New Words to Wake Up Your Audience!
I was wrapping up a coaching session several months ago when I asked my client if he could meet the following Wednesday. He replied, “Sorry I can’t. I was “voluntold” by my boss to head the new search committee and our first meeting is that day.” I laughed out loud. ...
What is Your Core Message?
The firestorm that erupted over Missouri Representative Todd Akin’s remarks about “legitimate rape” has run the gamut from calls for him to step out of the senatorial race to new supporters donating to his campaign. It’s hard to swing a Fendi purse without knocking...
Could You Impress McKayla Maroney?
They train six days a week for seven hours a day with blisters, strained tendons, and the constant pressure to be perfect. And after all that pain and sacrifice, only five athletes get to compete. Can you imagine working that hard on a presentation only to be told...
The Fastest Way to Improve Your Public Speaking Skills
Given that it’s mid-August, this very brief post is written for people who cannot find the time to practice, prepare for or perfect their upcoming presentation. I get it. Between last-chance vacation days, Usain Bolt and Gabby Douglas, presidential running mate...
Could You Win an Elevator Pitch Competition?
Have you ever sat down on a wobbly bar stool? Your first reaction is, “Wo!” That’s how I feel when my clients think their work is done once they’ve crafted a winning resume or business plan and a killer cover letter. They are forgetting the third leg of the stool:...
Greetings from Boston’s Logan Airport?
This summer our twin teenagers flew from Boston’s Logan Airport to Seattle for a two-week vacation with their aunts and cousins. (Woo Hoo! Laissez le bons temps roulez!) My husband and I kissed them goodbye and headed back through Terminal C to Central Parking. In...
Shark Attack!
I can't get the interview with the father and son who "survived a great white shark attack " on Cape Cod out of my mind. Like most beach vacationers who saw the movie “Jaws”, I think way too much about sharks. In 1974, when “Jaws” debuted, I was a 16 year-old working...
The Yogini is In
My yoga dream is to achieve a full handstand balance in the middle of the room. I practice. Everyday for the last six months, I come into a handstand against my bedroom wall. Slowly I move one foot and then the other away from the wall. Most days I achieve a...
Should Men Cry in Public?
It’s so unusual to see a man cry. In public. In front of thousands of people. (Not to mention the millions watching on TV). But that is what Andy Murray did on Sunday after his heartbreaking loss to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon finals. If you have read my previous...
The Most Important Part of Storytelling…It’s Not What You Think
If you polled 100 people and asked them what was the most important part of a good story, 95 of them would likely say “the ending.” Actor Johnny Depp said of one of his movies, “All that matters is the ending. It’s the most important part of the story.” That may be...
Get Their Hearts Pounding in the Seats!
It’s that time of year again, when Bostonians make plans for the Fourth of July celebration on the Esplanade. I know the celebration in our nation’s capital is allegedly the be-all-end-all of extravaganzas, but still, the city of Boston rocks on the 4th. Neil Diamond...
Inside Vidal Sassoon
An interview with Richie Rivera, North American Color Director CD: How is it that you started presenting for Vidal Sassoon? RR: Actually, it began as a mistake. A “Look and Learn” color technique seminar for 75 hairdressers was being run in New York. The color...
Are You Ready to Speak?
Last week, I was lucky enough to attend a high school graduation in sunny SoCal. I was fortunate for two reasons. First, I timed it perfectly to escape the heat wave that stifled the northeast corridor, and second, I was able to hear ten speakers in a row – nirvana...
Colin Powell: Optimism as Strategy
I get much of my news and laughter from ‘The Daily Show with John Stewart.’ The faux-reporter exposés are my favorites (John Oliver was brilliant in the rain at the Queen’s Jubilee.) While I usually skip the celebrity interviews, I did watch the interview with Colin...
The Secret to Eliminating Stage Fright
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” - Maya Angelou We’ve all been there: that heart pounding, hand-shaking, holy s+*# moment as we stand up to present, sing, debate, or even eulogize in public. And...
Thou Shalt Commit Adultery
Oops. That should have been Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery. Following up on Charlotte’s previous post on Ben Yagoda’s New York Times piece about the misuse of commas, I wanted to remind us all about the importance of having someone else proofread our handouts and...