Story Ideas for Reporters—Communication and Productivity Topics

• What do employers mean when they tell you to “take initiative”?
• Is email a boon or bane to productivity?
• Communication mishaps that can make you meatloaf
• Grammar goofs that “downgrade” your career
• Presentation visuals that support rather than sabotage
• Creating executive presence
• What makes meetings matter?
• Making impact in a meeting
• Coming to consensus—what helps and what hinders?
• Why we don’t listen to each other—and the payoff if we did!
• Resolving conflict without punching someone out
• What happens when you whine at work?
• How to change things at work without whining
• What traits make a star employee?
• Six test questions to find your calling in life
• How do you know if you’ve found the ideal job?
• What basketball says about success strategies on the job
• Selling across gender lines
• Saving time when you write at work
• What life balance is—and is not
• Is life balance a bigger struggle for women than men?
• Why customer service has gone south
• Service reps who sell as well as they serve
• Writing skills better or worse with the wide-spread use of technology (texting, IM, tweeting)
• How do writing skills differ among the generations—Traditionalists, Boomers, Gen Xers, Gen Yers?
• What's the alternative to "death by PowerPoint®"?
• What are the 10 most common grammar mistakes?
• Have we passed the point where grammar matters today?
• What are the 5 most important things presenters can do to engage an audience?
• What are the 5 biggest myths about business speakers today?
• Can you really train someone to have better "people" skills?
• Why are so many CEO's and executives lousy speakers?