Are you piled high with workplace time demands, media deadlines or client expectations? Are you trying to cram too many activities into too little time? Has COVID-19 added more pressure to your workday time, whether in the office or working from home? You probably face this type of situation every day. But when you are overloaded, you can learn how to say “No” without upsetting people.
Read more‘Street-smart’ business people learn the importance of maintaining good professional relationships, largely through networking, which is defined as the creation, development and use of personal contacts for mutual benefit or the benefit of others. Adept networking is a ‘win-win’ activity – producing a positive result for you and the people you meet. Types of networking There are several types of networking opportunities for you: Arrange periodically to meet over coffee or lunch with friends ...
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In your workplace and at home you are inevitably tempted to lay the blame on someone for an action or inaction that is unsatisfactory. Laying blame is easy to do and difficult to avoid, especially if you tend to be judgmental. (Just observe Donald Trump in action!) However, the essential point is don’t blame others – or this will rebound on you.
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You have probably heard this type of statement: “Effective personal communication is 55% body language, 38% tone of voice and only 7% content of the words you use.” However, these widely quoted figures (181,000 results from a Google search) are just an urban myth and represent a fundamental misinterpretation of limited experimental results. The takeaway: Ignore the big 55%-38%-7% myth about nonverbal communication. Read more in this article.
Worldwide research has found managers drive about 70% of an individual’s engagement at work, but managers are terrible communicators, which severely damages employee engagement levels. This article outlines how you can fix chronically poor manager communication so your organization’s employee engagement levels improve.
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Whether you are a communication staffer or external consultant, this relationship model creates great results. It is a very effective tool to connect with clients and management to achieve deeper mutual understanding. It involves listening, building trust and creating rapport that will develop top relationships between you and your internal and external stakeholders. Asking key questions will improve outcomes from stakeholder relationships.
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Research on verbal and non-verbal communication has found that mirroring a person’s words and body language increases rapport dramatically. This finding confirms the results of previous research, especially in the field of social psychology: When you mirror verbal and non-verbal communication in this way you will build good rapport with the other person.
Read moreThe amount of influence workers have isn’t always reflected in their job titles. You can determine your own informal value to others by reviewing the extent to which people – your top internal stakeholders – help you succeed in your job, and in turn, by what you offer them. Start by listing the top 10 employees at any level who help you get things done. Give each a score from one to 10 based ...
Read moreThese thoughts on developing a brilliant ‘elevator pitch’ have been adapted from advice offered by Liz DiAlto, who provides a lot of useful career feedback to clients. Here are some top tips for a more effective elevator pitch – the important words you say to people who ask the key question: “What do you do?” DON’T just give your job title This is a cop out. There are no 2-3 word descriptions that do ...
Read moreMany people hate office politics. But staying out of office politics may hold back your career. You can see what happens when someone doesn’t play the game sufficiently – they lose influence and credibility. Probably you know people who have made that mistake. As a communicator, especially if you are head of the communication function, you are responsible for building productive relationships throughout the office so you can influence people beyond your formal area ...
Read moreHybrid work looks like continuing to evolve as the way of the future. The concept of a hybrid workplace is
Many organizations have had quite a shake-up due to the pandemic. As a result, some may have had to go
PR is an exhausting field to work in, creatively speaking. As a communication professional, you’re caught between the dry,
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