No, I’m not suddenly on a trend of weird post titles, although last week and this week might lead you to believe that! This week I want to talk to you about three words that, when used skilfully, can help you communicate persuasively. They are and, but and because. When you use the word but [...]

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A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the common complaint, “There’s no communication around here!” and how it often isn’t really what it seems. But if you have identified a communication problem that’s having an adverse effect on morale or productivity, here’s one approach to solving it. Let’s say, for example, you are part [...]

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The way you handle questions and answers can have a huge impact on your presentation. Perhaps you share two complaints that often come up in my presentation workshops: You can never follow your planned presentations because people keep interrupting with questions that pull you off track. You invite questions at the end, nobody asks any [...]

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When you’re trying to get agreement on something, a good technique is to ask direct, closed questions. Those are questions that can be answered in one word or phrase — preferably yes! Here’s how to craft the questions. Instead of Now that you have reviewed the contract, please confirm that we can now send it [...]

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I just received a copy of Supervisor’s Guide to Employment Practices, which includes an article by Christopher Bachler on Getting People’s Cooperation. Chris interviewed me for this article, and I thought you’d find the information useful. Here’s the entire piece: ___ Supervisors can order subordinates to do their bidding, but they won’t always get the [...]

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