Do you ever notice there’s a run on avocados?  Or that every restaurant you visit has guacamole on their menu?  Sometimes life’s like that; a new topic comes along and everyone’s asking for it.  For us that avocado is Resilience Training!  Of late, the phone rings frequently and email inquiries arrive daily asking “how can we improve resilience in the workplace?”.  But why is Resilience so popular now?  Let’s take a look at what’s going on in the world around us and how  its creating a momentum for greater resilience training in the workplace. We’ll explore what’s happening on the national, organizational and individual level, drilling down to the essential undercurrents that are stirring up stress and discontent.  Then we’ll consider what to do about it.

On the national level, recent events in security, politics, and the greater environment have been troubling to many households. Watching the nightly news can expose us to stories of tragedy and destruction that chip away at our core “good feelings”.  Similarly, on the organizational level many government groups are experiencing funding cuts and downsizing.  The remaining employees feel the uncertainty and the overwhelm as they have to take on additional tasks once handled by their former colleagues.  On the individual level, the overall stress takes a toll.  Working parents may be alarmed about finances, crime, and child care all in the context of trying to juggle busy work and home lives.  All in all, it makes for a troubling time for the individual.  Too much stress, too much overload, too much overwhelm.

In the midst of all these factors, Resilience Training is like a beacon of hope. With it’s emphasis on the whole person, strengths and resources, Resilience Training helps employees access tools to remain optimistic, buoyant and upbeat.  Who wouldn’t say more of that please.  So pass the Avocado’s would you, they are good for us.

Does your company have a sales team?  Do they ever struggle to meet their goals?  Want to know a sure fire way to get them engaged and more effective?  Consider a refresher of Powerful Sales Presentations Skills.  While its true that many good sales professionals have taken a presentation training course at some time in their career, a refresher offers a lot of great value.  First there is the teamwork and camaraderie which boost morale; second there is the renewed focus on wording messages to land clearly on the client; third, there is a focus on body language that exudes confidence and success.  At the end of our presentation training sessions, we are continually amazed at the number of sales professionals who tell us “I wish I had taken this training 20 years ago when I started my career!”.  Nonetheless, it’s never too late to boost your sales teams’ ability to pitch their products with greater polish and success.  Ask us about Powerful Sales Presentations Training for your team or take a few minutes to look at some free resources on our RESOURCES page to help you boost your own presentation skills.

This past week has brought a flurry of interest in Interactive keynotes on topics from Resilience to Leadership to Negotiations.  What’s an Interactive Keynote you might ask?  How does it differ from more traditional training sessions?  Is it a lecture or lengthy speech?  These are all great questions that bear exploration.  Over the past decade we have honed our skills delivering interactive training sessions that help transform people and performance. The interactive nature of the sessions, which use learning partners, role-plays, small group activities and large group discussions, is a huge part of our success.  By getting participants interested and engaged in activities that stimulate their heart, soul and mind – our interactive training gets better results than the old-fashioned lecture.  So it goes for our Keynotes too.  Instead of leading a 2 hour keynote in lecture style, our expert speakers incorporate activities and exercises into the agenda thereby engaging audience members in deeper exploration of topics.  This week we’re in Chicago and New York leading interactive keynotes, and our team has worked with groups that range from 25 to 500 in the audience.  So next time you have an important event or transition, consider the benefits of an interactive keynote for your crowd!

Are you expected to give updates and presentations to your Executive Team?  Do you ever feel disappointed with their reaction to your presentation? Want to know how to get a better response and feel good about your presentation experience?  Remember these three simple tips to boost your success when your audience is made up of busy executives.

1. Keep it Brief – Executives have a lot of responsibilities and tasks to complete.  They don’t need extra background information but typically want key points only.  So keep your presentation brief and focus on key messages.
2. Paint a Big Picture – Since your executive audience most likely has staff to implement a new initiative they don’t usually need details but prefer a big picture overview.  Focus on Who, Where, What, When and Why.
3. Focus on Outcomes – Don’t get lost in the weeds of how a process was created, or what happened last time around.  Most executives want to see how a project is tied to concrete outcomes such as outputs, revenue or cost savings.

By keeping these three tips in mind you can craft more powerful presentations that keep your executive audience interested and engaged in your remarks.  Not only will they get their needs met, but you will feel more successful in your public speaking skills. So get started; keep it brief, paint a big picture, and focus on outcomes. Learn more at our sister site www.presentationtraininginstitute.com or look at our Presentation Training solutions on the homepage.

Have you ever worked for a really great manager? What made them a favorite for you? Was it their command of basic management skills, their leadership traits, or their ability to coach you to success?  If you ask our customers you will find that management success is a combination of all three of those elements.  As a result we have created a powerful management training solution, aptly titled Management Success™  which is made up of three core courses:

1. Management Essentials™
2. Leadership Edge™
3. Coaching Skills  For Managers™

Many of our clients like to offer a series of Management Success training sessions; one per quarter, that include both training and coaching for all their managers.  At the end of the sessions, the participants have increased knowledge, skills and attitudes that make them more effective supervisors and managers.  Now that’s what we call Management Success!