September 6, 2023

Onomatopoeia is Not a City in Wisconsin

BACK The Vehicle of Enunciation By: Michael Chad Hoeppner Published: September 6th, 2023 Happy End of Summer! At GK Training we took a bit of a […]
June 15, 2023

Wanna Talk Good-er? Write Less

BACK Out-Loud Drafting By: Michael Chad Hoeppner Published: June 15th, 2023 Typically for Good Talk I write about a story in the news or a theme in […]
March 28, 2023

We, Robot: What ChatGPT Means (and Doesn’t) for Communication

The rapid advent of generative AI has lots of professionals pondering what it means for the future of work. Here what we think will—and will NOT—change about human communication.
March 9, 2023

Vocal Fry: A Deep Dive

The NY Times ran a fascinating article recently: apparently, whales and dolphins use vocal fry! In humans, that particular behavior is the source of lots of reductive, overly general feedback. Let's unpack that.
October 10, 2022

Pantheon of Communication Greats

As the old adage goes, “Good artists borrow, great artists steal.” In this instance, you are the communication artist stealing from the masters. What you will notice is that all of these great communicators have some similarities: mastery of vocal variety, incredible transparency, imagery, humor, and more.
September 23, 2022

Good Talk: September 15th, 2022 Briefing

Like everything else they touch in our modern lives, phones have changed our relationship to photos. And though I spend most of my time focused on helping people communicate more effectively with words, my phone pickpocket experience made me reflect on how we communicate with images. If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words are they worth if no one ever looks at them?
August 28, 2022

I Am a Camera

Cameras and voice recorders are some of the most valuable tools you have in your arsenal when looking to improve your communication skills: they capture all the metrics you need to improve, they’re offer the most objective perspective, and they can provide a look-back to see how much growth has been achieved.
August 4, 2022

Good Talk: August 4th, 2022 Briefing

If you scan your newsfeed or social platforms for more than a moment, you’ll find story after story about frayed attention spans, exhausted work forces, and overwhelmed professionals. Newly invented terms like zoom fatigue and doom scrolling (along with seemingly evergreen ones like burn out) paint a picture of a society of stressed-out zombies who haven’t exercised or eaten well in ages, and who have the attention span of a goldfish.
December 1, 2021

Communication Skills Lessons from the Open Road

Here we are, almost two years into a global pandemic, and we continue to operate in a limited and limiting space, fitting our personal and professional communication skills into small virtual spaces. We were already well on our way to communicating virtually pre-pandemic: a text or an email instead of a phone call; hopping on Microsoft Teams for a company check-in instead of an in-person meeting; unending conference calls.