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In a workshop I did last week, a woman said, “I am often in back to back 30-minute meetings for seven or eight hours. How can I stay present for all of them? It’s exhausting!” Yes. It is. Seth Godin writes about this concept–emotional labor is what many of us do now. We’re not digging ... Continue Reading
Clients often ask us why we don’t want them to memorize a presentation. “Isn’t that the best way to make sure I remember everything?” Aside from the fact that remembering every word you planned isn’t the most important aspect of your presentation, the problem with memorizing is that your voice doesn’t sound the same as ... Continue Reading
A client and I were working on her presentation. As often happens, as soon as she started to “present,” her personality flattened out, her voice contracted to a monotone, and her eye contact vanished. The content she was delivering was good, but it was hard for me to know what was important and what wasn’t, ... Continue Reading
When people are preparing to go on certain game shows, they practice “buzzing in.” On shows like Jeopardy!, proper buzzer technique can be the difference between winning and never getting to answer a question. In order to compete, you have to be able to hit the buzzer the instant you think you might possibly have ... Continue Reading
I’m watching an intriguing saga unfold out of my office window. I have recently gotten really fascinated by the birds in our back yard, and over the weekend I hung a feeder from a tree branch right outside my window. I can see the tree and feeder right over my laptop screen. The feeder itself ... Continue Reading
Recently I’ve been thinking about what it means to “go back to the basics.” The basics, the fundamentals, the building blocks—those elements of skill and craft that you have to master before you can move on to something harder. Typically, once you have moved on, you don’t look back. You don’t revisit the alphabet in ... Continue Reading
My daughter Nora is working as a host at a local restaurant this summer. Recently she told me about a strange phenomenon she’s noticed when she answers the phone. Often, the caller will be Google Assistant. The potential diner uses Google Assistant to find out whether there’s a wait time. So far, so good. This ... Continue Reading
I was having a coaching session with a new client last week, and he related that about 50% of the time when he has to give a work presentation, he dreads it. It always goes fine, but from the moment he finds out about it, he wishes it were over. I asked, “What do you ... Continue Reading
I was talking with a good friend recently who was dealing with a professional dispute. The issues at hand were complex, and she and I were discussing her next steps. She shared a draft of her notes with me, the thoughts she was marshaling for her next conversation with them. It included, in addition to ... Continue Reading
I’ve written about this topic before, but I’ve been thinking about it lately in a new way. My kids can tell you the three things I hope I have really instilled in them as their mother, three lessons that will serve them throughout their lives. Here they are: 1) Never get a haircut you can’t ... Continue Reading
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