A Problem That’s Thankfully Rare Most of the time, an audience is on the speaker’s side. The people who come to hear you want you to succeed—in part because it’s more fun to listen to a speech that goes smoothly than to watch a speaker struggling onstage. But sometimes, your audience includes that person. The Read More
Public Speaking Skills
4 Secret Rules of “Office Speak”
Lately I’ve been helping lots of clients understand and upskill their use of “Office Speak.” What is that? It’s a “language” governing what, when, and how to communicate with the people in your office. It can be hard to pick up the nuances of workplace communication culture, especially if your office is virtual. But as with Read More
Public Speaking Strengths and Skills? You’ve Already Got Them!
That’s right: You’ve already got the strengths and skills you need to be a good, or even great, public speaker! That’s because “public speaking” is more—much more—than giving a formal presentation from a stage. You’ve been doing it your whole life. We Build Public Speaking Strengths and Skills Every Day It’s also “public speaking” when Read More
Wake Up to Public Speaking
It’s spring-like in New York these days, and the entire world seems to be waking up. This past week, I hung out at a jazz club, had dinner in a fancy restaurant, and went to a birthday gathering with 18 people, many of them strangers. None of that would be worth noting if it was Read More
Feedback Can Be Upsetting. Here’s How to Handle It.
Feedback goes by many names—criticism, notes, advice, suggestions, to cite just a few. It can be positive or negative, expected or unexpected, formal and well-thought-out or… not. It can even be something that you pursue. Many years ago, my friend DK Dyson—an extraordinary blues, jazz, and rock singer who also teaches yoga and advocates for Read More