Intention

It’s easy to remember to be grateful when it’s brought to our attention. Thanksgiving? I’m grateful! Close call with illness? Grateful! Unexpected gorgeous day? Oh, yes, grateful! What does it take to cultivate gratitude on the off-days? The times when we’re just chugging along, doing our thing? Or when it feels like nothing is going …

A director friend of mine told me a story once about a theatrical piece he worked on. The piece was primarily musical, but it included staged elements. He lobbied for a specific, very talented, top-of-the-line lighting designer to be part of the artistic team for the piece. As my friend tells it, the lighting designer …

Audiences are such interesting creatures. They are, of course, made up of many people with different backgrounds, hopes, reasons to be there, and preoccupations. At the same time, as any actor or public speaker can attest, each audience has a unified personality.  Some audiences are quiet. Some are raucous. Some give off a “I’ll let …

Even if you’re late to the meeting, don’t look rushed. Even if the speaker before you cut into your time by ten minutes, don’t look rushed. Even if you overcommitted and have two other places to be, don’t look rushed. Looking rushed is a default intention. It’s an effort we’re making to make sure other …

Recently I got to watch a group of interesting, passionate women tell stories. One woman shared the story of when she started a golf tournament fundraiser for her local Make-A-Wish chapter.  The first section was very deliberately crafted—she used phrases like “And then I turned from my computer and let out a sigh of disappointment.” …

Ironically, shooting quick videos to promote our work at Ignite CSP is something I procrastinate about. Even though I spend all day coaching other people to present, give speeches, and yes, show up on camera, it’s still a skill I’m working to improve. Making polished, concise, compelling videos, particularly ones that need to reflect your …

“He went up, contorted his body so he could get his hands in position to make the catch, shielded off the defender, caught the ball, tucked it in to protect it from the other defender, and then fell to the ground.” I don’t really know much about football, but this description of what one player …

Recently I asked a client, as I often do: How would you like your audience to feel? He answered with a lengthy summary of all the points of his talk, then said, “Of course, they won’t remember everything.” I asked again, “Okay, so putting the elements of your content aside, how do you want them …

Have you ever seen a sports coach argue with a referee? Like, really go after it?  The coach might be really really angry, or she might be…doing it for the team.  I was thinking abut this today when a client and I were talking about whether a default intention is ever productive. My inclination is …

My company coaches and leads workshops for people and teams who typically have been in the workforce for a while. Very often, they’ve had other coaching in public speaking skills. I know this in two ways. One, they tell me. “Well, you know we did two days with X company ten years ago, so…” [read: …