heather directs Mandel’s marketing, branding, and communications strategies in collaboration with the Executive Team. In addition, Heather leads Mandel’s public- and industry-relations activities.
Prior to joining Mandel in 2010, Heather held several marketing and communications roles within the learning and training industry. She is also an active member of the Association for Talent Development (ATD), Training Industry, Inc.; eLearningGuild; and the Association of Briefing Program Managers (ABPM).
Heather holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Davis, and has completed graduate courses in business and entrepreneurship at the University of Washington.
