Don’t Follow Bad Advice
This seems obvious. When someone gives you bad advice, just…don’t do it. Ignore it. The problem comes when you can’t identify the advice as being bad. You’re not an expert in the topic, and whatever you’ve been told seems reasonable. How can we protect ourselves from the bad advice when we can’t tell it’s bad? …
You Can’t Recapture the Magic
Sometimes you’re in rehearsal, and everything just clicks. The jokes land, the heartstrings are tugged, people are inspired, and you reach a new height of achievement. That rehearsal makes you feel like a freakin’ genius! Here’s the pitfall of that experience, though. It feels so good that you (understandably) want to chase that feeling, so …
A Place to Think and a Place to Do
I started going to a new gym recently, and the coach I was working with yesterday did something I’ve never seen before (but that I am absolutely going to steal for my own coaching.) We were working on a technical part of a weightlifting movement, one that I really struggle with. He said: “Okay, when …
Are You Ready for a Dress Rehearsal?
A dress rehearsal marks the final opportunity for actors to rehearse a play before an audience arrives. It runs exactly like a performance: all the costumes (the “dress” part of the phrase), lights, props, sound, set and other production elements are present. No one stops or calls for a line. It starts when the curtain …
Simply Doing the Thing Isn’t a Replacement for Practice
Many good public speakers speak so often that it can seem redundant to practice. If you’re addressing groups large and small a couple times a week, doesn’t that become its own practice? Not really. The value of true practice—working through a piece methodically, being videoed, getting knowledgable feedback, trying sections over and over until the …
Getting (Knowledgeable) Feedback
The manager doesn’t get her job performance review from the barista in the lobby. The department head wouldn’t ask his next-door neighbor to go over his projections for the fiscal year. The coach isn’t looking into the stands for insight to fix his team’s struggles. The manager, the department head, and the coach turn to …
“If You Do It in Practice…”
“If you do it in practice, you’ll do it in a game.” I don’t know who said this originally, but it’s a piece of sports wisdom that jumps right off the page at me. When I came across it recently, the person saying it meant that if you do it right in practice, you’ll do …
“I Can’t Understand You When You Say Something I Don’t Like”
Sometimes clients are referred to us for communication coaching, and we can’t…quite tell why. They’re smart and clear, and they don’t struggle to convey their meaning, at least when they’re talking to us. When we dig a little bit, an interesting situation reveals itself. The people who referred the client to us don’t like what …
Fitting It in Around the Edges
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 …
The Wise World of Sports
“If you do it in practice, you’ll do it in a game.” I don’t know who said this originally, but it’s a piece of sports wisdom that jumps right off the page at me. When I came across it recently, the person saying it meant that if you do it right in practice, you’ll do …
