Plates full of juggling hot irons

There’s too much on my plate. I’m juggling a lot right now. I have a lot of irons in the fire.   English gives us a lot of ways to say: I’ve taken on more than I can handle.   What are some idioms that show the opposite, someone with plenty of time to focus ... Continue Reading

How to remember your presentation

One statement I often hear from clients is: “I do fine when I know what I’m taking about. It’s when I have to present material I don’t know well that I get nervous.”   There’s a good reason for that, and a caution, as well.  When you know your material well, when you are an ... Continue Reading

You wouldn’t wear the same thing to the Oscars and a Little League game.

You wouldn’t wear the same outfit to the Oscars, a Little League game, and your cousin’s beach wedding. Most of us feel that different situations typically require different types of attire.   Similarly, it’s helpful to be able to vary the elements of your communication style, to choose a different verbal outfit, when you’re talking ... Continue Reading

Too crowded to be useful?

My family collects coffee mugs. We have mugs from different theaters where we’ve worked and various places we’ve visited, mugs with inspirational quotes and handmade mugs from local potters. In fact, we have so many mugs that they vie for space on one crowded shelf in a kitchen cabinet. Despite our many mugs, we tend ... Continue Reading

Tell ’em what you’re gonna tell ’em

Most of us have heard this well-worn advice about structuring a talk:   Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em Tell ‘em Then tell ‘em what you told ‘em.     I have to admit, this rankles me a little. If this was all there was to being an effective speaker, everyone would be one. Clearly, this formula doesn’t always ... Continue Reading

Give me the headline.

When things go wrong, they go wrong in a series of steps.   First my alarm didn’t go off, then I spilled coffee all down my front, then I was running late, then I got a speeding ticket, then I missed twenty minutes of the important client meeting…you see what I mean.   But if ... Continue Reading

Stop practicing.

Stop practicing.   That’s right. There comes a point in every preparation process when you need to take a break and stop practicing. More rehearsal won’t help until you’ve given yourself some time away from the material and from your own self, working on it.   Usually that day or so away helps you synthesize; ... Continue Reading

A difficult thing that we do every day.

Listening is a truly difficult task, and we do it, or attempt to, every day.   Even when we’re interested, even when we care about the person who is talking, listening truly and deeply is just…hard. Our minds are racing, thinking about what we need to get done, what we need to say, what the ... Continue Reading

Giving up the secret rules.

Each of us has rules that govern our behavior.   I’m not talking about laws, or policies, or even societal mores. I’m talking about our individual, internal rules that we’ve adopted over time, gathered from many sources. These rules tell us they will help us feel secure, they will keep us safe. An analogy my ... Continue Reading

What’s beyond my point of view?

I’m directing a play right now, Jeeves Saves the Day by Margaret Raether, which is an adaptation of P.G. Wodehouse’s famous Bertie and Jeeves stories from the 20s and 30s. In the play, a very thickheaded character named Egbert (Eggie) Bakewell is constantly getting himself and his cousin Bertie Wooster into trouble. No matter what ... Continue Reading