When & How to Interrupt In general… don’t interrupt. In one-on-one conversations and group settings, listen attentively and take turns talking. Don’t monopolize conversations, speak over others, or impatiently finish their sentences. Sometimes, though, you...
How to Recover When You Stumble I’ve had my share of communication mess-ups. As a speaker, I get plenty of opportunities to embarrass myself in front of people. I sometimes misspeak, stumble over my words (or my feet), forget to advance slides, or find some...
How to Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking You’ve probably heard it said that public speaking ranks as the #1 fear among Americans. While I find it hard to believe that most people would choose skydiving or petting a tarantula over giving a speech, fear of...
How to Tell an Engaging Story Summertime. What childhood memories does that word conjure up for you? Ice cream? Splashing in a pool? Camping? I remember Grandma and Granddad’s summertime visits. Every year they flew over from England. We would save up our...
Climb the Corporate Ladder: Susan’s Story “Nice to meet you,” my coaching client said, as she walked into the office. She walked briskly to the chair I indicated, sat down, and asked, “How do we get started?” Susan* knew exactly what she wanted in life, and as...
The Power of the Pause My five-year-old burst through the door one day, calling out, “Guess what, Mama! GUESS WHAT we found in the backyard!!!!” “What?” I asked. But she refused to say. “What is it?” Again, she didn’t answer. She covered her mouth and ran back...
