Ignite your power to communicate.
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People give a ton of bad public speaking advice. I’m sure it’s well-intentioned, but it’s counter-productive. Here is some of my favorite bad advice: Practice in a mirror Clasp your hands behind your back When you walk around it keeps the audience interested Look over their heads if you’re too nervous to make eye contact Be confident/Don’t …
I first wrote the post below in 2019. I still agree with it, and I thought I’d bring it back for another go. The theme of the post is freedom–mostly, how we respond to the way other people assert their freedoms. It feels particularly relevant to me after the last few weeks in this country, …
I love a Plan B, and sometimes it’s absolutely necessary. But sometimes Plan B is a way of copping out, of giving ourselves a way to not do the hard work. And here’s the truth about a Plan B—if you know it’s there, you’re going to use it. Using notes for a speech are the …
Why intention matters, part 7001— Because we can see it, read it in your body and hear it in your voice. You tell us exactly what is really going on with you, and boy is it fascinating! I was coaching a woman recently who had been asked to give a presentation about a new project …
There’s a moment that comes right before you say something. A moment when you’re drawing in breath to speak, when you can alter the course of what’s coming next. In that moment, where are you? What are you thinking about? Are you two steps down the road of the discussion you’re having, trying to win …
I have recently become fascinated with the birds in our backyard. I hung a little feeder, pulled out some bird books I got from my dad, our family birder, and started identifying the regular visitors. The first bird I confidently recognized was a small brown bird, a finch. I was pretty sure that’s what it …
When kids are little, we want them to try a lot of things. “How will you know what you like unless you try it?” We say this about foods, clothes, places, and people. In fact, some activities are engineered toward sampling lots of different things, for example in the Scouts programs. You are encouraged to …
Everybody doesn’t need to be equally good at everything. For some tasks and skills, having a basic competence is sufficient—let’s call that a 6. For other skills, where we really make our money and show our value, we need to be a 10. I don’t need to be good at accounting because i have a …
I went to a routine medical appointment yesterday. The woman who was taking care of me said, “Thank you for being so pleasant! That’s been in short supply here today.” Her comment surprised me (I think I’m an average amount of “pleasant,” as a person), and I asked what had happened. Without getting into details, …
Recently I spent the day at an amusement park not too far from where I live. When we arrived, fifteen minutes after the gates opened, there was a long line to get in, even for people who had bought their tickets ahead of time. We spent quite a while in the line, and throughout our …
