What comes to mind when you think of workplace communication? Do your eyes glaze over when someone fires up the latest PowerPoint presentation? Sadly, boring workplace comms is pretty common, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

In this episode of The Visual Lounge, Matt has a great conversation with Grant Crowell from Design Laboratory Inc, a Senior Training Specialist at Microsoft, and author of the book, GRANTASMS: Creative twisted words for cool people!

Grant explains his approach to making workplace communication more fun and engaging – and why that results in better information absorption. He explores why storytelling is so important as well as the use of visuals, video, and what he calls “playful mindfulness.” We also hear his thoughts on using AI and acronym-speak in the corporate world, plus why he prefers to come up with his own fun names for corporate terms.

Learning points from the episode include:

• 00:00 - 01:51 Introduction
• 01:51 - 03:21 Grant’s top tip for making images or video better
• 03:21 - 05:11 The importance of story in communication
• 05:11 - 11:53 Why workplace communication is often boring
• 11:53 - 17:12 Practical steps for transforming your communication style
• 17:12 - 20:42 How to help people overcome resistance and hesitancy to make communication more fun
• 20:42 - 24:59 The role of video in avoiding boring content 
• 24:59 - 32:44 Speed round
• 32:44 - 33:21 Grant’s final take
• 33:21 - 34:29 Outro

Important links and mentions:

• Connect with Grant on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantcrowell/
• Subscribe to Grant’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/grantcrowell/
• Grant’s book, GRANTASMS: Creative twisted words for cool people!: https://www.amazon.com/GRANTASMS-Creative-twisted-words-people/dp/0578523469/