Notes? Or Music?
When you go to a concert, do you want to hear the individual notes, or do you want to hear the music? When we come to your speech, we don’t care about the words, we want to hear your ideas.
What’s Going Wrong?
You know how sometimes you’ll see a play or a movie, and one actor’s performance stands out, and not in a good way? Afterwards you might say, “She seemed like she was in a different play than everyone else.” What’s going on when that happens? When one actor isn’t meshing with the production, they don’t ... Continue Reading
Copy That
I’ve been binge-watching “Below Deck,” the reality show that takes place on a chartered yacht. Viewers are treated to gorgeous sights of the Mediterranean where the boat cruises, fun scenes of guests on jet skis and water slides, and ongoing drama with the deckhands and stewards who crew the boat. In the midst of this ... Continue Reading
A Plea to Educators
My son is in high school, and recently he shared that a student in one of his classes gave a lengthy presentation using slides crammed with text, reading each bullet point aloud. “How am I supposed to learn?” he asked later. “I can’t process this information this way.” I’m not blaming the student. I’m sure ... Continue Reading
“…which is fine…”
Lately I’ve noticed a refrain from many friends and clients. They’re telling me about a situation with their boss, or colleague, or their kid’s teacher, or their partner. In the middle of explaining the situation, they pause and say: “which is fine, it’s fine.” Hang on. Is it fine? It doesn’t sound like it’s fine. ... Continue Reading
It’s Not About How Hard You Worked
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but… It doesn’t matter how hard you work on a thing. If I play basketball against my son, any basket I make is going to count the same as any basket he makes, even though I’ll have to work much harder to score. If I build my ... Continue Reading
Why You Should Like Sports :)
For most of my life, I was indifferent to/snobby about sports. “It’s just a game,” I sniffed. I didn’t get it: the stats, the fandoms, the lingo. What was the point? Why were grown people so riled up? Then, about seven years ago, I started to get it. Suddenly and unpredictably, I started to care—a lot. ... Continue Reading
Point to the Passer
The great Dean Smith was the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heel basketball team from 1961-1997. Smith had a rule that everyone who played for him followed, and that continues today at Carolina. When you make a basket after getting a pass from a teammate, you point to the person who passed you ... Continue Reading
Good News and Bad News
We have historically unprecedented access to technology that allows us to shoot videos, make movies, and record podcasts. The structures that used to allow only a tiny number of people to share their creations can be easily bypassed now. Anyone can make a movie on their phone and upload it to YouTube. Anyone can record ... Continue Reading
The Sixth Step of Practice
Last week, I shared six steps to create a presentation that you will know without having to memorize. If you missed it, here’s a recap: 1) Jot down the basic outline of your presentation on index cards, one per idea or topic. 2) Compose your speech out loud. Don’t write it down first. As you ... Continue Reading
