An Inside Look at Karen’s Workshop with PlainsCapital Bank
This past week I had the pleasure of sitting in on Karen’s training with PlainsCapital Bank.
The group contained high level executives from every department in the bank, from finance to human resources. Karen led the group in discussing techniques and pitfalls in business interactions from the moment you walk into a meeting or event to closing a deal.
Karen discussed effective strategies in making small talk with prospective clientele, sending the right message through a handshake, and how listening is one of the most important parts of communication. Karen drove the point home with the Jimi Hendrix quotation “Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.”
The quote became the day’s mantra as the executives sat back and listened to their colleagues speak in front of the group. In their past session, Karen had equipped the participants with a format for creating effective, engaging speeches and asked them to prepare sample speeches using these tenets. Each person spoke before the group and received input on both their verbal and non-verbal communication. Every person came away from the exercise feeling more aware of how they could improve and grateful for the chance to learn from each other.
It was impossible not to learn something at the workshop and Karen engaged the group effortlessly and with humor.
