Conversation Skills Archives

SCI-PAB in Everyday Life: From Wedding Toasts to Getting Your Teenager to Do Dishes

by Karen Bintz

Want to present your thoughts in a way that’ll grab your audience’s attention and get everyone listening? See how a simple framework, originally developed for meetings, can help you be heard in any conversation—negotiating household tasks, talking to friends, and even when you’re toasting the bride and groom.

by Karen Bintz

Communication Skills, Conversation Skills, SCIPAB

Throwback: Why Appreciation Matters in Life and at Work

by Diane Burgess-Faber

Gratitude. Appreciation. Recognition. It makes you feel good. This week in the US, many will pause for a day or two to give thanks and show appreciation for the things and people we care about most. It’s no secret how appreciation benefits the person getting it—but did you know it benefits the person giving it just as much? Discover why recognition is such a powerful tool for improving relationships and wellbeing in life—and at work. Learn how to (and how NOT to) express your appreciation to others.

by Diane Burgess-Faber

Collaboration Skills, Conversation Skills, Team Building

Tips for Communicating Effectively While Wearing a Mask

by Kelly Reeves

People in communities across the globe are adjusting to communicating while wearing masks. As we’re all experiencing, masks present both verbal and non-verbal communication challenges. Given this, we’ve prepared 5 tips for effective communications while wearing a mask, and compiled several insightful articles from leading publications on additional best practices.

by Kelly Reeves

Collaboration Skills, Communication Skills, Conversation Skills, In-Person Presentations

How Well Does Your Team Handle Tough Questions?

by Heather Muir

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.

by Heather Muir

Communication Skills, Conversation Skills, Executive Presence, Influencing Skills, Presenting to Executives, Sales Readiness, Selling Skills, Soft Skills, Technical Professionals

Are Extroverts Really Better at Building Rapport Than Introverts?

by Heather Muir

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.

by Heather Muir

Communication Skills, Conversation Skills, Sales Readiness, Soft Skills

4 Steps to Being a Better Active Listener

by Heather Muir

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.

by Heather Muir

Collaboration Skills, Conversation Skills, Influencing Skills, Soft Skills

Questions I Wish I’d Asked (How to Improve Sales Conversations)

by Diane Burgess-Faber

What’s the secret to wildly productive first-time sales meetings or conversations with executives? Thought-provoking questions. Read the blog to find out why—and how to tell if YOUR questions are thought-provoking enough to make customers want to learn more.

by Diane Burgess-Faber

Conversation Skills, Influencing Skills, Sales Readiness, Selling Skills

Most Popular Skill-Building Content of 2017

by Heather Muir

As the year comes to a close, here's a look back at Mandel's most popular skill-building content of 2017. Whether trying to make a great first impression, give a persuasive presentation, or convince others to support your idea, how you communicate will be key to your success in 2018. To help you prepare, we’ve curated this list of the most downloaded skill-building content just for you.

by Heather Muir

Conversation Skills, Presentation Skills, SCIPAB, Selling Skills

How To Get Your Best Ideas Heard

by Heather Muir

A recent MIT Sloan/Deloitte study named innovation the second most important issue companies are grappling with today. Most organizations aren't lacking for ideas—the challenge is making sure the best ones get heard and funded. Unfortunately, too often, even great ideas get lost when poorly communicated. If you can't make a clear enough case for your idea, it ends up ignored, shelved, abandoned— or it may even get defeated by a weak idea, better presented. Don't let your best ideas get lost in presentation. Here's how.

by Heather Muir

Business Transformation, Conversation Skills, Critical Thinking Skills, Messaging Skills, Presentation Skills

Why Appreciation Matters In Life and at Work

by Diane Burgess-Faber

Gratitude. Appreciation. Recognition. It makes you feel good. This week in the US, many will pause for a day or two to give thanks and show appreciation for the things and people we care about most. It’s no secret how appreciation benefits the person getting it—but did you know it benefits the person giving it just as much? Discover why recognition is such a powerful tool for improving relationships and wellbeing in life and at work. Learn how to (and how NOT to) express your appreciation to others.

by Diane Burgess-Faber

Collaboration Skills, Conversation Skills, Team Building

How Many Women Are In Your Leadership Pipeline?

by Beth Boone

Companies perform better financially when women are well represented in the workforce, in management, and on corporate boards. The problem is when a woman speaks, she can feel like she’s walking a tightrope. Many women report feeling like they’re either not heard at all at work or are judged as too aggressive when they speak. The research backs this up. As a result, women may decide that saying less is more. But this hurts them and their organizations. So what can your business do to tackle this problem head-on and build a stronger pipeline of women leaders? Read the blog to find out.

