Communication Skills Articles

Don’t Run! How to Manage Meeting Conflict

A meeting without conflict is a boring meeting, and we've seen very little value derived from predictable and unexciting meetings and workshops. However, internal and external conflict reflect...

Facilitative Leadership – How Novice Facilitators Can Succeed Quickly

Using the principles of facilitative leadership, novice facilitators will succeed when they draw a line of sight from the meeting deliverable to the quality of life of the meeting participants. To...

12 Critical Facilitation Do’s and Don’ts to Lead Successful Meetings and Workshops

Our readers and students have clamored for a quick-reference checklist of the most important facilitation Do’s and Don’ts. Therefore, we bring you this brief, yet powerful, set of reminders below...

Critical Questions to Answer with the Business Model Canvas

The Business Model Canvas was created by Alexander Osterwalder, of Strategyzer®. The canvas provides a one-page primer and template for analysis. Questions and points of view are detailed below.[1]...

Three Behaviors Guaranteed to Build Consensus

Feb 18, 2020 | Communication Skills, Facilitation Skills, Leadership Skills, Managing Conflict, Meeting Support

Meetings capture a huge investment of time. Unproductive meetings affect your cash flow, morale, and the potential...

Meeting Methodologist or Meeting Designer? A Rhetorical Shift.

Jan 7, 2020 | Communication Skills, Meeting Agendas, Meeting Structure, Meeting Support, Meeting Tools

Clients frequently contact us about facilitating a meeting or workshop on behalf of an individual or organization. It...

Facilitator Training 101: Four Required Roles Supporting Effective Facilitation

Sep 12, 2019 | Communication Skills, Facilitation Skills, Leadership Skills, Managing Conflict, Meeting Support

We all have skills to perform many roles in life, such as switching quickly between parent and child when attending a...

Three Precise Questions that Improve Group Clarity and Build Consensus

Communication Skills

We have learned during facilitated meetings and workshops, that it's not easy for participants to respond to broad...

Punctuation Precision, Humorously Proven by Eats, Shoots and Leaves

Communication Skills

Eats, Shoots and Leaves Our bias about the importance of rhetorical precision has been discussed and emphasized in...

How to Facilitate Decision-Making Using Pros and Cons

Communication Skills, Decision Making, Facilitation Skills, Managing Conflict, Meeting Tools, Planning Approach, Problem Solving

First, here is the traditional Pros and Cons method according to its creator, Benjamin Franklin: “For pros and cons,...

Empower Your Meeting Participants to Become Better Listeners

Communication Skills

The effective facilitator helps meeting participants become better listeners. Dr. Ralph Nichols, “Father of the Field...

Facilitating Crucial Conversations and the Dialogue Model

Communication Skills

Numerous alumni have asked if we have read Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High, and so we...

Information is Physical — a brief review of James Gleick’s “The Information”

Communication Skills

Information is physical. “To do anything requires energy. To specify what is done requires information.” -Seth Lloyd...

Rhetorical Precision and Clear Communications — Stress Substance Over Style

Communication Skills

Rhetorical precision suggests that words reflect meaning, much like illustrations, symbols, and numbers. Challenging...

Mastering Active Listening: 4 Essential Steps and 10 Tips for Interactive Communication

Communication Skills, Managing Conflict

Active listening is a crucial skill for effective facilitation, coaching, and servant leadership. Highly skilled...

Facilitate Meaning and Intent, Not Words

Communication Skills

One of the toughest tasks of a facilitator is to relinquish judgment and fully seek the intent behind the terms used...

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