Influencing Skills Archives

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

Influencing Others Through Story; A Valuable Lesson from Game of Thrones

by Brad Holst

What inspires and motivates people to action? Here’s a hint: it’s not a PowerPoint deck filled with data points and analytics. Learning how to share a powerful story can positively influence others and help your ideas become memorable. Perhaps you need to promote a new idea or close that crucial sale. Learn how some of the most successful business ventures today got their start from sharing a powerful story and how you can make your own narrative work for you.

by Brad Holst

Business Transformation, Communication Skills, In-Person Presentations, Influencing Skills, Messaging Skills, Selling Skills, Storytelling

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

Do Salespeople & Technologists Communicate Differently?

by Suzanne McLarnon

Do salespeople and technologists communicate differently? Is one group better at presenting than the other? Can the two ever agree on how to present or what info to share? Corporate Workforce Development expert, high-tech industry veteran, and former Mandel client Suzanne McLarnon shares the secret behind developing both sales and technical professionals into superb communicators.

by Suzanne McLarnon

Briefing Center, Communication Skills, Influencing Skills, Sales Training, Selling Skills, Technical Professionals

5 TED Talks to Help You Better Communicate & Change the World

by Heather Muir

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.

by Heather Muir

Communication Skills, Influencing Skills, Presentation Skills, Storytelling

Your Personal Brand? It’s How Others See You

by Diane Burgess-Faber

by Diane Burgess-Faber

Collaboration Skills, Communication Skills, Influencing Skills, Team Building, Teaming

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

How to Communicate to Break Through the Noise in 2018

by Ed Musselwhite, CEO

In 2018, you matter, and...it may be harder than ever to “be heard and understood.” We all want 2018 to be our “best year ever!” professionally and personally. Fortunately, this new year looks like it offers great potential for record-setting successes. Yet, this moment in time presents some serious hindrances for you, if your job description includes words like “communicate,” “lead,” “manage,” “sell,” “influence,” or “collaborate.” Here's why and what you can do to make 2018 your best year ever.

by Ed Musselwhite, CEO

Critical Thinking Skills, Influencing Skills, Messaging Skills, Presentation Skills

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