In today’s hyper-connected world, your words can echo across boardrooms and beyond borders. Clear Communication, Powerful Results amplifies your voice to resonate with impact. This transformative resource is your key to unlocking the power of influential communication in today’s dynamic global environment.
You’ll learn techniques to captivate diverse audiences through compelling public speaking, navigate complex crises with poise and clarity, and make ethical decisions that inspire trust and respect. Professor Deirdre Simmons, MSHRM bridges theory with the practical providing insight into cultural awareness that helps you gain the tools to develop high emotional intelligence (EQ) for effective leadership, adapt your communication style to various professional scenarios, and build a personal brand that resonates with authenticity and power.
Don’t just communicate -captivate, persuade, and lead. This essential text begins your journey to becoming an unstoppable force in the workplace. Are you ready to unleash your full potential and transform into the powerhouse communicator you’re destined to be?

Acknowledgments
About the Author
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION
Understanding Professional Communication
Organizational Contexts
Importance of Effective Professional Communication
Professional Communication in Action
Overview of Communication Models
Case Studies
CHAPTER TWO: ETHICS AND THE CONSUMMATE PROFESSIONAL
Understanding Ethics
Definition
Frameworks
Application to Professional Settings
Considerations in Business
Case Studies
CHAPTER THREE: ORGANIZING YOUR THOUGHTS
Understanding Why
Purpose
Audience
Tools
Simple Not Easy
Organizational Patterns & Outlines
CHAPTER FOUR: VERBAL COMMUNICATION
Key Components
Voice and Vocal Qualities
Care
Clarity
Silence
Language
Storytelling to Increase Impact
Frameworks
Application
STAR Method of Business
CHAPTER FIVE: LISTENING & BEYOND FOR EXTRAORDINARY PROFESSIONALS
Three Brain Theory
Enneagram
Barriers to Listening
Identifying the Barriers
Listening Styles Assessment
CHAPTER SIX: NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
Embodied Body
Stance
Movement
Eye Contact
Gestures
Personal Space
Dress
Congruency
CHAPTER SEVEN: WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
Forms
Extra Extra, Read All About It!
Crafting Your Message
Grammar
Common Mistakes
Tools
CHAPTER EIGHT: PRESENTATION ABETS
Diverse Types
Accessibility and Aesthetics
CHAPTER NINE: FEEDBACK AND PERFORMANCE REVIEWS
Recommended Process
Tools
Craft and Deliver
Frameworks
Alignment of Competencies and Performance
CHAPTER TEN: AI IN PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION
AI The New Revolution
The Jetsons
Tips & Tools for Using AI
BONUS: CUSTOMER SERVICE COMMUNICATION
Deirdre L.
Simmons
Deirdre Simmons, an encouraging motivating speaker, is also a commercial talent, entrepreneur and business professional with practical lived experiences and competencies in human resources, operations, leadership, and public speaking. Her public speaking abilities allow others to see situations and paradigms with clarity as she brings new and interesting twists, as well as clarity, to messages for individuals and the masses.
As a learning and development specialist, STEM keynote speaker (including Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards (CLARB), Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives (CESSE), Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) and National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) representative Automated Communities 2050 Game Challenge at Games for Change) and graduation speaker, she has stood before audiences of 10 to 500+ people. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut (a major respected university in the United States) using various pedagogical methods to achieve course objectives and influence lives.
Writing, a key component to public speaking, is also a craft she has honed over the years. Deirdre has authored blogs, employee communications, executive leader speeches, crisis communications and her own speeches. Her thought leadership in communications, culture, organizational development, diversity and human resources can be found in her #MondayMusings on LinkedIn.
She has a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Communication with minors in Management and Supervision from Purdue University and a Master of Science in Human Resource Management from the UCONN School of Business, along with various certificates and accommodations. Her background includes volunteering in youth ministry, appearing in commercials and on television, facilitating conference sessions, speaking on leadership and diversity panels, and as a guest speaker for Disrupt HR delivering her session “HR Lessons from Cardi B.” In the past she has worked at her own HR consulting business, as a referring travel agent, Pepsi-Cola, Ford Motor Company, Department of Homeland Security and Bloomingdale’s. In addition to teaching, she is a certified coach helping others reach success, and a strategic team leader of Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut (CONECT) - a social justice organization.
She is married to Rev. Jerry L. Simmons, and they reside in Connecticut.