Ignite your power to communicate.
Featured Post
I have coached a lot of people who are preparing for big presentations: to get promotions, interview for jobs, or speak in front of high-stakes audiences. Recently, for the first time, a client asked me: “When you’ve coached people before who have been successful at this, what is the common thread? Is there something they …
Quick tip: If you’re speaking in a meeting, facilitating, or presenting in the same room with a projector, remember that projectors are loud. Projectors have built-in fans, and those create white noise. We acclimate to the white noise, and then we don’t quite realize that we need to project over the projector. Make it easy …
Here is something that frequently happens when I’m working with a client on a speech, talk, or presentation: We rehearse what they’ve written, which is fine, but almost always takes a while to get to the point. I ask, “What are you hoping the audience will take away from what you say?” They tell me, …
Lately, I’ve really gotten into the New York Times game Spelling Bee. It’s a word game: there are six letters arranged around one letter in the center (like a daisy). The object is to make as many words as you can from the seven letters, and each of them must contain the center letter. Usually, …
In many fields, teams work together to achieve something. Could be a software launch, a complex tax return, building a house, or winning a basketball game. In each case, though, lots of things have to get done, and different people are responsible for various tasks. Ultimately, they all have to come together in a timely …
People are almost always thinking about themselves. So they’re not thinking about you. And when you’re most worried that they’re thinking about you? They’re still thinking about themselves. I find this really freeing! What’s possible when I remember that I’m really the only person thinking about me?
I hate running. I know there are a lot of people who love it, who find peace and even exultation in running. That sounds great! My experience is more like: “This is terrible, my legs are heavy, I’m so slow, nobody is as slow as I am, this is dumb, when will this be over”—at …
See if this feels familiar: You’re in the audience of an enthusiastic presenter. Her slides are pretty good, and she clearly knows her stuff. She drops a lot of knowledge on you. After talking for 20 minutes, she takes a breath and says, “Any questions?” She looks around for a second, scanning the room, then says, …
When people are preparing to go on certain game shows, they practice “buzzing in.” On shows like Jeopardy!, proper buzzer technique can be the difference between winning and never getting to answer a question. In order to compete, you have to be able to hit the buzzer the instant you think you might possibly have …
Many people find silence difficult: a pause of even a few seconds can feel awkward and interminable. As a result, they keep talking, to fill the void. The immediate goal, to avoid silence, is met. But what’s the unintended consequence? The other person can have a hard time getting their voice heard. If this is …
