Wavelength Updates Archives | Page 2 of 3

How to Use Geometric Psychology to Influence People

On August 14, 2017 / Career Coaching, Wavelength Updates

by Lucille Lo Sapio

How often has your boss, colleague or client reacted poorly to your work output or ideas because you just didn’t understand their perspective? Imagine how much better communication would be if you could know their personality type and how to best influence them. You might just get a better understanding of how they see the world, and from that, how you can work better together.

You’ve probably taken a psychological test or two to determine your own personality type. We’ve been doing that since Hippocrates’ time. One of my favorites is Psychogeometrics, developed in 1978 by Dr. Susan Dellinger. It’s based on the notion that we are attracted to certain shapes and forms based on our personalities, attitudes, education and experience. And once you determine which of those personality types you’re dealing with, the better equipped you are to communicate effectively. Read more →

Managers: How to Help Make the Learning Stick

On August 10, 2017 / Career Coaching, Learning Retention, Wavelength Updates, Writing Skills

by Rachel Eidan

Acquiring new skills, tools and processes happens in the classroom, but making sure that learning is retained depends on changing habits back on the job. And it’s tough to change. Learners are more likely to successfully improve their skills long term when they have a manager who provides the right kind of support. Here are some ways managers can help:

Ask for a one-minute essay describing the main points learned in the course as soon as possible following its completion. Learning retention is time-sensitive, so be sure you ask for this promptly. Writing helps consolidate key points and clarify the learning. Learners should post a printout of this somewhere for a few days and give it a quick re-read whenever they have a moment. Read more →

How to Create Perfect Documents Every Time

On August 1, 2017 / Email Writing, Wavelength Updates, Writing Skills

by Jody Bruner

No matter how good you are at what you do, documents with grammar mistakes will erode your corporate and personal credibility.

Proofreading is challenging for a couple of reasons. First, the mind tends to substitute correct words, “seeing” what was intended or what should be there instead of what is actually there. This tendency accounts for errors such as “She’s form Britain.”

Second, most of us tend to read far too quickly to spot all errors on a line of text. When we read at a normal pace, we fixate on a line of text in three or four places. We can only really see about six characters with each fixation, and everything else is picked up with our peripheral vision, which gets less and less accurate the further it is from the center. Read more →

Email Writing Tips That Save Time

On May 23, 2017 / Email Writing, Wavelength Updates, Writing Skills

by Leigh Geraghty

Email is arguably the biggest success story of the Internet, and it’s no wonder! Consider its many benefits: email is fast, easy to use, convenient and inexpensive. However, all this convenience can backfire on us if we end up spending too much time writing, reading and managing emails.

Here are some writing tips that will save time for both you and your readers:

Tips for Learning Homophones

On May 4, 2017 / Wavelength Updates, Writing Skills

by Jody Bruner

Lots of good writers have difficulty with homophones—words that sound alike, but have different meanings and spelling. Hear and here is one example—there are lots more.

Spelling and grammar checkers have come a long way but are still fallible, especially when it comes to homophones. The  Spell Checker poem, which has been circulating since 1991, illustrates how a spell checker can be fooled. Go ahead and give it a try, your spell checker will only pick up two or three errors. Here are the first three stanzas: Read more →

We need to talk. Love, your webcam

On March 2, 2017 / Meeting Skills, Presentation Skills, Wavelength Updates

by Amanda Bergen

In this digital age, video is king. It promises a more engaged audience and faster, more effective delivery of your message. But are you and your team making the best use of video capabilities when you turn on your webcams? Surveys and statistics show that most employees are allergic to their webcams, but if they use video conferencing effectively when communicating virtually, they can increase engagement, build trust, and speed up decision making. It’s not enough to know how to turn the webcam on—you also need to develop a new skill set to present yourself, and your ideas, in the best possible way. After all, if it came naturally we would all be vying for the anchor desk on Good Morning America.

How Yoga Can Improve Your Presentation Skills

On February 8, 2017 / Presentation Skills, Wavelength Updates

By Lesley Nevills

Yoga can help you polish your presentation skills. If you practice yoga, you probably know that the lessons you learn on the mat can enrich your everyday life. They can help you learn and improve other skills, such as giving presentations. Here is some yoga wisdom to help you still your mind and body so you can present with confidence, ease and intention.
Read more →

4 Tips for Job Interview Success

On January 24, 2017 / Career Coaching, Presentation Skills, Wavelength Updates

by Alan De Back

With the start of the new year, many people decide that the time is right for a job change. Because the market is so crowded with job seekers, you need to distinguish yourself from the competition during the interview process. Additionally, you’ll need to work out how will you use all the skills in your communication toolbox. These skills in the interview should be carried across and built upon as you go through your job and attempt to succeed. Climbing the corporate ladder can be difficult but implementing skills and techniques from day one, beginning with the interview, may enhance your chances of promotion and success. Here are four job interview tips that will give you an edge.

Why Every Organization Needs a Data Visualization Plan

On January 19, 2017 / Wavelength Updates

Our friends over at Litcom are doing some interesting work, helping their clients get the most out of their data. If you feel your organization could take advantage of a tool that helps you present decision makers with simple visualizations showing the relationships among data from different systems, please share this blog with your colleagues in Marketing or Information Technology (IT).

by guest blogger Steve Litwin from Litcom

It’s no secret that data is one of today’s most valuable business assets, and organizations collect a seemingly infinite amount of it. The challenge, however, is that much of that information remains isolated in individual systems: your sales and marketing data resides in your CRM (customer relationship management system), your ERP (enterprise resource planning system) tracks your supply chain and inventory, your financial system tracks the flow of money and creates statements. With this kind of partitioning, it’s tough to put data to work and find meaningful trends across systems to help management make the best decisions. Thankfully, we have a customer data platform that may be able to give us the analytics we need for our business.

Crafting a Helpful Out of Office Message

On December 19, 2016 / Email Writing, Wavelength Updates, Writing Skills

by Jody Bruner

The holiday season is about to begin, and we will all soon be enjoying some vacation time. But with the exception of statutory holidays, business carries on, and your business associates need to know if and when you’re available. In our Email Writing Essentials workshop, we teach you how to use your out-of-office notification effectively to communicate your absence any time you’re away. Read more →

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