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It’s My Birthday, and I’ll Blog if I Want to…

As you probably know, my book Before You Say Anything: How to Have Better Conversations, Love Public Speaking, and Finally Know What to Do with Your Hands came out recently. Readers and clients have been emailing and texting, and here’s some of what I’ve heard: “I recommend this fantastic book for really just about everyone. ... Continue Reading

What Do You Say About the Elephant in the Room?

What do you do when there’s an elephant in the room?  The project went badly. The leadership made a mistake. There’s a lawsuit the company is going to have to deal with.  Do you address it yourself, or wait until a questioner brings up the lurking pachyderm? My advice, in most cases, is to go ... Continue Reading

Competing Intentions: The Cage Match

On August 24, I wrote about some ways to handle competing intentions that might surface on your team. In that situation, you’re all working to be intentional communicators, but people have different priorities. Today, let’s think about what happens when you don’t have the luxury of a shared vocabulary around intention. For example, you’re preparing ... Continue Reading

How Packing is Like a Speech

I have traveled for work for fifteen years. I also really like to travel, so I do it even when it’s not for work. In short, in non-pandemic times, I travel frequently. When I’m choosing what to pack for a business trip, it’s pretty simple. I have specific clothes that are for  “work,” so it’s ... Continue Reading

What we really need.

Today’s post was originally sent out in May of 2019. In recognition of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, I wanted to re-post it today.   If you’d like to see Come From Away yourself, it starts airing today on Apple TV.     Last week I got to see the musical “Come From Away” while ... Continue Reading

Big Announcement! (It’s the book!)

I’m thrilled to announce that my book, Before You Say Anything: How to Have Better Conversations, Love Public Speaking, and Finally Know What to Do with Your Hands, is making its debut TODAY!  If you’re a reader of this blog, the book’s big ideas will be familiar to you. What’s different is that the whole thing ... Continue Reading

The Problem with Peanut Butter

Peanut butter is a delicious and filling snack. Peanut butter is sticky. Peanut butter eaten ten minutes before you’re recording an interview is…not a great idea. Maybe have some apple slices instead. (My son Cameron read this blog post and said, “I don’t get it. Is there a metaphor here?” Nope. No metaphor. Straight talk ... Continue Reading

The Control Panel of Behavior

Sometimes I think about all of our vast array of communication behaviors as being like knobs and sliders on a control panel.  Each one of the knobs adjusts and mediates a behavior: pausing, volume, eye contact, gestures, cadence, pace, vocabulary, etc.  We probably have some factory settings (I might even call them default settings), that, ... Continue Reading