Speak Up! Effective Communication

Thank You To Our Partners The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound: Conference season is here, and it’s time to get ready for some incredible industry events! In this episode, Craig shares his excitement for the upcoming Institute Summit in Jacksonville, Florida, and reflects on how attending conferences has shaped his career—from being a learner and attendee to becoming a s...

Thank You To Our Partners The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound: In our episode this week - roles are reversed! Our host Craig O’Neill allows himself to be interviewed by a friend of the show - Evan Wisner. This is one of those conversations you can turn on - laugh, and learn with. The reason for this role reversal? Evan had suggested it would be good for our listeners to...

Thank You To Our Partners The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound: In today’s episode, Craig dives into an acronym that’s deceptively simple yet surprisingly difficult to master—KISS: “Keep It Simple, Stupid!” We explore the challenges of simplifying communication, especially in specialized industries like auto repair, where jargon can create barriers rather than build trus...

Thank You To Our Partners The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound: The idea of this podcast is to stretch our comfort zones and grow. Growth isn’t automatic or instant - it’s a journey. In this episode Craig takes you on a thought process that came about from an article that was shared - with him that highlighted to real security breach to texting infrastructure in the US t...

Thank You To Our Partners The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound: The idea of this podcast is to stretch our comfort zones and grow. Growth isn’t automatic or instant - it’s a journey. In this episode of Speak Up! Effective Communication - our host Craig O’Neill welcomes loyal listener, Darrin Mallett.  Darrin is the owner of Kilgore Tire and Auto Care in Kilgore, Tex...

Thank You To Our Partners The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound: Our host Craig O’Neill welcomes his friend Rui Martins from Evolve AD.  Rui is a coach and trainer for our Canadian neighbors in the North.   Listeners will appreciate this conversation which is focused on a pivotal role listeners will be keen to introduce to their shops. It’s a role that focu...

Thank You To Our Partners, The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing and In-Bound In this episode - host Craig O’Neill goes further into the topic of public speaking anxiety. Familiar guest, Evan Wisner is back again with additional insights into Imposter Syndrome - which plagues the mind of experts in any field - particularly when they are called on to speak up! In addition to touchin...

Thank You To Our Partners, The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing and In-Bound In this episode - our host, Craig O’Neill and regular guest, fellow toastmaster, and friend of the show, Evan Wisner, dive into the root of the fear of public speaking.  Also known as glossophobia - it is a fear that is shared with 76% of all people. Evan speaks on this topic with the heart of a coun...

Thank You To Our Partners, The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing and In-Bound In this episode, Craig O’Neill tackles the all-too-familiar feeling of “I’m not ready for this.” It’s a common feeling that is shared among speakers or presenters.  In Episode 18 with Kent Bullard - the topic of “Imposter Syndrome” also came up - and in many ways this episode carries thoughts from th...

Thank You To Our Partners, The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing and In-Bound In this episode of Speak Up - our host Craig O’Neill welcomes his friend and Instructor Kent Bullard from the Institute to discuss the impact of stories and speaking.  This will be one of many conversations with Kent because, as you will see, these two have a characteristically great time discussing...

Thank You To Our Partners, The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound Watch Full Video Episode With slower days becoming common, many shops have turned to short-term fixes. Our host Craig O’Neill advocates for a long-term retention strategy that emphasizes relationships. In this episode, Craig breaks things down in three parts.  First he explains how he came to embrace th...

Thank You To Our Partners, The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound: Watch Full Video Episode Our world is rushing head first into an A.I. future and we want to encourage our listeners to remain vigilant in these exciting times, as there is some legitimate cause for concern with the changes brought by A.I. Technology. Joining us as our guest is Dan Vance from Shop Dog Market...

Thank You To Our Partners, The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound: Watch Full Video Episode In this episode - our host Craig O’Neill welcomes (now) familiar friend of the show, Evan Wisner to have some fun telling a Halloween story. Evan and his brother both enjoy the art of story telling and in this episode we get a chance to hear a story that was based on Evan’s own expe...

Thank You To Our Partners, The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound: Watch Full Video Episode Episode Summary: In this episode of Speak Up , host Craig O'Neill takes a deep dive into how auto repair shops can use digital communication to better navigate slow business periods. Craig challenges the widespread use of mass text blasts during these times, highlighting the potenti...

Thank You To Our Partners, The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound: Watch Full Video Episode The title of this show, Speak Up , might spark some funny reactions—some may assume it’s all about raising your voice on big issues. That’s not entirely off, but there's a right and a wrong way to talk about important, controversial, or shall we say, passionate topics. In this episo...

In this episode Craig welcomes his friend Josh Parnell.  Josh and Craig have both had the pleasure of working with Christian Brothers Automotive (CBA), and it was at events organized through CBA that Craig initially had the opportunity to see Josh speak. Josh has some great stories and eagerly demonstrates his heart for cultivating leaders in shops and teaching on concepts which help lea...

In this episode, we’re diving into the topic of filler words—those little sounds and phrases like "um," "uh," or "you know" that creep into phone calls, meetings, presentations, and everyday conversations. While nearly everyone uses filler words, they can become a problem when they’re habitual and detract from your message. We’ll explore why filler words happen and their relation to anxiety or the...

Thank You To Our Partners, The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound: This Episode emphasizes the importance of pausing and leaving space for others to absorb information and engage with the things we’re speaking about. Whether you’re an advisor that talks themselves out of a sale - or an enthusiastic and passionate speaker that just has a hard time remembering to breathe, yo...

Thank You To Our Partners, The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound: Watch Full Video Episode In the previous episode Craig told the story of a serious encounter while on his regular evening ruck. Telling a story that is still being ‘experienced’ is a challenging matter!  Common advice for communicators is to be cautious about speaking on things you are still going thro...

Thank You To Our Partners, The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound: Watch Full Video Episode On the evening of August 29th - Craig was on his early evening Ruck when he found himself confronting a cemetery vandal. In this episode he shares details from the event along with sometimes serious - sometimes whimsical takeaways from this ordeal.  This event triggered an abun...

Thank You To Our Partners, The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound: Watch Full Video Episode In this episode we explore how assumptions have the power to destroy relationships. This episode was first planned back in May of 2024 when Craig was at the HQ for the Institute of Automotive Business Excellence in Ogden Utah.  Craig and Cecil Bullard were outside discussing co...

Today, we're excited to have a special guest with us, Craig O'Neill, a seasoned communication expert. In this episode, we'll dive into Craig's unique approach to effective communication in the auto repair industry. We'll explore how he defines and measures communication success, the art of creating positive first impressions, and the crucial role of clear, transparent interactions in building clie...

Thank You To Our Partners, The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound: Watch Full Video Episode This episode begins with a simple premise.  Craig recognizes his friend and former co-worker, Jeremy Glassco, as an excellent communicator and a man who asks great questions. Shortly after introducing Jeremy- you’ll see what Craig means! While exploring the topic of conversatio...

Thank You To Our Partners, The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound: Watch Full Video Episode A lifelong student of history - this episode began as a serious topic of interest for Craig - and evolved into multiple conversations with a special guest.  For our listeners, we took our time with this episode and it was reviewed with careful consideration due to the significa...

Thank You To Our Partners, The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound: Watch Full Video Episode This week Chris Cloutier is my guest on the podcast - and not just as my boss or a sponsor of this program - but as an excellent communicator and influential leader and one who I feel is exceptionally talented at delivering GOOD feedback. Even for people with above average communica...