Maybe you have heard you should use stories to bring your content to life, but aren’t sure why or how storytelling adds value. You might even wonder if using stories is worth the risk of looking silly, or worth the time it will take to learn to do it well. Here are some of the compelling reasons why I think it is worthwhile to use stories and storytelling in your presentations.

In coaching managers on how to stop working harder and start working smarter, I introduce them to a tool called a priority audit. It helps in priority management they assess a project-task-assignment, which can be as small as taking an hour or two or as big as something taking a few weeks or months, before …

Time tracking. Invoicing. Success metrics. Key Contacts. Managing a project can become overwhelming quickly. And the tools we use to track these aspects of projects can quickly become too time-consuming. That inclination project managers have to track any critical or risky component requires moderation and thought. As we know, with the addition of every tracker …

When lawyers write the corporate apology Editor’s Note: The following guest article by crisis management pro Tony Jaques is the perfect companion to Jerry Brown’s post, “Skip the Spin,” which you can find on the Bernstein Crisis Management blog. Combined, they present a powerful statement on the dangers that emerge when we indulge the temptation …

Do you manage by walking around? What do you see? People excited about their job or people just going through the motions? When employees care about their work and their company —when they are engaged—they use discretionary effort. This means the engaged computer programmer works overtime when needed, without being asked. This means the engaged …

Recently I watched my husband complete a crossword puzzle. He started with four down because that is where it was easiest for him. Then he focused his efforts on a small section of the puzzle trying to respond to both the across and down clues until he got stuck. After awhile he moved to another …

If I was a fly on the wall what would I hear your employees say? Would it something like this? “He won’t allow me to make even the simplest decisions. She has to sign off on everything. It’s hard to do my job because there’s too much red tape.” Is it possible your staff is …

Do you have career ambitions but you’re not sure how to achieve them? Are you feeling stuck, unsatisfied in your present job? Or you just want to get a better sense of where your next career move should be? Then it’s time for a career check-up. One easy way to do this to get away …

Sick worker triggers health alert for salad bar [Editor’s note: We’re pleased to bring you another guest article from crisis consultant and frequent contributor Tony Jaques] When hepatitis A was discovered in a worker at Sydney fresh salad bar SumoSalad, the company initially did some things well, but they also made some crucial errors in …

We all have different ways to train using customer service programs. Some would say some of us remain in the dark ages, but you also might argue that not all that’s old-fashioned is bad. We often buy things because they are antique or retro. It may make the untested or lightly tested technology of the …