I’m not much into New Year’s Resolutions [goals, yes], but one thing I do know is this.
I’m hopelessly devoted to serving you and raising the caliber of our work through improved communication/thinking skills next year again.
I’ve been listening closely, all year long, and the #1 challenge that you’ve shared with me is getting your point across to the right people within the organization without losing your sanity in the process.
And….a lot of you are highly annoyed by rambling presentations not adapted to the audience, long emails without structure, unanswered messages of all types, negative comments … and don’t get me started on meetings! But more than irritation because time and other resources are being wasted, poor communication sucks out the life force of a person.
Excellent communication is consistently adapting messages and personally connecting to your different audiences. That’s what inspires and motivates people to change their minds and take action. It isn’t easy.
That’s why I’m declaring 2016 to be the Year of Conversation Imagination.
I was inspired by….” Logic will take you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” AlbertEinstein
And “To find common ground, ask questions that spark the imagination.” Nicholas Boothman
And “Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and the strength, use it to create.” Maria Montessori
That’s right. I’m on a one-woman mission to help you have more imaginative [and intelligent!] conversations.
Conversations that serve their purpose and don’t take all day. Conversations that influence, impact people. A presentation is just a special kind of conversation; a meeting is a group conversation. Great ones never happen without imagination.
Innovation does not happen at any level, without imagination.
Here’s some of the hot stuff that you can expect from the Mixonian in 2016:
• Engagement that Matters became Engage Any Audience and continues to be our outstanding signature workshop. I’ve edited and updated it for 2016 to be better than ever! Email me at laura@mixonian.com with “engage” in the subject line and I’ll send you description of this advanced presentation skills content.
• What everybody has been asking for since 2009 is [insert drumroll] … a book. After piddling around with it, I’m now committed and engaged and quite in the middle of it. It’s a communication handbook for work, with chapters and exercises on attitude, building relationships, presentations, pro-active problem solving, email, meetings and global work teams.
I may be reaching out to you for interviews so be prepared to say “Yes, I’d love to talk to you about that!”
• You may have noticed that since October you’re getting the newsletter every other week now and that will continue. Each issue is designed to encourage you to think creatively and critically about how you use words, listen, speak up and interpret things.
These skills enable you to communicate with excellence, thus engaging your audiences at a deeper level and getting results. My goal is to make it entertaining and not sound all college professor-like about it. If you want me to write on a specific topic, please email that to me!
• In addition to the hot stuff I’ve just mentioned? You can also expect lots of fun, helpful surprises from me in 2016. Kinda like… THIS.” (It’s 25 [Sparkling] Holiday Conversation Starters, like Table Topics, only better.) A conversation is an invitation to connect and there’s no need to be stuck in a boring, no-exit conversation.
• And … a bonus resource for you that I think you’ll like. It’s called Unroll.me and it instantly [like magic]compiles a list of every newsletter that you are subscribed to (you won’t believe how many!) and then you can “bulk-unsubscribe” from dozens of lists that you no longer want to be on… in just a few clicks.
That is my hot list.
I’d love to know YOUR big plans for 2016. Write back and tell me what you’re up to.
But wait, there’s more! Dan Furlong of PMOne and I are offering Leader Communication for Project Managers in Charleston on January 29, 2016. Click HERE for more info and I hope to see you then. Spread the word!
In 2016 I am totally excited about creating those winning presentations and intelligent conversations through Conversation Imagination!
Can’t wait to rock & roll with you.
