February 24, 2020 Reading time: 9 minutes The 3 key parts of a conference that grow trust and show accountability. Imagine planning a press conference to address a situation that brought plenty of negative publicity to your organization. Let’s say someone within your organization was accused of cheating and now you need to answer to the accusations. Alright, let’s say your organization was a major league baseball team and spring training is right around the…
READ MORE >>
These are the common words and phrases you want to check out before you hit send on your email. Think about it for a moment – where do you do most of your communicating for your work and in life? In presentations? In one-on-one meetings? In the hallways? Chances are you that use email and text to communicate with your clients, colleagues, family, and friends; just about everyone communicates through the written word. If the…
READ MORE >>
And why podcasters love it when you do February 18, 2020 Have you ever tried to leave a podcast review, but you can’t quite figure out how to get to the right page? Leaving a rating or review on your favorite podcast is fast, easy, and free, but where to find the place to leave it is not. The primary reason why the majority of content creators produce podcasts is to provide valuable information for…
READ MORE >>
Are you like me when it comes to your online passwords? February 11, 2020 You create a personal password that includes the name of your kids or your dog, and then you use it over and over again because you don’t want to keep looking it up over and over again? Let’s assume, yes. Even riskier, are you someone who uses an easy-peasy word or number sequence that requires little thought and limited dexterity and…
READ MORE >>
There is no true “best” communication style, but it is true that men and women communicate differently in the workplace. And it’s often men that make the bigger impact because of this. If you’re a woman, it can feel sexist and old-fashioned. And it is. But it’s also something that’s rooted in society and, as a result, the workforce. That doesn’t mean you can’t try to shift the norms and break out of the cycle…
READ MORE >>
When your business has an online presence, it’s bound to happen. A customer is less than satisfied and leaves a one-star bad review on your Facebook page, on Yelp or on Google. Or someone leaves a negative comment on one of your business posts on Facebook or LinkedIn. Staying off the internet doesn’t help; it just allows your customers the opportunity to have a conversation about you–without you involved. And ignoring or deleting the negative…
READ MORE >>
Growing a business today means growing a business online. No matter if yours is a local brick and mortar or a fully virtual shop, every business needs to have an online presence. Consumers turn to the internet first when making purchasing decisions–up to 97 percent looking for local companies online. So if you don’t carve a space for yourself there, you’re truly holding yourself back from the growth you want and need. Because if you’re…
READ MORE >>
The last time a major hurricane battered the Houston area, I was reporting from the aftermath of Hurricane Ike for the Federal Emergency Managment Agency (FEMA) as a member of the headquarter’s public affairs team in 2008. With Hurricane Harvey, I see the intersection of my new career as a communications consultant working with rural electric cooperatives with my former one as I watch Texas, once again, battle back from massive flooding and power outages. But this…
READ MORE >>
1. Do I really need to be on social media? You don’t have to, but here’s why it’s a smart move: When a leader has an active presence on social media it shows the world (and your customers, board, stakeholders, and employees) that you’re not only listening but that you are willing to “open the books” – so to speak – on how you operate. It also indicates you aren’t stuck in your old ways —…
READ MORE >>
Recently, I conducted a communication training session for a group of board members just as news of the turmoil at Uber began swirling. I felt the situation at the car-sharing tech giant was the perfect illustration of the urgent need for reputation management at the CEO level: Amidst allegations of sexism in the workplace, a board member of Uber complained that women serving on corporate boards leads to unnecessary chatter. As I summarized what happened…
READ MORE >>