A global leader in the adhesive manufacturing industry, with approximately $3.5 billion in annual sales and operations in more than 100 countries, partnered with TrainSmart to provide professional development training focused on helping employees communicate ideas more clearly and effectively with managers and senior leadership. The program focused on written communication, verbal communication, and presentations.

The Challenge

Employees struggled to communicate ideas clearly and concisely to managers and senior leaders. Common challenges included overly detailed communication, difficulty adapting messaging to different leadership styles, presentations that lacked structure, and missed opportunities to influence decision-makers effectively.

Leadership recognized the need for a more strategic and consistent approach to communication — one that would help employees organize their thinking, tailor messaging to leadership priorities, and communicate with greater confidence and clarity.

Our Training Solution

A key component of the training focused on helping employees rethink what effective workplace communication actually means. Rather than viewing writing as creative self-expression, the program reframed communication as a critical part of organizational thinking, decision-making, and influence.

The day-long workshop included:

  • DiSC-informed communication concepts
  • Communication style differences and leadership preferences
  • Shelle Rose Charvet’s Language of Influence concepts
  • “Toward” vs. “away from” language patterns
  • The concept of “going to their bus stop” — communicating from the listener’s priorities instead of the speaker’s
  • BLUF communication principles
  • SCQA structure for presentations and leadership updates
  • Executive presence, tone, and communication clarity

The workshop was highly interactive, with opportunities for participants to practice communication techniques in realistic workplace scenarios and leadership communication challenges.

Results & Participant Feedback

Participants responded positively to the training’s practical, real-world nature and appreciated the opportunity to immediately apply the concepts during the workshop.

Key Insight

Following the success of the in-person workshop, the client asked TrainSmart to adapt the program into two 2-hour virtual sessions that could be delivered to employees across its global workforce.