Training That Empowers

As our teams deal with seismic shifts resulting from the pandemic, it is clear that soft skills are no longer nice to have. As this Forbes article reminds us, they are in fact, critical to organizational survival. Four Simple Words has twenty years of training experience helping teams maximize their present and prepare for the future. How can we serve your team?

Our three most popular courses

DiSC Catalyst

Catalyst is the latest update of DiSC grounded in the same science and research as the original assessment. Fully accessible online, Catalyst has been designed through COVID to help in-person and virtual teams create engaged, collaborative and adaptive cultures.

The Power of Service

Our assessment tool for teams in progressive organizations interested in sustainable organizational growth. It is a tool to explore the power of service and start an engaging and courageous conversation about what your team is really in service to.

Start Your DEI Journey

A thoughtful and guided series of reflective training sessions that will empower your team to explore how and why you want to start a DEI conversation. Grounded in Maslow’s needs and best practice adult learning, our three learning streams will introduce you to ideas and practical learnings around The Circle of Trust, allyship, intersectionality and Indigeneity.

Book a free training consultation call .

Team Based Training Programs

Building Associate Relationships

The pandemic has changed how people view and think about work and the role it plays in our lives. Each of us has found it hard to balance the needs of employers, finances, health, family, the economy and world events. Like any other community during times of heightened stress, pressure in the workplace can sometimes result in behaviours that range from mildly confusing to completely disrespectful. This course will explore the importance of a personal brand and how power/equity dynamics can influence how teams communicate, problem-solve and measure success. During our conversations, you will learn tools to overcome difficult situations and how to turn confrontation into collaboration.

Managing Customer Relationships

More customers and clients are stressed by today’s economic and social pressures not to mention the implications of the global pandemic. This anxiousness can show itself in aggressive, hostile or rude behaviour toward staff at all levels. This course looks at the main causes of customer stress and provides practical strategies for dealing with exceptionally poor customer behaviour. We will explore how to use language, listening and questioning to maintain control of conversations and reduce the stress involved in dealing with difficult people. This interactive and engaging course is ideal for anyone who regularly encounters customers and clients.

Creating & Giving Effective Presentations 

Giving presentations can be overwhelming for some and exhilarating for others. No matter how you feel about speaking to groups in person or virtually, this session offers the chance to practice your speaking skills and will help you ‘own the podium.’ During the session, we will review best practices to connect with audiences in meaningful and genuine ways. Most importantly, we will practice the art and science of talking in front of groups: often!

Effective Business Writing & Presentations

Listening, writing and talking are the three primary communication tools we use to connect, lead and support our teams. Building on our learnings from DiSC, this course explores how different communication styles can impact decision-making adoption of change and collaboration. This course offers practical tips and tools to strengthen your writing, improve your listening and be more confident with your speaking skills in person or online.

Creating a Customer-Centric Culture   

This course explores how customers – and customer service best practices – are changing dramatically and how organziations can adapt quickly to keep pace. It shows that great customer service and great community relations go hand in hand and is the responsibility of everyone in the company. It looks at practical, useful and, above all, doable ways for organizations to build a great customer service discipline including a rethinking of how staff can be trained to meet today’s customer needs. In doing so, it redefines what those two words – “customer” and “service” – really mean. 

Leading & Building Hybrid Teams

The pandemic has proven teams can be successful in a hybrid setting. This success requires new ways of thinking and creativity to support and engage team members. Effective hybrid leaders draw on their people skills and create new cultural norms to maximize team member engagement. Leaders of virtual teams need to ensure that all members are fully contributing AND feel a part of the collective success. This course will provide you with practical examples on the best ways to support, connect and engage your virtual team.

Community Engagement 101

Companies and organizations have a wide variety of tools to engage with the ratepayers and communities they serve. Using the right mix of communication tools to connect with customers, partners and community leaders is fundamental to a successful communications plan and organizational success. This course will help participants understand how marketing, public relations and community engagement are different yet equally important approaches to building relationships with community. 

Community Engagement 201

This content includes a quick refresher from our Intro to Community Engagement and then focuses on exploring best practices to community engagement in a post-COVID world. We will explore the benefits and risks of good engagement, how to set clear goals and manage internal and external partner expectations. Conversations will include the importance of a clear ‘why’, finding and working with internal and external partners and tools to help evaluate program success. 

Media Training

Traditional and new media are important marketing tools for every organization that is looking to build profile, sell products and change perceptions. Engaging with the media, however, is not just about picking up the phone or sending out a media release. It is an intentional act that has benefits and risks. Using the media as a marketing tool is a strategic decision that demands clarity and focus from the organization and its representatives. Pearl Street training can help with both.

Communications Coaching

If you are new to a communications role or are running a small comms department, it’s sometimes hard to know how to start and manage growth, the next big project, your people or the budget. Our 1:1 coaching sessions for communication professionals are focused specifically on you and your future. Whether it’s a specific marketing challenge or best practices for your communication plan, staff or budget development, our experienced coaching helps you step into your communications leadership.

Board Training

We have a wide range of programs to support non-profit board training and learning. Working with hundreds of boards and volunteer groups, we have learned how to support, challenge and encourage boards to think bigger and focus on strategy. Click here to see one of our approaches to help boards build cultures of asking.

Custom Designed Programs

We have custom-designed dozens of courses for clients including:

  • Better Managing Our Time & Stress
  • Leading with confidence and humility
  • Work-Life Balance
  • Communicating with purpose
  • Working with challenging people
  • The power of serving others

We have used Pearl Street for multiple workshops and topics. Curt always exceeds expectations. Both in person and virtually, his energy and enthusiasm make for engaging and relevant training.

Colleen Winter, Communications Consultant
CHEC Association

Curt has provided us with training programs for over five years, covering customer service, marketing, community engagement, communications, personal development and leadership. What makes his programs a real success is his ability to connect with his audience. He has an engaging style and always seems to find the right touch – he really has a knack of adjusting his approach to connect with the students. The material is both learned and remembered. His course reviews have always been very positive. We are very appreciative of Curt and his support for our training programs, and whole-heartedly recommend him as an education provider.

David Ainslie, Director Business Services
MEARIE

The facilitator did a fantastic job keeping the group moving through the content, while engaging everyone. This is one of the best training sessions I have taken.

Participant, Managing Customer Relationships

Curt led our strategic planning session and provided us with the guidance we needed to create our plans. We left the session feeling prepared and empowered to work through and execute our strategic plans in a way that was organic to the agency and not adding a burden of work to the team. Curt was methodical and intentional about what we planned to get out of the session and he executed it professionally and in a way that was both engaging and fun! Thank you Curt.

Pam Stumpf, Board Chair
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Centre Wellington

Lots of nice people have said nice things about our work. #Blush. Read some of them here.

How can we be of service?

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