Most of us have heard this well-worn advice about structuring a talk: Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em Tell ‘em Then tell ‘em what you told ‘em. I have to admit, this rankles me a little. If this was all there was to being an effective speaker, everyone would be one. Clearly, this formula doesn’t always … Read more
I’ve been listening to a fascinating podcast called “Cautionary Tales,” recorded by an economist by Tim Harford. In each episode, he recounts a real story about something that went famously wrong, and he illuminates a larger lesson. In the first episode, he tells the story of the Torrey Canyon, a huge and beautiful ship … Read more
My husband, Charlie, is remodeling our laundry room, and in this process, he needed to build a counter. He used a mitre saw to get the edges just right, sandpaper to get it ready for the stain, and a hammer and small nails to attach the edging to the sides. In order to get the … Read more
Recently I had an experience that falls right into the “Everything is a metaphor for everything else” category. The head coach at my gym was describing what it feels like to train too hard without adequate rest and fuel. He said, “It’s like in a video game where you’re a character that’s walking down … Read more
Put this in the “Everything is a metaphor for everything else” category: We all have times in our lives when we don’t know what’s next. Something we counted on is gone, a person or a place or a job. Times of transition are often like this—“I knew what to expect in the last phase; … Read more
When do you default to your old habits? I’m thinking about this today as I recommit to budgeting, and meal planning, and generally being more intentional. All the tools I need to be good at this stuff are literally at my fingertips—apps, information, lots of ways to monitor and measure. But the driver of all … Read more
Welcome to Ignite CSP! When our company was born in 2007, we had to come up with a name pretty quickly. We knew we’d be working with corporate executives, and we’re all theatre people, so we combined “executive” and the word for a roster of plays (or in this case, skills): “repertory.” This name served … Read more
