The Quantified Communications Blog

When we talk about learning and development, our minds often go straight to the “hard” skills: industry-specific, job-related tasks. And that makes sense—these skills are much easier to standardize, train, and evaluate than the softer skills like communication or teamwork. However, the reality is that these soft skills are critical to professional success, as a recent ManpowerGroup study revealed that 61 percent of American companies rate soft skills as the most desired in new hires. According to ManpowerGroup, these skills are the “Human Strengths” that will future-proof our workforce against automation.

A chief communications officer at a Fortune 100 company recently told me, “Our CEO considers himself to be the chief communicator.” 

Have you ever had the sense that moods are contagious? Have you noticed that one person’s bad mood can bring down a whole group or, the opposite, one member’s excitement can ripple throughout the entire team?

Sometimes when certain speakers give presentations, it might be the case that the speakers use a lot of sort of hedging language, and that might possibly diminish them credibility just a little bit by making them sound kind of tentative.

The reviews of President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union revolved around one word, but it wasn’t a word in the speech. From the fawning praise of Republican message guru Frank Luntz – “The presidential performance that Trump observers have been waiting for” – to the wary acknowledgement of the USA Today editorial board – “’Presidential’ Trump, a one-night wonder?” – the word was “presidential.”

At least once a week, someone asks us about the most common strategic counsel we give our CEO clients. But it’s not quite that simple, because at Quantified Communications our analytics and coaching are personalized for each individual speaker’s goals and strengths.

At Quantified Communications, we can’t emphasize practice enough — no matter how big or small the presentation. Last month, we stepped back from public speaking and went in search of a broader perspective. We wanted to find out how top players in other performance-driven fields approach practice, so we reached out to a pro baseball player, a famous country musician, a TED speaker, and a presidential advisor.

At Quantified Communications, we can’t emphasize practice enough — no matter how big or small the presentation. Last month, we stepped back from public speaking and went in search of a broader perspective. We wanted to find out how top players in other performance-driven fields approach practice, so we reached out to a pro baseball player, a famous country musician, a TED speaker, and a presidential advisor.

Wall Street waited with bated breath for Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s speech at the Kansas City Fed’s annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole this morning.

You’ve probably heard the joke: A guy’s lost in New York and he stops an old musician on the street to ask him how to get to Carnegie Hall. Hardly looking up, the musician replies, “Practice.”