Have you ever been stuck in a conversation that was going nowhere? Feeling helpless, what could you do to avoid the dead-end direction? Unfortunately, this happens frequently to us both inside and outside work. This week, I outline three U-turn tactics

In meetings, its easy to run out of time. Participants rarely allocate sufficient time to summarize whats been discussed and assign action items with any time to spare. In this episode, I provide a few practical ways for meeting leaders to think and act

When Amazon infamously ditched PowerPoints in meetings and opted to use a six-page written narrative format, many professionals took notice of their bold move. However, very few followed their lead. A

What happens when managers have too many people and priorities to handle? A recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted a growing concern when organizations are trying to get much more from a thinn

Polished leaders all master these three areas. They can frame their role powerfully, share courses of action convincingly, and summarize complexity consistently. In this episode, I provide very practi

We can speak very different languages, from finance, tech and science to logistics, legal and engineering. What are some simple ways to increase your awareness and avoid common tendencies to talk past

Whats the return on investment (ROI) if your organization is filled with clear communicators? In a recent conversation with a business consultant, I was challenged to measure it mainly in time savings. In my experience, however, thats the easy answer. T

As new leaders step into new roles, many of them fail to help their subordinates understand the best way to communicate with them. Rather, they let vague assertions, false assumptions and ongoing tria

If you want to become a clear and concise communicator, getting your extended team to commit would go a long way. After more than a decade of teaching our BRIEF system, we have introduced an annual su

According to Shark Tanks and entrepreneur Kevin OLeary, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk had incredibly high signal-to-noise ratios. In other words, they could maintain high levels of clarity without succumbing to distractions, disruptions or low-level chatte