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In-person meetings might not be feasible right now, but companies have adjusted quickly by turning to video conferencing platforms such as Zoom. Now that just about everyone is meeting via video, stepping up your communications game can help you make the most of these virtual sessions. When it comes to video calls, what you don’t say may be as important as what you do say. To help, a panel of Forbes Communications Council shared suggestions for making conversation as natural and effective as possible in terms of using (or not using) nonverbal cues and gestures.

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It’s important for senior business leaders to provide guidance to internal and sales teams on the wording they use in their roles. However, being too prescriptive not only limits their ability to improvise and be flexible when needed, but can also make their conversations with clients and customers come across as canned and generic. Being heavy-handed about the vocabulary your team members use impacts their creativity and ability to innovate. Sales teams, in particular, need to be given enough freedom and flexibility in terms of communication to do their jobs properly. Too narrow a scope may lead to a brand’s representatives to sound robotic instead of showcasing the personality they’re so adept at infusing into verbal communications. To help, 13 associates of Forbes Communications Council explored how businesses can enforce preferred language guidelines without making them too restrictive.

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At one point in time, it might have been possible to write a press release, send it out and sit back to await reporters’ calls. In the digital world, however, information moves too fast and in too many directions to rely on standard practices to garner the attention of news outlets and journalists who will help generate further interest and earned media. With so much information available, traditional press releases received by news outlets today may be relegated to the compost pile. How can a PR practitioner create an effective press release that does what it is supposed to do? Below, 12 experts from Forbes Communications Council examine some effective ways to ensure that press releases have the intended effect.

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As companies put together their communications and marketing budgets for the new year, they need to adapt and adjust to the new reality of increased digitization of all industries. This digital transformation is evident in every aspect of operations, from how they work to how they sell and communicate with clients, vendors and employees. In 2021, marketers and communications professionals are likely to continue leveraging the same trends and approaches as in 2020, focusing on meeting the needs and demands of an increasingly remote world. New innovations are also expected to impact the marketing world this year, and any company attuned to the needs of its market should be ready to incorporate these novel approaches as well. To help, 15 members of Forbes Communications Council explore several must-have elements, both new and established, that communications and marketing teams should include in their 2021 budgets.

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In the 21st century, consumers have learned how to pick up on the “canned,” pre-written language businesses use in sales scripts to make their communications with customers come across as more “genuine.” Recent studies have found that consumers are more satisfied after interacting with a company if its sales representatives use specific and concrete language, as it shows that they are actually listening to the customer’s issues. Consumers value truly authentic brand experiences, and using cliché or canned wording in sales and marketing scripts suggests the exact opposite of those principles. Below, 13 associates of Forbes Communications Council take a look at common phrases businesses should never use in marketing and sales scripts if they hope to sound authentic and not turn off potential customers.

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In the tech field, there's a term known as GIGO -- garbage in, garbage out. It means that if you have poor-quality data, then the insights your analytics generate will also be of low quality. Because of this, businesses need to ensure that their data collection methods bring in only high-quality data. These methods typically include sorting and filtration strategies to ensure that garbage data gets removed from the data set early on. Alternatively, businesses can focus on more direct forms of communicating with clients to guarantee high data quality. Here, 13 associates of Forbes Communications Council explore how businesses can ensure that the data they collect remains of the highest possible quality.

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With so many companies shifting to a remote working environment, it’s becoming increasingly commonplace to organize audio/video interviews instead of in-person meetings. Audio/video interviews are a lot different from an in-person interview in many ways -- not only in what regards the required technology setup but also in how the interviewee should frame their message for optimal engagement. For those new to the process, the prospect can be quite intimidating. Whether it’s for a job opening or for a virtual industry event, the interviewee needs to be aware of several critical elements when preparing for an interview in audio or video format. Below, 16 experts from Forbes Communications Council discuss the challenges of this particular approach and take a closer look at some of the methods interviewees should consider when getting ready for an audio/video interview.

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The world of e-commerce is an arms race, as companies try to outdo each other in marketing and sales. These companies face a unique struggle, the start of which is locating the perfect marketing firm. Not all marketing firms focus on the same details, and a business needs to be aware of which elements are crucial to their success. In such a case, what are the core elements of a marketing firm that makes them ideal for representing an e-commerce business? We asked 12 experts from Forbes Communications Council about what they considered to be these vital factors e-commerce companies should focus on. Here's what they told us.

