Communication Coach Blog
Hello fellow Communication Enthusiasts! I put together a mini-masterclass of the key communication skills for (new) managers on a new site (https://3vcoachric.com/) that I teach in my standard coaching program, so that anyone can have access to these tips. It is all on video, and comes with some bonuses too (like a free ebook). The first 2 parts are free, so you can watch over 15 minutes of precise communication tips when ready! If you want to carry on, then you can pay a small fee to get access to the rest of the course. Either way, take a peek at the promo video above, and if you’re interested, hit the website and get access to the first two parts now. Why wait? Your career won’t. 🙂 Thanks for your interest and do let me know what you think of the course.
Well what a nice surprise! I’m excited and honoured to be included in the prestigious Global Gurus Top 30 2022 under the category of Communication Professional, ranked #13. Strict criteria for selection includes being a published author, sharing original thought leadership pieces, and the public vote. I’ve been at this since 2006, and I am happy to receive this recognition. Thank you very much to all of my mentors, readers, clients and supporters. You are the best. 🙂
It’s been a couple of years since I updated this blog. Why you ask? Well I could say that I was busy blogging on two other websites of companies I’m involved with, which isn’t a lie, but a sentence closer to the true reason for my absence was that I had technical issues with this blog, and couldn’t get it to work for a long time!
I am not a techie, though as an entrepreneur and small business owner, I needed to learn a lot of computing skills, especially early on while on a shoestring budget. However I was thrown for a loop when a couple of years ago I tried to update this WordPress blog to a new, better PHP, and I must have chosen the wrong one in a list of several, and suddenly, I couldn’t create new posts! What was worse, the old posts wouldn’t appear either. I just had one page with a few posts visible, and their hyperlinks to the full articles were not functioning. Good grief!
I couldn’t figure out how to solve it (i.e. how to ‘unplug and reboot’, which solves at least 50% of ALL tech issues!) and for whatever reason I didn’t hire/bug someone else to look into it. My intuition was that after a couple normal updates, it would sort itself out. And it did. TWO YEARS LATER.
The lesson is clear – don’t wait so long to fix a blog issue and don’t expect it to sort itself out without help.
In the meantime I upgraded my business website 3V Communications, and implemented a new logo too. It’s different from the one you can see in the upper right corner of this website, right? (Because I don’t know how to switch them out!)
I am still Canada’s first Communication Coach, and I love having this website active. I still get a lot of traffic from this site, and now that the many blog posts are again active, I hope Google will once again crawl through them and others can find useful content dealing with all things interpersonal and professional communication skills.
Now I have to start adding more content – starting with this new blog post. I hope you have enjoyed reading, and I know many of you can relate to the tribulations of being Tech Support for a small biz, when you don’t have a tech support background. It’s all part of the learning and growing experience, and truth be told, I love it. 🙂
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays from 3V Communications! This holiday time is a perfect time to practice great verbal communications by wishing others season’s greetings, and also practice your non-verbal communication by hugging those you love! 🙂
Together let’s make 2018 a positively successful New Year!
I have been invited to speak at both TESL Canada and TESL Ontario on the topic of Business English Fundamentals, and how to teach them in the classroom or at the office. Assessments are a key player in communication coaching and corporate training success. Simply speaking, the formula is “Assessment = Training Program = ROI measurement.” When choosing or designing your assessment, please consider the needs of the person/organization that hired you. Ensure the assessment is Client AND/OR company needs-based, as sometimes you need to cover both needs in one assessment tool. What does “writing” mean to them? Or ‘speaking’ or ‘communication’? We need to be clear and specific in the assessment so it’s accurate and effective!
Here is a partial sample of a 3V ECA, previously used in our corporate training programs:
Part One: Grammar – identify the spelling, grammar and/or punctuation mistake(s) and correct them (ten sentences)
1. I have study English for 7 years now, so far.
2. You need to working on your accent man. Its thick!
3. Did you know that the cats can see in the dark? A animal like that is great!
4. I board a plane last night at 3 in the a.m. And so, now, I’m so tired.
5. What is your area of expertize? Can you help me with this calculations?
Part Two: Everyday Idioms – what do these expressions mean? Please write short definitions. (fifteen)
1. The real McCoy
2. The cat’s out of the bag
3. We’re up the creek
4. He works like a dog
5. Bookworm
Part Three: Humour – explain why these jokes are funny. Short answers please. (three)
1. A horse walks into a bar. The bartender asks “why the long face?”
Part Four: Short story – Please write a short story explaining in detail what you do at work, and how communication plays a role. Minimum 3 paragraphs.
