Susan Young's
Amplify Blog

 

 

 

The Training Gap Smart A/E/C Leaders Don't Ignore

What if you saw training differently?

Successful A/E/C firms that capture pursuits face and embrace workplace training data. 📈

They don't make excuses about budgets, limited time, or keeping training in-house: 

  • Nearly 50 percent of managers with 10 or more years of experience report having received a total of only nine hours of training.
  • Almost 45 percent of managers who have been in their role for less than a year haven't had any training.

Research from Lorman shows that internal programs may save your firm money in the short term, but the benefits are limited.

🎯Most employees crave fresh perspectives and innovative problem-solving strategies.

To scale and narrow talent gaps, proactive firms are willing to invest in external training.

A/E/C executives must be open-minded and know that scalability is intertwined with today's business development and communication skills.

How does your team measure up against competitors? 

Savvy leaders recognize the return on investment i...

Continue Reading...

Preparing A/E/C Project Managers for Successful Shortlisted Interviews

Many PMs, superintendents, estimators, and others have deep technical knowledge—but often lack experience in client-facing conversations.

📈That’s not a flaw; it’s a gap that training and education can address.

With today's new strategies, A/E/C teams can develop the confidence and communication skills needed to differentiate your firm—building trust, getting referrals, and strengthening client relationships.🥇

🎯Here are four foundational areas to help employees shift their mindset and be better prepared to capture pursuits.

Continue Reading...

The Power of Storytelling in Construction

Articulating complex data and information doesn't have to be an ongoing struggle in A/E/C.

From misunderstandings in e-mail threads and texts to confusing slide decks and messaging to stakeholders, there's room to improve communication.

Interpersonal communication is at the root of reworks, lost bids, budget overruns, and the labor shortage. 

In the "Bridging the Gap" podcast episode, I talk with host Todd Weyandt about how A/E/C teams can become confident communicators, with new storytelling and networking skills. 

Grab valuable techniques and strategies from our conversation. Here's the link. https://bit.ly/3T7L97B 

Continue Reading...

5 Ways to Create Stand-Out PowerPoint Slides

🎯Communication and Presentation Tip: 

Anyone in A/E/C with a PowerPoint slide that resembles the one below gets an automatic tariff of 345 percent. 😮

😮Avoid this at all costs! 

Instead, follow these 5 tips to create reader-friendly engaging slides to WOW (not confuse) your audience. 

1. Pull key data and sections from graphs, using words/nuggets to capture the highlights.

2. Choose the right visuals to complement small amounts of text.

3. Think one slide = one point.

4. Avoid text that is unaligned or too small.

5. Have an emotionally engaging design. 

Reach out if you need support with business development, presentations, and public speaking to capture more pursuits.

Continue Reading...

40% of Leaders Say Teams Aren't Asking the Right Questions

Communication, seller-doer challenges, and confidence.

To achieve greater success in the A/E/C industry, a new poll says firms must overcome these three obstacles, beginning with communication.

➡️Nearly 40 percent of respondents said unasked questions hold teams back in sales meetings. 

➡️More than 25 percent cite rushing through conversations as a significant challenge.

Are you working on the right problem?

In A/E/C, this could mean focusing on the most pressing client needs or more profitable projects.

Reach out if you want to transform your teams' communication so you can capture more pursuits, improve productivity, and build trust.

Continue Reading...

The Vision and Future of A/E/C

Staggering statistics around communication and lost bids are getting the attention of leaders in A/E/C. 

Being proactive is key to sustainable business growth.

➡️Managers who take action show their commitment to adapting to change and the risk of giving new jobs to competitors. 

🧨Proactive managers build stronger teams and win more bids.

It's that simple.

It's why our Top Tier Communicator online training gets firms returns on investments of 5,000 percent or more (Yes, you read it correctly!)

And it's why we have classes available for the next four months.

📈Here's the secret:

Old ways of doing business won't open new doors.

How many contracts are you losing a month?

And industry data supports the need for human-to-human communication and professional development.

A recent report from Newforma, an AECO software management firm, finds: 

  • More than 75 percent of respondents miss project deadlines because of inefficient communication and fragmented workflows.
  • Some 73 percen
  • ...
Continue Reading...

5 Superpowers of Emerging Leaders in A/E/C

Refreshing energy is front and center for 2025.

Which employees, including yourself, will excel beyond your wildest dreams in the coming months?🤩

Let's empower your team to excel together and help younger staff build confidence with the superpowers below.

Emerging leaders with under 10 years of industry experience will become unstoppable.🎯

{RELATED: EMERGING LEADERS CAN REMOVE SELF-DOUBT SO THEY COMMUNICATE CLEARLY, FEEL CONFIDENT, AND GENERATE BUSINESS. ENROLL NOW IN TOP TIER COMMUNICATOR ONLINE TRAINING.}

➡️These 5 superpowers are a good jumping-off point.

  1. Charisma. People with this quality have allure, a special style, charm, light-heartedness, and magnetism. Others quickly recognize there's something interesting about their personality that's attractive. 🔷A/E/C PRO TIP: Most babies aren't born with charisma. We can learn this trait and reinvent ourselves to be more personable and confident. For example, notice role models and mentors who have positively impacted you. How do
  2. ...
Continue Reading...

The Communication Skill Holding Back Our Emerging Leaders

Have you ever felt your voice didn't matter in a room full of experts? 

Younger architects and engineers often feel they must have all the answers in presentations and meetings. 

Not true. 😮

The need for perfection is exhausting and expensive when you lose bids to more confident competitors. 

• It's comforting to know that no one knows everything. 

• And that's more than OK; it's liberating. 

• Project managers, superintendents, and others can overcome limiting beliefs with new communication and mindset processes. 

An architect in this month's Top Tier Communicator Training said: 

"I keep falling into a trap, feeling I'm not good enough, and I didn't even know it. Now it's clear, and I have all the puzzle pieces to improve."

Admitting when you don't know something can be empowering. 

Your firm will earn respect and trust when staff says with humility and honesty:

"I don't know, and I'll find out within the hour." 

🎯The pieces and tools for building confident teams and incre...

Continue Reading...
Close

Story Magnets:
How to Talk About Your Business So Dream Clients Buy From You

A 6-week online group training for experienced entrepreneurs, coaches, therapists, and consultants

COMPLETE THIS FORM AND 
HIT THE BUTTON SO YOU CAN GET DETAILS.