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Did your mother ever tell you to sit up straight? My mom did, and I hear myself saying it to my own kids now. Here’s why– Sitting up straight is a movement that immediately changes other physical behaviors, too. Your eyes look up and out, your shoulders roll back, and your neck straightens. You’re ready ... Continue Reading
The street I live on doesn’t have a sidewalk. Runners, people walking to the bus, drivers, and cyclists share the same road. Traffic is relatively sparse; there are seldom several cars at once going in either direction. When I’m walking on the road outside my house and a car is coming towards me, one of ... Continue Reading
A few years ago I watched a remarkable documentary called 20 Feet from Stardom. This film follows the careers of several back-up singers—men and women whose names you probably don’t know, but who had enormous influence on music you’ve heard all your life. They sang with the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Sting, ... Continue Reading
A new friend of mine, Ginger Davis Allman, wrote something really smart recently that she said I could borrow for you. Here it is: There’s a difference between SKILL and INFORMATION. My students often assume something is a talent, so they seek information, not realizing that what they’re missing is a skill. Skills come from ... Continue Reading
Every time we interact with another person, that experience adds to their cumulative understanding of who we are. If we behave, on balance, with impatience more than with empathy, that’s who we become to others. It doesn’t matter if I don’t think of myself as an impatient person if that’s how I behave. This matters ... Continue Reading
We are often hired to coach people who have been told they need more “executive presence.” This is one of those pieces of feedback that is completely in the eye of the beholder; it’s a moving target. Often, “improving executive presence” simply means “look and act more like the person giving the feedback.” If that’s ... Continue Reading
Ignite CSP senior coach Neela Munoz has been noticing a few things that are specific to how we communicate when we’re on a video conference–check it out!
On this Labor Day in the United States, I’m curious. What is your labor? I don’t mean “what work do you do,” but instead “what feels like labor to you?” Another way to think about this is: what work do you do that you need respite from? This question is coming up for me because ... Continue Reading
This insight is crazy, I know. But I mention it because it seems to me that even though we know this, in our brains, we still struggle to really take it in. Different people…like different things. For us as communicators, this can be confusing because we succeed with one group and then fail with others. ... Continue Reading
When you’re in the audience, your job is to show up fully. Bring your attention, your ears, your patience. Bring your empathy. Bring your openness. The job of the audience is to remember that communication is a two-way street—the speaker can’t do 100% of the work. You have to meet them partway.
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