Consulting Blog for Business Consultants

What’s the most important thing you’d need to know if you wanted to become a great hockey player?

If you said “how to skate really well”, you’re on the right track.

If you don’t skate well, you have no business even stepping on the ice and pretending to be a hockey player!

The same is true of consulting and communication skills.

If there was ever a career where your success hinged on your ability to successfully communicate one-on-one with people of all learning styles and personality profiles, it would have to be consulting.

Communications skills are probably the most important of all consulting skills… just as important as your industry knowledge.

Unfortunately, communications skills are also one of the most commonly ignored and under-trained consulting skills of all!

So how can you tell if you need additional communications skills training? And what sort of consulting training should you look for in this area?

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Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past few months, you must be aware that the economy in the US has slowed down — some say even to the point of recession.

Personally, I don’t care if we are “in a recession” or not… what I care about is how an economic slow-down affects consultants (and the consulting industry as a whole).

Incidentally, this is the second “recession” I’ve personally experienced as a consultant… both as a consultant working in a (then) Big-Five consulting firm, and as an independent consultant working in my own consultancy.

So as you can imagine, I have a little perspective on what it takes to succeed in situations like this.

I think it’s no secret that consultants who make it a priority to invest in themselves and their consulting skills (for example, through consulting skills training) tend to do better in any economic situation…

But aside from developing your consulting skills (which is step #1), what else can you do?

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