browse our blog archive - start with a search:
You know that I like to think about communication as starting from the mental (intention) and moving to the physical (alignment). But it’s also true that changing your body can affect how you feel! (We’re complicated creatures.) When you’re nervous, what do you do? Many people focus on why they’re nervous, maybe going over the ... Continue Reading
Helping our clients think about intention, or the outcome you hope to achieve with what you say, is key to our coaching work. There are two perfect times to use intention. One: before you begin a high-stakes communication. This could be a speech, a negotiation, or a difficult conversation, anything where you might be nervous ... Continue Reading
There’s a word that, when I use it in front of an unsuspecting room of workshop participants, never fails to produce a specific reaction: veiled horror combined with “oh I think I have an important client call/a gastrointestinal emergency.” That word? Improv. Almost everyone has a strong association with this word, particularly when it comes ... Continue Reading
Yesterday I wrote about the classic three-point talk and its benefits. Today I’m going to give you a technique to use to deliver your next three-point talk. It’s the Overlapping Circles technique, beautifully sketched by me below: One way to help your audience follow your talk is to physically locate the different elements in different ... Continue Reading
A lot of us learned this format in high school English class: your introduction lays out your theme and the three points you want to make to support the theme, then you explain each point, then you wrap it up with a summary. Perhaps because we learned this in Ms. Williamson’s class in 11th grade, ... Continue Reading
A good friend and reader of this blog texted me the following (edited for clarity): “Listening to a talk to get [continuing education credits]… The speaker keeps ending sentences with ‘…right?’ It makes me feel like she either feels insecure about what she’s saying, or she’s using a cheap way to be persuasive. It’s like ... Continue Reading
One reason to practice is to approximate the discomfort of the real thing. Doesn’t sound fun, does it? Athletes train in order to build their speed, skill, and strength, but also to get familiar with what it feels like to be deeply uncomfortable. Knowing that the 800 meter dash creates a specific sensation is valuable ... Continue Reading
Audiences are strange animals. With no prior planning or verbal communication, they decide, in an instant, how to respond to what’s going on in front of them. Rarely, there are outliers who laugh when no one else does, or fail to rise for a standing ovation, but for the most part, an audience acts as ... Continue Reading
A popular default intention is “to get it right” or ”to have all the answers.” Hang on, you might be thinking, what’s wrong with that? My job is to have the answers! Ignite CSP senior coach Neela Munoz has some insight:
Friends, I am struggling! I’ve written here before about Olympic weightlifting, and how challenging it is. For the last couple of months, I’ve been working one-on-one with a coach to iron out some of my bad habits and improve my technique. He is incredibly patient as I make the same mistakes over and over again. ... Continue Reading
© 2016 - 2024 IgniteCSP LLC | Site by TheFieryWell.com
