“You’re no good. And you’ll never amount to anything!” This is the most insidiously hurtful story a child can hear from a parent or authority figure. It can become faulty wiring that short-circuits your ability to overcome setbacks throughout your entire life. Ironically, the accusation is often a projection of that authority figure’s own frustrations…
On Monday I taught a workshop on public speaking for video, and as usual I ask the audience to segment themselves into three categories. I use a color code similar to the homeland security threat levels. Green is for those who are agreeable to speak when asked; yellow for those “hesitant but willing to do…
I’d rather be grilled slowly over a medium flame than grilled by Congress. It’s like being in court with multiple prosecutors hurling trap questions at you designed to humiliate and embarrass and serve their own agendas to get re-elected. And you have no judge or defense attorney yelling “I object.” If you ever get the…
You know that moment when the wheels start to come off your meeting. People begin looking at their phones and start having side conversations. The murmur interrupts and distracts from the “main” conversation. And before you know it, people are excusing themselves to move on to more important things. You ask yourself, “What happened? How…
I was just asked this question in a group coaching session. If you have a business purpose for your Facebook Live video, there are three things you can do besides looking down and awkwardly reading a few names out loud as people join in: 1) Start your content. That’s right… actually start on time, especially…
I still get this question, “Hey, you’re not at Cisco anymore? What do you do now?” I left in 2016 after a successful 10-year run and began pursuing my life mission as a speaker and coach. I had enough of people saying I had missed my calling, so I finally picked up the call. Those…
Some people fear death. Some fear public speaking. For groundbreaking comic book artist Kelley Jones, his greatest fear is boredom. He spoke at a lunchtime session I attended on Halloween, an appropriate day given the creepy characters he has brought to life in such a radical new way. The Sandman, Swamp Thing and even Batman…
There’s a popular book called “Eat This, Not That,” a handy guide to making better choices in your diet. Perhaps our business communication would benefit from the same approach. How can you reduce the amount of negative interactions you have each day and increase your healthy and productive communications at work? I’ve occasionally been accused…
I just spent a long day doing “donation triage” at the Petaluma Fairgrounds, receiving generous amounts of supplies for the victims of the Bay Area fires. It was my first time volunteering at a center for evacuees and I must say… it was chaotic. Cars and trucks were dumping off bottled water, diapers, pillows, blankets…
Why do personal conflicts escalate so quickly with non-profit volunteers? Why do factions form like tribal alliances on Survivor? What’s the secret to harmonious teamwork? I was asked to facilitate a mid-year review and planning meeting for a group of 15 active volunteers who rescue German Shepherds in Northern California. As each person introduced themselves…