As more and more privacy laws are implemented worldwide, organizations face greater responsibilities in disclosing how they collect and use data.Data collection may not sound like something your organization does. But data collection can include: Users submitting their email address. People posting comments (which record names, IP addresses, and/or other identifiable information). Running website analytics on your site visitors and their behavior. Using advertising plug-ins. Accepting payment fo...

People with disabilities are regularly consuming visual and non-visual content. According to Magna, 15 percent of the world’s population has a disability, which includes speech, visual, cognitive and hearing disabilities. Despite having these challenges, individuals are seeking out media that often lacks accessibility. Accessibility standards have been lowered and lack of accessibility has become a normalized practice, leading to negative emotions for users and repercussions for brands.Mag...

Microsoft has recently introduced a new PowerPoint feature to help users prepare to give effective presentations. Presenter Coach is one of the cloud enhanced features in Microsoft 365 powered by Microsoft Speech services. Speech services evaluate pacing, pitch, use of filler words, informal speech, euphemisms and culturally sensitive terms.With Microsoft’s Presenter Coach, users can rehearse and practice their presentation and get a report back with suggestions for improvements, statistic...

PowerPoint animations can add value to your presentation, improve communication effectiveness and keep viewers engaged. Without an occasional animation to mix things up visually, your presentation will come across as monotonous. While animations are a great way to enhance your presentation, this doesn’t mean that every slide must have an animation. Overuse of animations can overwhelm your audience and distract from the valuable information you are trying to share. Striking the right balanc...

By: Emily Gallagher, Marketing AssistantCOVID-19 and other events from 2020 greatly impacted the workforce and now influence trends for 2021 and beyond. From flexible work schedules and work from home (WFH) stipends to virtual mental health support and increased diversity and inclusion efforts, the workforce is evolving and changing what the daily workplace looks like. The most significant change was employees working remotely. According to a Gartner HR survey, 88 percent of companies encou...

By: Emily Gallagher, Marketing AssistantCreating great visual content for your brand is an essential aspect to any social media campaign. The right image or video will grab the attention of users and stick out on their busy feeds. Each platform has different dimensions and aspect ratios when it comes to visual content, so is it important to be aware of specific dimensions and adhere to them. Getting the image size right for your visuals is crucial to social media campaigns because it avoids unne...

By: Emily Gallagher, Marketing AssistantVideo conferencing quickly became one of many new activities that our society deems to be part of the “new-normal” due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While many find it easy to log on and off virtual calls and meetings daily, or even multiple times a day, now that we are a year into their occurrence, the potential side effects of video conferences have surfaced.Professor Jeremy Bailenson, director of the Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab, has b...

By: Emily Gallagher, Marketing AssistantFor the last 15 years, Twitter has worked hard to enable people to be connected to the people and content they enjoy. The social media giant recently expanded its capabilities in order to enhance their users’ experience and compete with other platforms.Kayvon Beykpour, head of consumer product at Twitter, said in a podcast with Nilay Patel that Twitter HQ prioritizes accelerating Twitter’s product cadence in order to continue competing with pla...

By: Emily Gallagher, Marketing AssistantThe COVID-19 pandemic forced many operations to work in heightened virtual environments, thus increasing email communication. While email is certainly nothing new to our society, with it serving as a replacement to many in-person meetings, there has been a reported loss of proper etiquette. A refresher on basic digital decorum is a great idea.One of the most common mistakes when sending emails is sloppiness. Not proofreading an email that contains improper...

For Editor’s Note: Tom has more than 35 years of proven leadership experience, in both the public and private sector, and is locally recognized as a regional expert in public policy implementation, consensus building and strategic planning.  He exercises strong organizational and development skills and is committed to developing team and individual performances. He is a long-time AOE client and we appreciate him helping us celebrate Women in Construction week! Women aren’t ...