10 Feb Answering Off the Cuff

#1 Thinking on your feet 

When I meet potential clients, their needs span many areas, but I want to talk about one I find almost everywhere I go.  “How can I be better at speaking off the cuff?”  Easy!  Well, honestly, it is easy, but to explain how it’s easy, let’s talk about what you are asking for.

Speaking off the cuff, thinking on your feet, or any other way you describe it, comes from the idea of speaking with limited notes in a time crunch.  You don’t get to take a lot of time to fully plan a response. You must deliver at that moment!  So, the way you can be ready for anything is to prepare ahead of time.  (more…)

26 Jan Random Reasons Clients Like Virtual Meetings 

As a communication coach working with  hundreds of clients virtually, I’ve asked, “Why do you  prefer Zoom to a real room?”

Here are my fave fun replies.  Add your virtual virtue in the comments below. 

1. I can eat garlic bread and smelly cheese on a break 
2. I only have to wash the front part of my hair 
3. I can wear my  shirt with a hole on the back collar 
4. I am all alone in the bathroom. 
5. I pound out three emails in thirty- minutes, and no one knows 
6. I look ten years younger with my ring light-yes! 
7. I can emit natural body noises without shame. 
8. I get to wear my cuddly red polka dot pajama bottoms 
9. I learned to speak without moving my lips to people in my house 
10. Your contribution? 

17 Jan How to Be A Listener-Centric Communicator

11 Jan Choosing a High Quality Speech Coach

If you are looking for a communication coach to help you with your effectiveness as a communicator, I urge you to check out the new book published by Rutledge. It’s called The Handbook of Communication Training. It features 50 different communication professionals, experts, professors, and practitioners from around the United States who have come together to agree that the best communication coaching and learning happens when your coach has been trained and shows prowess in these seven best practices. They are: (more…)

15 Dec Can You Learn Presentation and Public Speaking Skills in an Online Course?

Clients often tell us about an online course they found, or their company has provided, on Public Speaking and Presentation Skills. Then, they ask us what we think of it.

There are two primary considerations:

1. Yes, you can learn some communication skills alone and online.

2. The skills you need must be compatible with online learning.

Number two explains the potential challenges with learning communication skills online. (more…)

26 Nov Why Doesn’t a Power Pose Work for Me? 

Dating back as far as the 1950s, psychologists have connected the idea of your physical position with confidence. For example, people associated the psychology of “walking tall”  with confidence.  Over the decades, the concept evolved. In addition, movies, television, and social media have projected what confidence looks like.  So it’s not much of a surprise when language like “power pose” and “Wonderwoman pose “ have gained new attention to the idea that your physical stance can impact confidence.  (more…)

22 Nov Don’t Talk Too Much! 

If you are a person who tends to give others too much information or go down rabbit holes of multiple topics, you will benefit by mastering an awareness of how much content you can deliver in 60 seconds. In addition, organizing your thoughts and practicing the delivery as a Subject Matter Expert will help you engage your listeners and make a memorable impact.  (more…)

8 Nov Managing Body Language in Difficult Communication Settings

It is important to observe your listeners’ body language as a first step. Whether in the room with you or on video conference, your listeners may exhibit signs of stress because of a lack of clarity or contentious information. What does this look like? The listeners may engage in side conversations. There may be a rumbling in the audience.  This tells you, the speaker, that you’ve done something to trigger this reaction and produce negative reactions. (more…)

19 Oct Are you having conflict and disagreement at work?

Are you having conflict and disagreement at work?
Then, follow the advice of the thought leader….and get off the keyboard!

A Japanese client from a well-known American-owned private equity firm in Tokyo recently worked on persuasion for my coaching efforts. We ended up analyzing a Ted Talk from Julia Dhar, a noted Australian speaker on debate, conflict, and persuasion. (more…)

7 Oct Calling all Wonder Women! 

As female leaders, we must stay current with strategies for communicating our confidence. So, here’s an exciting piece of research. As a Coach, I work with my clients to focus on the goal of speaking with confidence.

The way we talk about our accomplishments can make or break us. So, here’s an interesting article to help keep perspective. The research focuses on identifying key female areas communicators can use to strengthen their effectiveness.

Be a business superhero in your skin and harness your tools speak with confidence.

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30 Sep Communication Style

What impression do other people have of you?  Have you ever focused on what and how you communicate with others? If asked to use two words to describe you, what would they say?  For that matter, what would you say? Centuries ago, Sir Walter Raleigh wrote that communication needs to be “chameleon-like.” He was not talking about being something different with each person you meet.  He was urging leaders of the time to be aware of their communication style. (more…)

15 Sep Is It Possible to Over Prepare for a Presentation?

When preparing a presentation, TED talk, webinar, investor pitch, wedding toast, or anything in between, there can be a struggle with how much to prepare in advance. (more…)

20 Jul What Continued Zoom Fatigue and the COVID Delta Variant Means for You and Your Team 

If you’re like me, you’ve experienced heavy Zoom fatigue in the last 16 months. During this ongoing pandemic, it’s earned its slang term, right alongside “Quarantine” (the drink you make with whatever you can find in your fridge or freezer), “Blursday” (an unspecified day because of lockdown’s disorientating effect on time), “zoom bombing” (hijacking a Zoom video call). “WFH” (working from home) and “quaranteams” (online teams created during lockdown).   (more…)

13 Jul Does virtual presenting level the speaking field?

Last week, I worked with a client who shared with me that her nervousness associated with public speaking was not as much of a problem since the world went virtual.  I was curious about what changed for her or what had helped her.  When working with clients on controlling their nervousness, there are many things to be considered.  A major focus of the help we bring is with thoughts.  The thoughts are what people say to themselves before, during, and after the presentation. We all talk to ourselves.  It’s what we say that has a tremendous impact on how well we can control nervousness.   She said, “Kristen, we are all equal now. Everyone is in the same size box.  No one takes up more space than anyone else on the screen.”  Hearing this brought a smile to my face.  This client has successfully changed her thoughts to be more positive and productive. So whether or not you believe that virtual presenting levels the speaking field, the more important takeaway is that changing the way you think about something and internalize it helps create a more positive outcome.     

6 Jul Paraprosdokians

We love paraprosdokians, figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected.

1. Where there’s a will, I want to be in it.
2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it’s still on my list.
3. Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
4. If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.
5. War does not determine who is right – only who is left.
6. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
7. They begin the evening news with ‘Good Evening,’ then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.
8. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
9. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out, I just wanted pay checks.
10. In filling out an application, where it says, ‘In case of emergency, notify:’ I put “DOCTOR.”
11. I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
12. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street…with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
13. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.
14. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.
15. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.
16. Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.
17. There’s a fine line between cuddling and…holding someone down so they can’t get away.
18. I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not so sure.
19. You’re never too old to learn something stupid.
20. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.
21. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.
22. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
23. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
24. I’m supposed to respect my elders, but now it’s getting harder and harder for me to find one.

30 Jun Executive presence: what is it, why do you need it, and how do you build it?

During these last 467 days, we’ve had to make significant adjustments to the way we convey our presence and confidence. As we moved into a virtual world, executive presence was created, focusing on how we look and sound on camera.  So, the question is, how do we build a relationship with somebody that you’re only meeting from the waist up? How do you establish that executive presence in a way that can build trust and rapport?  In this medium, accepting its limitations and advantages, one aspect of projecting executive presence is the ability to inspire confidence. This means inspiring confidence in our peers as capable and reliable colleagues. In our junior folks, it’s inspiring confidence as a leader that they want to follow. And, importantly among senior leaders, inspiring confidence instills that you have the potential for great achievements.  (more…)