Communications Training

1:1 Communications Coaching

Executive Essentials’ communications coaching covers a broad range of specialized skill refinement. Whether you are speaking to your employee, boss, peer, or client; effective communication is fundamental to your success. Clients can work with coaches on a specific presentation, upcoming client or staff interactions, or on general effective communication techniques. If you are seeking to change your organizational perception, coaching may be the key.

Learn more about coaching.

Collaborative Communications

Understanding how you prefer to communicate impacts how you lead, solve problems, make decisions, form relationships, collaborate, provide feedback, influence, and motivate. It also indicates what is influential and motivating to you. In this program you will learn your own communication preferences, how to identify others’ preferences, and how to flex your style.

Program Objectives:

• Understand your thinking preferences and identify other’s style through observation
• Learn style strengths and stereotypes that impact perceptions
• Adapt communication style to increase collaboration and minimize interpersonal friction
• Strengthen relationships and expand options for conflict resolution
• Consider communication style when delegating, motivating and providing feedback

Communicate with Tact and Diplomacy

Have you heard, “it’s not what you say but how you say it”? But how do you “say” it when you’re having a difficult conversation? What’s the best way to deliver your message when emotions are high? To be effective, you need to communicate the most effective way to get your message across so you can be heard. The goals of this program are to enhance the communication skills and behaviors to improve morale and teamwork through effective communication.

Program Objectives:

• Demonstrate and show effective communication skills in leadership role
• Understand expected behaviors in communication and recognize what’s acceptable and unacceptable behavior
• Deepen sense of self-awareness and empathy on current communication strengths, weaknesses and blind spots
• Practice critical communication behaviors such as effective body language, empathy, active listening, emotional control, attentiveness, choice of words, and more, through interactive discussions and role playing

Creating and Delivering Powerful Presentations

This course is for managers, supervisors, and professionals who, in their leadership roles, must make important presentations. Participants will receive one-on-one coaching and develop a skill set for speaking with confidence and projecting the best possible image of themselves and the agency. Emphasis will be on developing and cultivating a conversational tone when speaking and formulating clear and logical presentation points to attain the desired audience reaction.

Program Objectives:

• Understand the importance of “image” and how to use it to positively influence every audience
• Structure the presentation for clarity, impact, and persuasiveness
• Capture the audience’s attention from the beginning – and keeping it
• Use visual materials – including PowerPoint – to reinforce the power of your presentation
• Respond to challenging questions and statements with confidence, authority, and understanding
• Close the presentation with impact

Dealing With Difficult People

Have you ever had a difficult co-worker? Are you that difficult person? This interactive workshop will support you as you learn to identify difficult personalities and share insights on the best methods to handle those personalities. Manage conflict and receive helpful suggestions that will make your working environment more positive.

Program Objectives:

• Understand how difficult employees can cause conflict
• Identify 6 types of difficult personalities
• Learn 5 strategies for dealing with difficult people

Develop Your Presence & Personal Brand

What do people say about you when you leave the room?  Is it what you want them to say? How you show up in the room, get listened to and are known amongst your colleagues are all critical components of your future success.

Delivering strong results is not enough to build a successful career. Presence is a key building block in career management. It is not just for Executives. Presence is required at every level in every organization.

This training focuses on understanding the impact of your interactions on your presence, how you can proactively manage your presence and how to develop your own personal brand.  We discuss how to determine you brand attributes, demonstrate the nuances of body language on your professional presence, and discuss how to strengthen the lasting impressions you make on your network.

Program Objectives:

• Recognize the attributes that impact first and lasting perceptions
• Tweak your body language to enhance your professional presence
• Discover the verbal tools and distractors the impeded your image
• Learn how word choice impacts responses
• Determine how to select your brand personality

Emotional Intelligence

There is growing evidence that emotional intelligence (EI) competencies play a key role in success in the workplace. Recent research shows links between elements of EI and behaviors associated with leadership effectiveness.  The EI model has become increasingly popular for the assessment and development of individual and group performance, and provides an invaluable common language for conversations about leadership.

Program Objectives:

• Understand the importance of Emotional Intelligence (EI)
• Assess your leadership EI competency
• Determine strategies to improve EI
• Learn techniques to apply EI competencies in the work environment
• Recognize blind spots with emotional intelligence

Email Etiquette

Are you ever amazed, stunned, or embarrassed when reading messages from associates? E-mail is an important part of business communications, but used carelessly, it can damage relationships, reputations, and careers. Email may be the fastest way to communicate but it is not always the most effective or the most appropriate.  This seminar teaches participants the best way to communicate various kinds of messages.  (Good news, sensitive information, etc.) Participants also review the basics of proper addressing, salutations, spelling, grammar, and formatting.

Program Objectives:

• When you should and shouldn’t use e-mail
• What to consider before sending an office-wide message and using CC and BCC
• Why you shouldn’t use e-mail to communicate problems or mistakes, or for difficult conversations
• What every business e-mail should include
• Getting the email started and decisions about tone, humor, and emoticons
• System for writing concise emails and proofreading tips

Influencing Without Authority — How to Win Over Others When They Don’t Report to You

Have you noticed that the most successful people in the workplace collaborate easily with peers, staff members, and senior management?  With many lines of reporting and the complexity of projects today, how do you win the support and commitment from those who don’t report to you? Today’s professionals don’t get things done because they tell others what to do.  They’re getting projects done successfully because they’ve mastered the art of influence.

