One of the blessings of our online connection is the ability to discover and learn from extraordinary speakers and presenters. The artists, teachers, business leaders, scientists, and students who inspire, delight and model a path for intelligent, respectful...

…or a song, or an interview – really, any verbal communication that showed a genuine effort to rise above the mundane. And the winners are: “Give up all hope for a better past.” – Psychologist on self-help radio show “When someone says the average worker is doing...

I am learning to take my own advice* and decided to open my most recent workshop with this cartoon.  It was love at first sight - evoking laughter, truth, exaggeration, and wonder.  The artist fully captures the death knoll of speaker anticipation. My favorite aspect...

June 23,1990. Two hundred thousand people on the Esplanade struck silent, in awe, knowing deep down that it was not just an opportunity, but a privilege to witness a moment in history:  Nelson Mandela’s visit to the city of Boston, a scant four months after being...

  I’ll be brief. Technology is ruining our attention span. Add to that the flotsam and jetsam of everyday To Do lists and you have a distracted audience on your hands. Then you get up there and go on and on about the what and the why and the how – just like your...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De2yQZxyNb8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_J6DzFFTVk

Talk About an October Surprise!  Red Sox Nation is still on a high today, and we at SpeakWell Partners are still doing a happy dance. It seems fitting to honor the boys with the beards, and offer a service to our readers all at the same time! Before the “worst to...

I can't get two images from the movie Gravity out of my mind. First, the embryonic Bullock curled and circling in zero gravity and secondly the sequence of her free-flowing tears floating toward the audience. There was an otherworldly peace in these deeply human...

  Dear Doc: Our sales team is getting ready for a presentation next week where we will be pitching our products and services to a potential customer. It is not an exaggeration to say that the stakes are high – skyscraper high. Maybe that’s why we keep arguing...

Halfway through the Emmys, I was ready to turn the television off. Clever conceits, but a boring show.  It looked like a sumptuous party where no one was dancing or having much fun!  Then, thank god, the fabulously energizing choreography number lit up the stage. Was...

Billy Crystal is making the rounds promoting his new book, “Still Fooling ‘Em: Where I’ve Been, Where I’m Going and Where the Hell Are My Keys?.”  I was mesmerized during his interview with John Stewart, as much for his amazing storytelling skills as for John...

I decided to take matters into my own hands this week. The ugly, half-dead dwarf spruce had to go. After six years of tolerating it, I had reached my limit. Subtle (and then not-so-subtle) hints to the “man of the house” fell on deaf ears.  It was clear the task would...

These are the exact words a potential client spoke to me as she shared the increasing anxiety and discomfort she experiences during presentations and trainings that are now a part of her job responsibility.  During our conversation, this capable individual exuded...

It’s not charisma. It’s not intellect. It’s not the ability to memorize content.  All those characteristics are great, but they do not account for success in the “magic circle.”  The answer is this: successful presenters make the time to speak in public; they...

I am no equinophobe, but I find horseback riding unnerving. I have ridden enough to know some basic rules, but not enough that being in a saddle doesn't put me on guard. Our recent western "en famille" trail rides provide personal insights from a fake it-til-you make...