Communication Techniques

Plan of Action to Improve Negotiation and Communication Skills

In order to improve your negotiation and communication skills, you need to decide to make the change in the first place. Being called upon to make...

Communication Techniques

Communication at Work: Treating Employees like Humans

Most people can relate to the proverbial “mean boss,” because unfortunately, we’ve all dealt with someone like this during our career. And it’s not...

Communication Techniques

What's the Difference Between Active Communication and Active Listening?

In negotiation training, the terms “active communication” and “active listening” get thrown around often. While these two terms share commonalities,...

Communication Techniques

Communication at Work: Why Hearing "No" Should Be Your Goal

Many of the negotiation techniques we teach at Black Swan Group are part of a “no” strategy. We discuss ways to make “no” work for you in a...

Communication Techniques

Communication at Work: Are You Being Too Nice at the Negotiation Table?

When we’re faced with a difficult negotiation, many of us make the mistake of thinking that niceness will help us get what we want. To make ourselves...

Communication Techniques

Communication at Work: How to Nail Your Elevator Pitch

I’ll be honest—I’m not a fan of the elevator pitch. The idea of preparing a 30-second sales speech in which you explain your idea or solution and why...

Communication Techniques

5 Effective Communication Techniques for Managing People

There’s no shortage of bad managers in the world. Most of them aren’t inherently evil people—they’re simply poor communicators. Being an effective...

Communication Techniques

4 Ways To Improve Your Team's Communication

There’s a difference between negotiating at the same time and negotiating as a team. If you’re laser-focused on getting your turn to speak and...

Communication Techniques

Communication Skills: Hang a Label™ on It

Labeling™ is a communication skill that enables us to identify the dynamics, emotions, and circumstances implied or verbalized by our counterpart.

Communication Techniques

Communication at Work: How to Negotiate A Higher Salary

What happens when you trigger “That’s right” several times in a salary negotiation? How about getting a salary offer 41% higher than you expected?...

Communication Techniques

Communication Skills: How To Get Buy-in Starting With “No”

Think of this as “You had me at ‘no’” meets “think like Elon Musk.”

Communication Techniques

Are You Underperforming As A Listener?

Most people who think they are good listeners underperform. There is some research that suggests they do so by as much as 60%. This overconfidence...