Every time we communicate, we’re guessing. What words will convey our meaning most closely? How can I say this so that she really gets it? What tone of voice will help my words hit their mark?   This gets harder when the message is more complicated—not necessarily technically complicated, but emotionally complicated. How can I …

If your PowerPoint slides can do the work of your presentation without you, just email it out and save everyone the trouble and expense of travel.   Elevate your presentation beyond the slide deck. We can read your slides at home; we came to listen to you.   Learn about Ignite’s Presenting with Impact workshop here!

When you speak about a topic you know well, one the hardest things to do is determine what information belongs in the presentation and what you must leave out. The default position is to fit as much in as you can, to tell the audience everything you know, to show your homework. “After all,” the …

A million articles will tell you what you need to do to be successful, get more done, make more money, lose weight, get fit, get organized (especially this time of year). But most of them leave out a big component of any new venture.   What support do you need? Who can you count on? …

I was supposed to be asleep at 4 o’clock this morning. Instead, I was wide awake, trying to figure out what to do with myself. I lay there for a while, tossing and turning, and then I had a vision.   I saw myself in our warm kitchen, listening to music and drinking tea. That …

If someone tells you they are afraid, or angry, or worried, they are telling you an emotional truth. Responding with a rational answer doesn’t meet their need—if they were feeling rational about it, they would have said something different.   Answer the sense of their need, not your idea of how you can logically solve …

When we’re dreading a speech or presentation, it’s easy to feel negative about every single thing regarding the experience. The room, the time of day, the equipment, and most of all, the audience, who will be sitting there just waiting to judge us.   I want to encourage you not to make the audience your …

I mentioned in a recent post that my husband Charlie was renovating our laundry room (It’s done, by the way! Looks awesome!)  In order to do the work, Charlie needed to knock a hole in an existing wall.   The moment of creating the hole is one of commitment. Once I do this, I have …

  Do you ever feel like you’re not getting your point across? Or maybe you’re not an effective speaker? Let’s leave your baggage in 2019 and focus on the future– Learn more about Ignite’s workshops here!  

We frequently think of “communication” as what we say, and we work a lot on the words we use and how we’ll say them.  But all communication must be heard to be effective, so it makes sense that we want to develop our listening skills, as well. One of Ignite CSP’s themes for 2020 is …