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Prepare With Dark Sites

A simple way to defend against crisis Dark sites have been around almost as long as the public Web, but their importance has never been more clear than in today’s “instant response” climate. In post on his blog, Blogging Me, Blogging You, social media pro Ed Lee explained why you need to develop dark sites …

Can You See Me Now? How to Speak When Your Audience Is Remote

How many meetings do you attend, or facilitate, in which you are speaking over the telephone or over the internet? I imagine quite a few. It can be a little unnerving, or it can be a highly engaging experience. Here are some tips to making the most of these virtual presentations: Remember your voice trumps …

A Day in the Life – Hybrid Education

Today, I start my first day as a professor of public speaking in a hybrid teaching environment. Oh, I’m not new to teaching–just the environment. Granted, it’s been awhile. It is both an exciting and daunting task. I won’t mention any names because it really doesn’t matter what institution it is; they are all relatively …

5 Essential Books for Strategic Thinkers

Good Strategy Bad Strategy This fresh approach to strategic thinking begins with tales of battles at sea in the days of Napoleon and continues to explain what kinds of strategies have made the difference for modern companies like Apple, Wal-Mart, Cisco, Starbucks and Wells Fargo. Author Richard Rumelt shows that many recent high profile failures …

FaceBooking Your Organization

The Usability of FaceBook “My organization’s website is static and boring, frankly. Our FaceBook page is updated all the time and very popular.” The Executive Director of a local nonprofit told me that. This local humane society has 1,214 friends on FaceBook. That’s 3.3% of the rural population of the county it serves! That’s equivalent …

Get Press! (Part Two of Two)

Although there’s no way that one simple formula could work for everyone, getting great PR is not out of reach, even with a tight budget and no training.

The Practical Side of Learning: the Human Factor

It is assumed that once we have delivered the information to our students and trainees that they are ready to put them to use. Are students and trainees learning what we want them to and applying that learning when they should? The answer is a resounding, “No!” I was astounded a few years ago when …

Building a Winning Team

Winning teams aren’t created by accident. Rather, the team leaders or manager functions like a coach who recognizes special talents in people and gets them to work together toward a common goal. The following three steps will help you build a winning team and set it in the right direction. 1. Select the right team …

Why Use a Facilitator?

For many, meetings are viewed as a dreaded evil to be avoided at all costs: far too little gets accomplished, much of the discussion is unfocused and unproductive, and a lot of time is wasted. If you lead important group meetings, you know how difficult it can be to get a group engaged right from …

Why You Need a Plan: 5 Good Reasons

Developing strategy takes time and resources. It requires the time and commitment of some of the most highly paid and highly experienced people in your organization. So, if your team isn’t willing to invest what is needed, I recommend that you don’t do it. Poor planning is often worse than no planning at all. So, …