Author Archives: Jay Morris

How to hit your speech out of the park, metaphorically that is

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Jay Morris

As a communicator, I’ve spent my career helping organizations and their leaders better tell their story, so I’m always on the lookout for a good analogy or metaphor. Speakers who are able to explain complex concepts with easy-to-understand examples from … Continue reading →

Posted in Communications | Tagged Anthony Shop, Change the Equation, Christina Gordon, metaphors, presentations, PRSA-NCC, similes, Social Driver, Social media, speaking | 1 Comment

5 lessons children can teach us about employee engagement

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Jay Morris

You’d think that with all of the books, seminars and coaching out there on building winning teams, we’d be doing a better job of engaging employees. But not according to a pair of studies noted in the latest issue of … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Management | Tagged authentic, children, communication, dreams, engagement, focus, imagination, moment, PRSA, stretch goals, team building, teams | 4 Comments

On judging people and being a better conversationalist

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Jay Morris

Judging people is a difficult, but necessary part of running a business, managing a team or being a volunteer leader. It’s especially crucial if you are an independent consultant since you are often entrusting your future in partners, vendors and … Continue reading →

Posted in Careers, Leadership, Management | Tagged Anthony K. Tjan, conversation, Daniel Goleman, Emotional intelligence, Farnam Street, HBR, judging people, Robin Dreeke, Shane Parrish, validation | Leave a comment

Protecting your good name in the digital age

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Jay Morris

From time to time I have tried to help out a small business owner in my neighborhood with marketing ideas and advice. Lately, we have been looking at Yelp and pondering how to mitigate the damage to her reputation from … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Marketing | Tagged bad reviews, branding, Google, reputation management, small business owner, Yelp | Leave a comment

‘Your current circumstance is not your conclusion’

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Jay Morris

I have written before about my involvement in the Kairos prison ministry program. This past weekend, our team from Northern Virginia spent two days at Greensville Correctional Center in southeastern Virginia. In the prison’s gym where we met was a … Continue reading →

Posted in Purpose | Tagged faith, God, Greensville Correctional Center, Kairos, prison ministry | 10 Comments

Spaces, places and where we live

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Jay Morris

Good old Gaston Bachelard, the French philosopher who wrote about houses having souls. I was thinking about him recently as I prepared to rent my house to Gordon and Teca, a missionary couple from Brazil, and their family. For four … Continue reading →

Posted in Happiness | Tagged Gaston Bachelard, houses, phenomenology, spaces, The Poetics of Space | Leave a comment

Too much information at my local Panera

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Jay Morris

I love Panera Bread, the bakery, salad, soup and sandwich chain that has great food at reasonable prices. I often go there around midday to grab some lunch, especially if I’ve been working from home and need a little human … Continue reading →

Posted in Careers, Management | Tagged business meetings, job interviews, Kingstowne, Panera, public places, TMI | 6 Comments

Brand relevance and the art of finding your sweet spot

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Jay Morris

Reblogged from The PRSA-NCC Blog I recently invited D.C. marketing expert Bob London to speak to the Independent Public Relations Alliance. He gave some great pointers on indie branding, which I wrote about in this post for the PRSA-NCC Blog. … Continue reading →