The Quantified Communications Blog

We’ve all heard the warning (probably more than once) that we only get one chance to make a first impression. Here at Quantified, where we’re obsessed with helping leaders and speakers improve their audience impact, we take that warning very seriously, and we know that not only do you have just one shot at a first impression, but you have very little time to make it.

We know communication is critical for a business’s operations, reputation, and bottom line. We’ve know communication takes up more of our working hours than any other activity, and we know the cost of poor communication can be devastating to an organization’s bottom line. So it was no surprise that the GMAC Corporate Recruiter Survey found communication to be the most important skill recruiters look for in new hires. In fact, four of the five top skills were communication related, including oral and written communication, listening, and presentation skills.

Each year there are technologies that define us--as humans, as students, as professionals, and in culture. We pay especially close attention to the technologies that change the way we live, engage, and interact. And that’s what we focus in on each January when our team of communication experts, technical creators, and data scientists scour the technical landscape to discover what's next. 

Think about the last presentation you gave, whether it was to your employees, your investors, or your customers. What was your goal? What did you want your audience to understand at the end of your talk? More importantly, what did you want them to do as a result of listening to you?

Everywhere you look in the weeks leading up to and following New Year’s Eve, people are making predictions for the year to come. Economic forecasts, political projections, pop culture forecasts. You name it, we’re predicting it.

Here at Quantified, we love to share our thoughts and engage in conversations about leadership, communication, and the effect artificial intelligence is having on both. And we also believe in looking to the data for answers.

So as we wrap 2018, we thought we’d look back to to see which topics are most captivating for you, according to the data.

More and more in our evolving economy, we hear that employers are struggling to find applicants with the critical job skills they’re looking for (chief among them being communication), and that struggle has led to calls for higher education institutions to shift their focus from a broad liberal arts education to a more concrete, skills-based curriculum.

How to Prepare to Speak on a Panel 

So you’ve been asked to speak on a panel, or you’re throwing your hat into the ring to sit on one at a local conference? Panel presentations are a great way to build your reputation as a thought leader and an expert in your field. And, at least on the surface, participating in a panel feels like an easier prospect than giving a solo presentation. 

It’s the holiday season, and that means all our favorite holiday traditions are coming back around—family visits, giant dinners, a few snow flurries, and, of course, a blizzard of looks back at 2018.

Hi, my name is Noah. I’m the CEO of Quantified Communications, and I’m here to talk to you about—