by Beth Boone

Conversation Skills, Executive Presence, Messaging Skills, Presentation Skills

Preparing Generations X, Y, & Z to Be Leaders

by Heather Muir

A lot of research highlights differences between Generations X, Y, and Z. But one thing they share is a desire to lead. Preparing them to be leaders is a mission-critical task for organizations. But what will it really take to get there? Read the blog to find out.

by Heather Muir

Conversation Skills, Presentation Skills, Teaming

The Two Types of “Brain Freezes” We All Experience (and a Few Quick Tips on How to Cure Them)

by Bob Sherwin

Ugh, another brain freeze coming on. There are two kinds of brain freezes we've all experienced, both probably more often than we'd like. If you despise them like I do, here’s my take on both types, their causes, and a few quick tips on how to cure them.

by Bob Sherwin

Conversation Skills, Messaging Skills, Presentation Skills

The Secret to Connecting on LinkedIn

by Heather Muir

If you want to connect with more people on LinkedIn, I have a foolproof tip: Make a real connection. What I mean is, if you want to productively connect with someone—whether virtually through a social network or in-person—don't send a generic invite. They don't work. Read the blog to find out why, and what you can do instead to craft irresistible LinkedIn messages or networking emails that get results.

by Heather Muir

Conversation Skills, Messaging Skills, Presentation Skills, Selling Skills

How Video Improves Virtual Communication and Strengthens Relationships

by Kelly Reeves

Video is so powerful. When used effectively, video can transform virtual meetings from ineffectual to productive. And everyone loves being on camera, right? Well, not exactly. If the idea of being on camera makes you feel self-conscious, here are some steps you can take to increase your comfort with video calls and vastly improve your virtual communication and relationships.

by Kelly Reeves

Collaboration Skills, Conversation Skills, Eye Contact, Virtual Presentations

World Class Communication Really is a Marathon

by Kathleen Redd

What does it take to transform smart and skilled subject matter experts into world-class communicators? Consistent practice and application of these three principles. Read the blog to learn what they are. With training and persistence, anyone can become a world-class communicator—someone who is able to move ideas, decisions, projects, relationships, and businesses forward.

by Kathleen Redd

Briefing Center, Conversation Skills, Messaging Skills, Presentation Skills, Sales Readiness, Technical Professionals

Think Before You Speak: Engineering the First 60 Seconds of Conversation

by David Mears

Securing an initial conversation with decision makers is tougher than ever. When you do finally get someone's attention or time, the first 60 seconds of your interaction are critical. Which is precisely why it's so important to think before you speak. To get the results you want, you must be intentional about how you engineer the first minute of your conversation. Read the blog to learn more.

by David Mears

Conversation Skills, Messaging Skills, Presenting to Executives, Sales Readiness

Lessons Learned From Exceptional Business Communicators

by Brad Holst

What do wildly successful business people have in common? Multiple studies confirm they tend to be exceptional communicators—people who excel at moving information and insight into action. What can you learn from these communication superheroes? In all my years’ experience working in the business communication field, I’ve observed that two behaviors set exceptional communicators apart. Read this week's blog to learn what they are.

by Brad Holst

Conversation Skills, Messaging Skills, Presentation Skills

Attention. Grab It!

by David Mears

The average person’s attention span is shorter than a goldfish’s. That can make grabbing and keeping the attention of busy professionals a challenge of epic proportions. Here are 5 strategies to help you win the attention of an easily distracted audience. (Hint: Providing better information than anyone else isn’t enough.)

by David Mears

Conversation Skills, Messaging Skills, Presentation Skills, Presenting to Executives

What Is the Antidote to Business Anxiety?

by David Mears

Business anxiety is high. Geopolitics. Trade. Cyber security. Uncertainty reigns. One former White House economist suggests we're living in an "age of anxiety." Ready-aim-fire approaches to addressing the disruptive changes ahead won't work. Instead, businesses need to be proactive. How? Equip your people with the skills needed to create clarity from chaos and decisiveness from uncertainty. Learn why clearer thinking and speaking is the antidote to business anxiety and what 3 skills your talent needs to not only survive this new era, but to thrive in it.

by David Mears

Conversation Skills, Executive Presence, Messaging Skills, Presentation Skills

How to Get in the Habit of Being a Great Listener

by Brad Holst

In this attention-anemic world, we humans are rapidly losing the ability to listen. One thing we've learned from the thousands of people who attend Mandel workshops every year is that most people have 3 damaging habits that disrupt their ability to express themselves—and also impede their ability to listen to others. This week's blog explores how to break those bad habits and replace them with ones that can help you become a truly great listener.

by Brad Holst

Briefing Center, Collaboration Skills, Conversation Skills, Eye Contact, Messaging Skills, Presentation Skills

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