Mandel Communications Blog

In the 30 years that I’ve been training presenters, the same presentation myths (disguised as tips) have resurfaced time and again. While most are well intentioned, they do more harm than good. Today, I’d like to expose and dispel 3 of the most potentially damaging myths about presenting.

Do you ever have to give a presentation at the last minute? Whatever you do, resist the temptation to re-label old slides or repurpose an entire presentation. Instead, when you have no choice but to do a rush job, here are some tips on how to prepare for and deliver last-minute presentations that your audience will appreciate.

Web meetings and conference calls can be boring. Disruptive. Irritating, even. They can make you feel like you’re being deprived of time that you could be spending doing “real" work. Do they have to be unproductive and awkward? Definitely not! Here are 8 things you can do to take the pain out of your virtual meetings.

In building Mandel's global training capability, one of the most thrilling things I realized is that there are ways of communicating that transcend borders. I want to tell you about 3 “tools” in particular that were instrumental in helping me to build stronger relationships with my new colleagues and partners around the world, from Shanghai to Buenos Aires.

Your company, like most, probably invests in sales training that helps team members become more consultative, insight-driven, assertive, and challenging in their approach.  But, none of that training addresses a leading cause of pipeline mortality. This week, find out what could be causing your sales opportunities to die prematurely and what you can do about it.

I walked away from last month’s Association of Briefing Program Managers (ABPM) annual spring conference more convinced than ever that customer intimacy is the key to customer loyalty. Let me explain why, and also what you can do to build longer-lasting, more satisfying relationships with your customers.

Clients often ask, “What’s the best metric for measuring training?”  It can be difficult to tie communication skills training directly to cost savings or performance gains. Difficult, but not impossible. You just have to use the right metric. And, that means taking an honest look at how much of your training is going to waste.

Executives today are making or influencing more and more buying decisions (especially when it comes to technology).  Is your sales team ready to engage executives in conversations about the business challenges that keep them up at night?  This is where traditional sales training fails. Here’s how you can fix it.

It's just business - nothing personal." How often have you heard someone use that phrase to justify a decision based on the bottom line, even when that decision created pain and problems for employees or customers? It's called the "It's just business trap," and it can sabotage your organizations ability to succeed. Here's how to avoid it.

Let's face it. We're losing the ability to listen in this always-on, multi-tasking world. And, we're paying a price for it. When we fail to listen well, we miss vital info, misinterpret messages, or even damage our relationships with others. But, still, there have always been those special people who seem to have a natural gift for knowing how to make you feel heard. People like Grandma Hendrickson. Here's how she practices the gracious art of listening...and how you can, too.