Long On-Ramps Are Only Good for the Interstate
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 …
Don’t Tell Me That You’re Standing Between Me and Lunch
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 …
What on Earth Is There to Be Thankful For?
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 …
Three Things That Can Derail Your Presentation, and How to Avoid Them
There are so many things that can go wrong when you’re giving a talk. Let’s look at just three: 1) Your tech. The number one thing that throws speakers off their game is when the microphone or PowerPoint doesn’t work. 2) The room (real or virtual) isn’t what you expected. 3) Your time is cut …
Who Needs to Hear You?
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 …
How Much Weight Should We Give Your Feedback?
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!” …
Autumn is a New Beginning; or,Three Things I Should Have Been Doing Already
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 …
What Do You Say About the Elephant in the Room?
What do you do when there’s an elephant in the room? The project went badly. The leadership made a mistake. There’s a lawsuit the company is going to have to deal with. Do you address it yourself, or wait until a questioner brings up the lurking pachyderm? My advice, in most cases, is to go …
The Problem with Peanut Butter
Peanut butter is a delicious and filling snack. Peanut butter is sticky. Peanut butter eaten ten minutes before you’re recording an interview is…not a great idea. Maybe have some apple slices instead. (My son Cameron read this blog post and said, “I don’t get it. Is there a metaphor here?” Nope. No metaphor. Straight talk …
How Can I Handle Competing Intentions?
I got to spend some time last week with a wonderful team of people doing incredibly cool work. We were talking about my favorite topic: intentional communication! This team has chosen to really engage with the idea of intention, and to work it into their culture. In fact, they begin meetings by asking what intentions …