Part Five: Interview – short Q & A to evaluate comprehension, pronunciation, conciseness etc.
If you have any questions about designing or using assessments in your training, or if you are part of an organization that would benefit from communication skills assessments, do not hesitate to contact me! 🙂
The importance of interpersonal skills in today’s tech-world cannot be underrated or undervalued, and that’s why I focused my recent TED Talk on them. Please take a moment to view and learn about “The Long Life of First Impressions”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuG-BHquAHU
If you like it, please ‘like’ it and share to your social networks, or directly on YouTube. Let’s spread the idea! Much appreciated!
Are you interested in becoming a Certified Communication Coach?
Coaching in general is an exploding industry, and the interest in communication coaching itself has tripled in the last few years. There are organizations that can certify you as a life coach, NLP coach, business coach etc. but currently there are not many, or no organizations that can certify you as a Communication Coach, except the one that started it – 3V Communications. If you think you have the background and interest in being certified as a Communication Coach by 3V Communications we do provide that service.
You will need to train under our system, learn our courses and philosophies etc. and be assessed. At the end of training you will be certified and have a ton of material and knowledge that you can use to either work with us or completely independent of us. The choice is yours.
What is a Communication Coach?
There are different definitions according to different coaching organizations, independent coaches and their backgrounds. Some coaches focus on writing, or public speaking, or corporate training, etc. Some attempt to do all. At the end of training you can decide how general or specific you want to be when advertising services. It is always best to specialize on the area or a few areas that you excel in.
Our Philosophy:
We believe in the “hybrid coaching”™ model. It combines current, effective coaching models, self-discovery and core competencies taken from Life and Business coaching, and we also incorporate more traditional coaching and training methodology to provide information and instruction as well. Our overall philosophy is to improve communications on a holistic, complete level, examining the verbal, the vocal and the visual aspects of communication, what we call “the 3 Vs of communication”™.
Currently there are two choices for obtaining certification:
A) 100% at-home self-study course, with some support coaching from a Mentor Coach (ideal for those already coaching or who have previous related certification/training)
B) Study for your certification with the constant support of a Mentor Coach (ideal for beginners who want more hands-on guidance in building their practice)
3V Communications Ltd. is an international training company recognized today as one of the leading authorities on Communication Coaching.
3V approved courses have met the strict guidelines for effective coach training, business development, ethics, and professional conduct as per the NCCA – the National Communication Coaching Association of Canada, and as such this 3V Communication Coach certification course is fully accredited by the NCCA.
If interested kindly contact 3V Communications for more information on curriculum cost, benefits of certification and benefits of NCCA designation, or leave a comment here, or email Ric directly. We will send you a detailed brochure. Please note this certification course is open to anyone residing and/or working anywhere in the world, and is not limited to Canada.
Here is the updated link to the course on the new 3V Communications website:
https://3vcommunications.ca/content/communication-coach-certification
Thank you!
Agreeing on a Coaching Plan
It can be difficult to find the perfect coach for you when you’ve never done it before. There are many types of coaches, with various backgrounds and different areas of specialization. Here are some quick tips to get you started on the right foot:
1 – self-assess your needs first. Be as specific as possible on current challenges, and goals you need to accomplish in order to feel improvement was made. Don’t just rely on a company’s assessment tools. They may not have them, or they may be general. Compare your assessment with theirs!
2 – Google search for a coach or training company using the specific area targeted for improvement, like ‘communication coach’, ‘presentation coach’, ‘executive management coach’, ‘confidence coach’ etc. See what comes up on the first page and then explore their sites/profiles/articles. Go deep, beyond the company/coach website. This is important.
3 – You can choose a company that has a good reputation for providing training but ultimately you will still need to choose an individual coach. When the company recommends a certain coach for your program, ask for a bio document or their LinkedIn profile so you can see what type of person they are recommending for you. Next arrange a free consultation with the coach (20 minute phone/Skype call or a longer in-person meeting) to see if there is a ‘fit’ in both comfort and strategy to solve your challenges.
4 – Ensure you and the coach/coaching company have agreed on the top priorities to focus the coaching on, and then get it in writing. Companies should have some kind of proposal or coaching agreement they can send to you that outlines the coaching focus, program/curriculum specifics, price, location and other policies to be aware of.
5 – Give it a go! A coach is a partner, not a teacher. They will help you achieve your goals if you put in equal effort. If for some reason the coaching is not working out, check your coaching agreement to see if you can modify the program or even switch coaches. After all, if you are not energized and happy, it will be very difficult to face your challenges and move beyond them.
Good luck!