Program Objectives:

• Assess communication style to determine strengths and opportunities.  Tailor their style depending on the person or situation at hand
• Use a model combining inquiry, desired outcomes and reciprocity to establish common goals and enhance collaboration
• Inspire and motivate others to want to work with you.
• Practice your influencing skills in real world situations

Intergenerational Dynamics

What’s the matter with kids these days? Nothing! Still, today’s intergenerational workforce is experiencing a culture clash. The attitudes, values, and behaviors of the Millennial Generation are leaving managers miffed. It is time to learn to lead Millennials, so they can reach their potential and you can reach yours. This workshop has two major components: learn about them, and learn to lead them. Presentation and discussion of the attitudes, values, and behaviors of the different generations are followed by the introduction of Millennials’ workplace needs and wants and corresponding management strategies. Throughout the workshop participants will practice new techniques for successfully leading this next great generation. Baby Boomers, Gen Xers and Millennials are encouraged to attend!

Program Objectives:

• Recognize how intergenerational dynamics are similar to a culture clash
• Identify the defining life events and resulting behavior trends for the three major generations in the workforce with added emphasis on Millennials
• Learn to facilitate a conversation about intergenerational dynamics with your team
• Explore four categories of Millennials’ wants and needs in the workplace: Matter,
• Dialogue, Opportunity, Full Life
• Practice updated leadership strategies for leading Millennials

Listening Actively: Get the Dialogue Going

When we do not communicate effectively, information is not shared, morale takes a hit and results suffer. It’s time to get the dialogue going.  Take your communication skills to the next level by focusing on improving your listening skills and learning to ask powerful questions.

Program Objectives:

• Improve your listening skills
• Ask questions to engage, connect and learn from others
• Learn the 3Ps model to ensure your message is clearly communicated

Negotiation Know How

The thought of bartering, bickering, negotiating, even compromising often produce a negative connotation, and frequently fear, in one’s mind. Each of us however, has to negotiate daily in every aspect of our lives. Negotiation is an integral part of creating value for the organization and your success depends on your skills as a negotiator.  This course will give you with a new perspective on the art of negotiation by equipping you with techniques, counter-techniques, and a framework for mutually beneficial results.

Program Objectives:

• Achieve better results in both formal and informal negotiations
• Build confidence in your bargaining power and abilities
• Improve negotiations by managing your emotions and influencing others
• Build positive, productive relationships with all parties at the table
• Create value and “enlarge the pie” to produce win-win outcomes

Powerful Public Speaking

How you say what you say is more important than what you say. According to a UCLA study, 93% of a communicator’s effectiveness is based on non-verbal cues. This foundational program include a focus on the verbal, vocal and visual delivery techniques appropriate for the business environment, which can improve a speaker’s credibility, influence and impact. Depending on the course length other topics include; managing fear, organizing your presentation, increasing attention and interaction, handling questions, infusing humor, creating impactful visuals, and more.

You Will Learn:

• Manage fear with mental, behavioral, and physical methods
• Leverage the verbal, vocal, and visual components of delivery
• Discover the attention curve and structure your content to increase attention and action
• Field or manage the various question types
• Learn tactics for stalling, disagreeing, handling hostility and generating interaction

Presentation Skills – Advanced

For participants presenting at conferences and those simply wanting to take their speaking to the next level, this program will work hands on with a small group of participants on upcoming presentations. They will bring laptops and presentations to the program to elevate the opening, closing, structure, content, and delivery.

Advanced topics may include:

• Implementing the I-AM communication strategy
• Selecting content to influence audiences
• Designing and interacting with visual aids
• Using and infusing humor
• Dealing with large and international audiences

Presentation Design & Strategy

Have you ever walked out of a presentation trying to figure out the speaker’s point? Or did you stop caring after 15 minutes when it was not clear? Formal meetings, proposals, and sales pitches all rely on presentations, which are, unfortunately, often ineffective. Common flaws include and unclear message, over formatting, too much data and redundancy. The design and strategy workshop begins with determining your message and ends with a clearly formulated, effective document.

Program Objectives:

• Analyze your audience to prioritize and organize content
• Determine and highlight your communication objective
• Position arguments with audience benefit statements
• Identify your position on the tell, sell, join, or consult spectrum
• Include strategies to reach the 3 types of comprehension
• Select format designs for various content types

The Art of Influence

The ability to influence people is the one fundamental skill that every professional needs. All managers know how hard it can be to make views heard despite having persuasive points to make. The Art of Influence gives participants all the techniques necessary to increase their influence and put the power of persuasion to work for them.

You Will:

• Recognize the difference between persuasion and influence
• Leverage the inquiry and advocacy model to increase audience receptiveness
• Understand different thinking preferences and how to influence and collaborate with each style
• Assess your use of each various influencing strategies and learn under what circumstances each strategy is effective

Writing For Business Audiences

In a business environment, to be effective, you must write to meet the reader’s needs. Communications today must be clear, concise and compelling. This one or two-day intensive class is designed to get professionals familiar with the basic concepts and tools they will need to improve written communication. Topics include basic writing skills and grammar, e-mail etiquette, professional document structure, effective memo writing, supporting your arguments, constructing abstracts and elements of persuasion.

You Will Learn:

• Guidelines for effective business writing
• Big Details: identifying the most relevant information for your audience
• Internal vs. external communications: who will read your document?
• Your purpose vs. audience’s needs: are you talking to them or past them?
• Professional document structure