Ignite your power to communicate.
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I’ve been seeing a specific kind of strained communication more and more lately. See if this rings a bell for you: Two or more people are having a discussion that needs to lead to an outcome: a decision, an understanding, a set of actions. Somewhere in the back and forth, at least two people stop …
A good friend and I have been saying this to each other lately—“just start.” There are a ton of quotable quotes with this idea at their core: The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. (Lao Tzu) The secret of getting ahead is getting started. (Twain) The way to get started is …
I’m a huge fan of the HBO drama “Succession.” The third season ended last month, and I’ve been reading articles and listening to podcasts about the writers, the actors, the showrunner, and the rest of the creative team. In one interview, Mark Mylod, the director of many of the episodes, spoke about the decision that …
Do you ever have the experience of being sure you told someone an important something, but they don’t remember it? Or maybe you’re on other side of the exchange, with a friend or loved one insisting they mentioned a specific crucial topic to you, but you have no recollection of it? I have been noticing …
The majority of presenters kind of sneak up on their content. They have what I call a long on-ramp. They thank people, introduce themselves, give some context around what they’ll be talking about, then finally get around to what everybody came to hear. By now, several minutes have gone by, and the presenter has wasted …
You may have seen a speaker or someone at a conference say this, or you may have even said it yourself. “Well, I know I’m the only thing between you all and lunch, but I promise this will be worth it!” Or “…so I better get started.” Or some other version of this seemingly light-hearted …
Gratitude practices and journals have been taking off in recent years, for good reason. Taking a little time to focus on what’s going well, what we appreciate about our lives and each other, can reframe and elevate our experience and even our mental health. For many reasons, some productive and some less so, most of …
A question I get a lot when coaching public speaking is: How do I reach everyone in my audience? What can I do to make sure every single person receives my message? Short answer: You can’t do it. Even in a small group, everyone there has different priorities, interests, and backgrounds. If you try to …
Sometimes clients are referred to Ignite CSP because of negative feedback they received in a performance review, 360 survey, or client comment. The person hiring us passes this feedback along as if it is one of the Ten Commandments, carved into a stone tablet. “This negative thing happened! We need to go into immediate action!” …
I’ve been writing, thinking, and leading workshops about virtual communication for almost two years. In that time, I have been remarkably hit-or-miss in instituting some of my ideas with my own team. My explanations for this include some that our clients use: our team has worked together for a long time, we’re friends, we have …
