Recently my wife sent me a text that said, “You’ve ruined me.” In the pantheon of spousal communication, this didn’t seem great at first glance. However, as I came to discover, it was intended as a compliment. In fact, it’s … Read More →

“I’m not sure what to do with my hands,” confesses Will Ferrell as the titular character in the NASCAR parody Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, as he awkwardly moves his hands during a TV interview. These words ring … Read More →

Earlier in the year, I had the honor of keynoting the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet in my hometown of Coralville, Iowa. While I speak at conferences and corporate events throughout the world, I don’t do a … Read More →

TED talks are amazing. At a time when our communication is increasingly digital, it’s a spoken word format that’s sort of a throwback to the classic oral tradition when we gathered around the campfire to listen and share stories. The … Read More →

Stories are transformative. They’re powerful tools for accomplishing our objectives. Studies have shown that stories are more memorable than bullet points in communicating ideas. However, a story in the wrong hands can be a dangerous thing. In fact, there’s another … Read More →

As a communication instructor at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business, I look at a lot of writing. Recently, while grading an executive summary assignment (students were asked to summarize an article for a fictitious superior) a couple … Read More →

This past year, I began teaching MBA business communication at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business. The focus of the curriculum is writing and presenting. This skillset is unique in that employers consistently cite it as important while … Read More →

It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. How often have you heard that classic turn of the phrase? When it comes to public speaking and presentation, “how you say it” introduces several factors like vocal tone and … Read More →

Communication is an in-demand skill set. It consistently tops lists from employers of skills they desire most in new hires. Ironically, it also tops lists from graduating MBAs of skills they wish they’d had more of in business school. Recently, … Read More →

We all want to communicate better. Yet we often fail to answer three simple questions that could help even the most basic presentation.