Dianna Booher helps organizations to communicate clearly and leaders to increase their influence by a
strong executive presence—and sometimes with a published book. She’s the bestselling author of 49
books, published in 62 foreign-language editions. Her latest books include:
Faster, Fewer, Better Emails: Manage the Volume, Reduce the Stress, Love the Results
Communicate Like a Leader: Connecting Strategically to Coach, Inspire, and Get Things Done
What MORE Can I Say? Why Communication Fails and What to Do About It
Creating Personal Presence: Look, Talk, Think, and Act Like a Leader
Communicate With Confidence: How to Say It Right the First Time and Every Time
National media such as Good Morning America, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business
Daily, Forbes, Fast Company, FOX, NPR, Bloomberg, and Entrepreneur have featured her work on
business communication.
She’s the CEO of Booher Research, a communication consulting firm. Clients have included more than
one-third of the Fortune 500, plus more than a dozen governmental agencies.
You work with C-Suite Executives on expanding their influence, often with published, bestselling books. Share your background.
During the past 3 decades, I’ve worked with more than 1/3 of the Fortune 500 organizations, helping their senior executives to communicate their message appropriately at all levels. Some need help with their messaging to clients, employees, or the general public. Others have a clear message, but lack the “polish” they need to increase their credibility and expand their influence.
As an author of 49 books (most on business communication), I’ve researched and written about leadership communication for decades, drawing heavily from my coaching experience.
And when clients want to write a book to share their philosophies or to promote a new organization, product, or service, then I coach them in their journey to selling their book to a major publishing house.
Tell us about your Executive Book Coaching.
It’s quite easy today for any aspiring author to become self-published. However, a self-published book does not distinguish the author in the field nor establish expertise or influence. So in my executive book coaching and collaborating engagements, I help executives through the entire path to publication with a major publisher. That is, clients learn to prepare their query letter, develop a winning book proposal that lands a major contract, attract a literary agent, market their book appropriately, and sometimes to launch a new business or venture based on that major book.
Occasionally, executive clients don’t want to handle all those phases and tasks involved in writing/publishing a bestselling book by themselves. So we arrange to collaborate on the book. In such an arrangement, they provide the content/ideas, and I create the book proposal and write the book for them.
You have helped Fortune 500 clients win billions through your effective communication strategies and according to Dr. Mary K. Kickels, formerly vice president of content development at Encyclopedia Britannica, “Dianna Booher has changed the way corporate America communicates.” What is your unique approach to communicating?
My unique approach to both oral and written business communication is based on five key steps:
–Consider your audience for the appropriate message.
–Pay attention to special reactions and tailor accordingly.
–Plan/outline your message before you draft or speak.
–Draft quickly.
–Edit for eye appeal, clarity, conciseness, style, and grammar.
A critical part of ANY communication—whether oral or written—is understanding the critical difference between information and communication. Often when employees or clients complain “there’s just no communication around here,” executives seem puzzled. They point to their intranet information, their website, weekly staff meetings, emailed announcements, and the like, thinking that they have provided an abundance of information. And it’s likely they have!
But giving information is NOT the same as communicating. My definition: Winning the hearts and minds of your listeners or readers!
What will people notice when working with you?
They’ll notice that I always coach with a specific plan and definite action steps. After I understand a client’s goals and situation, I’m very prescriptive. They never leave a session wondering what they need to do next to reach those favorable outcomes!
Tell us about your book, Communicate Like a Leader.
This book provides the “best of the best” of my communication tips for leaders. It covers what I consider to be the 6 critical areas of communication that every leader needs to master:
- Strategic leadership: developing their people/team
- Strategic conversations: connecting one-on-one with intent
- Strategic negotiations: looking for mutual opportunities
- Strategic speaking: persuading minds and winning hearts
- Strategic writing: writing “to the point”
- Strategic meetings: delivering results when leading a meeting
The book Creating Personal Presence also goes very deep on several of these above issues.
What does Booher Boot Camp offer?
In this 3-day event, aspiring and seasoned authors focus on their own book writing project and receive instruction and feedback from me and the other authors in this intimate group. Attendees learn what to expect from a book published by a major publisher. Also we cover A-Z on how to develop the publishable angle for their book idea, draft a query, develop a book proposal, attract a literary agent, draft their book quickly (7-30 days), negotiate a book contract, market their book, and often to launch their book as a basis for many other spin-off products and services that also become revenue streams.
Share the proudest moment of your career.
Several such moments come to mind:
–Being inducted in the CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame by the National Speakers Association
–Winning excellence awards from IBM and Frito-lay for overall impact on their organizations
–Appearing on/in major media (Good Morning America, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, USA Today, New York Times, and so forth)
–Seeing my books hit the charts!
What is next for you?
Next? Working on the next book, of course! And I’ll be offering my Booher Book Camps a couple of times each year.
About The Author
