by Jody Bruner One of the challenges of communication skills training – or any training for that matter – is engaging participants with techniques and strategies that lead to tangible, positive change. In other words, training that sticks. Training that reaches even the most recalcitrant learners. Wavelength’s unique approach does exactly that.  We bring the real world into our writing, presentation, and meeting facilitation courses so skills are seamlessly transferred from workshop to workplace. Participants immediately apply their newly acquired skills and receive helpful feedback duri ..read more

by Jody Bruner Each of the words below is either negative or overly formal. They’re easy to eliminate, and doing so will give your final document a warmer, more upbeat tone. 1. Assist In nearly every case, the word ‘help’ can be substituted. Of the two words, help strikes a more emotional chord. Also, it is the warmer, more conversational choice. 2. But While it has its important uses, this word is quite negative, because everything that comes before it is negated, as in “You’ve done a great job on this project, but….” Try using ‘and’ instead. 3. Effort As in, “Please make an effort to clean ..read more

by Jody Bruner Sustain your focus on your customer throughout your writing by expressing the details of your message from the reader’s point of view. Try using the pronoun ‘you’ as much as you can. Don’t avoid ‘I’ or ‘we.’ Just remember to include ‘you’ as much as you can. Writer-centered: We provide technical support for our clients. Reader-centered: Your learners will get as much technical support as they need to ensure a smooth and effective transfer of learning. Writer-centered: As we work with clients to design job aids and training, we often discover the best solutions start with improvi ..read more

by Jody Bruner It’s easy to fall into the trap of talking about the features of what you’re pitching. But readers don’t care about features; they only care about benefits. Speaking the language of benefits means you show the reader explicitly how their life will be better with your solution. Here are two great strategies for making sure you speak the language of benefits. Has/does/means. This works to force you to express what a feature means to your reader. For example, you can promise they will learn how to understand their customer’s needs, but this will only be meaningful to them if you e ..read more

by Jody Bruner I recently received an email with this alarming subject line from my health club: IMPORTANT MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENT It jumped out from my inbox and I opened it immediately. I felt myself tighten as I read the first few words: To all Healthclub Members, We regret to inform you that… OMG, did someone die? Is the club closing? Moving? Are the rates going up? No, apparently someone is leaving. …effective as of April 29, 2021, Jennifer Jones is no longer with the Healthclub team at our Viewpoint location. Jennifer has been a valued leader with a strong legacy at Healthclub Clubs, fo ..read more

by Linda Dunlop  Hitting the glass ceiling, climbing the corporate ladder, addressing the elephant in the room. I never thought much about idioms until I started teaching Business English to international students. The puzzled looks on my students’ faces said it all: What is an elephant doing in the office and why are you speaking to it? My work as an ESL teacher and Wavelength facilitator has opened my eyes to the challenges many workers face when their first language is not English. Business documents that are packed with culturally specific idioms and jargon can be confusing—to both ou ..read more

by Linda Dunlop Can introverts ace presentations? You bet we can! Case in point: Susan Cain, author of the runaway bestseller Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking. As a studious introvert, Cain spent seven years in her element, quietly working on her book. Then came the hard part—selling her ideas to audiences. How did this soft-spoken thinker step onto the stage and deliver one of the most popular TED Talks of all time? She stepped out of her comfort zone, brushed up her public speaking skills and dove in. I’ve seen countless presentations through my work as a jou ..read more

by Linda Dunlop You’ve just spent the day in back-to-back virtual meetings troubleshooting next steps on an important project. It’s all in a day’s work, right? But by evening, you find yourself stretched out horizontally on the couch, drained of all energy. Sound familiar? It’s called Zoom fatigue, named after the videoconferencing platform that’s recently exploded in popularity. Experts say this exhaustion is pretty common. While virtual collaboration tools such as Zoom, Webex and Microsoft Teams have become our new go-to way to connect, the hours and hours of onscreen face time are taking a ..read more

by Jody Bruner For many of us, working from home means more email than ever. I find the more emails I write and send, the more opportunities to get myself in trouble by being impatient and overly hasty. These two hacks help me slow myself down, so I’m not sending emails too quickly or at inappropriate times.    Create a Defer Send rule in MS Outlook (Office 365)  I send emails too quickly in my haste to knock them off my to-do list. Many times I’ve wished I could recall or edit an email just after it’s been sent. So my genius tech guy ..read more

by Jody Bruner Even if you seem to spend all day reading and writing emails, you probably only write six distinct kinds of messages. Here are some tips for helping you be more effective when writing them. 1. RequestingMake sure your tone is appropriate for your reader. Consider your relationship: are you asking for something from a friend, your boss or your direct report? Every relationship will require a different tone. Always be polite and follow up gently. It’s best to ask for one thing, or several things related to that one thing, in each message. Keep your focus clear. If you are request ..read more