A few weeks ago, I did a customized online training session for a group of more than 30 environmental engineers who wanted help better understanding the angry public they were dealing with on one of their cleanup projects, and what to do about it. Now, the guy who set this ...
read more →
Information is the bedrock of engagement, so where, how and why people acquire information and news is enormously important to the work that we do. Half of the adults in the U.S. get at least some of their news from social media, which should scare the pants off of all ...
read more →
From the Words Matter desk comes this strong suggestion to eliminate three specific words from your verbal and written vocabulary. Words matter. A lot. That towering elocutionator and forty-fourth U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle made that point so clearly when he said, “One word sums up probably the responsibility of ...
read more →
Research and empirical evidence suggests that just about everyone agrees that the way we do campaigns and elections in most democracies could do with a serious rethink and overhaul. The trouble is that there’s no real consensus on what and how things should be improved. Some of the best public ...
read more →
One of the public engagement techniques that we explain and discuss in our training classes is the Citizens’ Jury. It was developed back in 1971 in the U.S. but interestingly doesn’t seem to be as embraced in America as much as it is in some other democracies. It’s a ...
read more →
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has been a particular topic of conversation for us in recent months because we’re finally paying it the attention that it’s deserved but hasn’t gotten. More and more of the students and clients that we work with are making it a priority in their communities ...
read more →
As you’re reading this, the fall campaign cycle in the U.S. will be in your rearview mirror, although I’m confident we’ll still be knee deep in the nasty aftermath. This will likely go down as the ugliest, most vitriolic campaign cycle in recent memory and it’s widened the gap further ...
read more →
We know through research and empirical evidence that likeability is a strong, positive factor when it comes to building trust and credibility, communicating effectively, and influencing people. Yet whenever I point this out to clients or students, I’m frequently met with a smirk or casual eye roll which says that, ...
read more →
The pandemic halted face to face meetings, but we adapted and video conferencing became mainstream. Office buildings turned into ghost shells for nearly two years until employers began slowly enticing people out of their bathrobes and back to an agency/business desk, for at least parts of the week. We’re now ...
read more →
For the past several weeks, for a variety of reasons, I just happened to have had the personal opportunity to experience more than my fair share of customer service. I’ve been dealing with phone automation and front line script readers in utilities, health care, real estate, government and an assortment ...
read more →