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A business takes an idea and transforms it from an intangible into something real. Leaders have the opportunity to build a business from humble beginnings into being a trailblazer in their chosen industry. However, to achieve this task, the leader needs to clearly define their goal and vision for how to attain that goal. Picking out a strategy to define that vision is essential to achieving success in the long run To help entrepreneurs who are just starting out, 15 experts from Forbes Communications Council examine the strategies a leader can utilize to effectively define their vision of what they want to achieve.

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Successful businesses tend to expand quickly. While this is amazing from a profit perspective, it can be more of a nightmare from the logistics viewpoint. The larger a company gets, the more difficult it is to ensure smooth communication of relevant and timely information across all organizational levels. Without proper, established communication channels, it can be challenging to get information to where it needs to be. In larger companies, actual news gets told and retold by members of the department resulting in a "telephone" situation where the last person to hear the story gets an entirely different message from what the sender intended. To help businesses struggling with this issue, 14 experts from Forbes Communications Council explain how organizations can use super connectors to ensure communication channels remain open and accurate even in large companies.

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Thanks to online shopping, consumers are now even more in control of where and when they can shop. Despite this, some consumers fill shopping carts and abandon them before getting to the checkout page. There are several reasons why a buyer may choose to leave their shopping cart, but one of the most common is not having a proper guide to completing the sale. A virtual guide implementation usually needs some experimentation to implement appropriately. Here, 13 professionals from Forbes Communications Council examine several ways that an online business can help its customers complete an online purchase by guiding them virtually, resulting in less shopping cart abandonment in the later stages of checkout.

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Fiction writer Mark Twain offered the tongue-in-cheek observation that if you ever find yourself on the side of the majority, you ought to take time to stop and reflect. Employee reflection is a particular case where their thoughts on leadership, both their direct superiors and your own, can be useful in figuring out how to improve the workplace. However, for employee reflection to have the impact that a company needs, the business must encourage it, and put things in place to take advantage of its insights. To help organizations understand how to promote employee reflection and use the resulting ideas, 13 experts from Forbes Communications Council examine the methodologies they incorporated into their own businesses.

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Consumers don't like feeling as though they're being sold to. This quirk has made it extremely difficult for scales tams to script interactions between consumers and salespeople. To work around this, many internal teams have developed a "dictionary" that they use to teach a new language of sales. Making connections with this approach is more comfortable for both parties since it depends less on actual selling. For sales teams and companies looking at developing this type of language, there are a few things that can help solidify what you're looking for. Fifteen professionals from Forbes Communications Council provide some guidance as to what elements a team planning to develop its internal sales language should keep in mind.

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Social media trends change rapidly, and what's hot today might be gone tomorrow. Keeping up with the rapid change of trends is necessary for marketers since it allows us to figure out how to best direct our marketing efforts. The only thing better than catching a trend as soon as it starts is predicting that it'll take off. Trends don't follow a specific pattern, but knowing what is and has been popular helps inform decisions going forward. Thirteen experts from Forbes Communications Council offer their predictions for social media trends this year and suggest how marketers can leverage these to gain traction and visibility.

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One of the most significant challenges of growing a business is keeping its initial customer base satisfied. When a company is small and has a limited customer base, it's easy to talk directly with consumers and get a feel for their wants and needs. However, as the business starts to scale up, entrepreneurs may lose contact with the core consumers, leading to problems with meeting their needs and engaging their feedback. Losing that rapport can have disastrous consequences on the company's bottom line. To address this issue effectively, 15 contributors to Forbes Communications Council show how a growing business can maintain engagement with its current and prospective customers while scaling.

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15 Big Benefits Of Working With Microinfluencers (And How To Engage Them) Microinfluencers are a great way to connect with a highly niche audience. These social media leaders have smaller, but very highly-engaged followings. When you identify the right ones, you can hire them to promote your business or product -- often for much less than it could cost to hire a celebrity or macroinfluencer. Not sure where to begin with your microinfluencer campaign? Below, the experts of Forbes Communications Council explain how microinfluencers can have a positive impact on your company and the best way to engage them.

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15 Smart Writing Tips For Crafting Copy That Sticks In a fast-paced world consumed by digital media, it can feel impossible to grab someone’s attention. Companies often struggle to stand out amongst all the noise to busy consumers. Sometimes they only have one sentence or a few words to gain someone’s attention. To help you do this, 15 members of Forbes Communications Council gave us their tips for writing short, quick copy that will stick with your audience long after they've read it. Follow their tips to improve your marketing copywriting.