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People who love baseball certainly will remember its originator, Yogi Berra as one of the game’s most memorable players and coach. Many other people know him only for his absurd, but sometimes insightful quotes which spawned their own name: “yogiisms” — defined as seemingly nonsensical or self-contradictory statements that actually convey serious thoughts once listeners untangle the knots of their unusual phrasing. Reading in the papers about mostly wrong predictions from 2018 and new ones

Jeff and Nina were at a Christmas party all of the thirty seconds when Nina whispered in Jeff’s ear, “I think Joan [one of the women in Jeff’s office] is getting divorced.” Jeff thought Nina was nuts, but a week later Joan herself told him that she had separated from her husband. When Jeff asked his mystical wife how she knew, Nina said, “Easy. She looked relaxed, had a great new haircut, and was playing

I have always learned so much about the male mindset through my brother and many times it was contrary to what society was teaching. He was always a great ally to my sister and I when confronting our irrational and impulsive mother. I continue to learn from him by having very candid conversations about male/female dynamics and perspectives. He is angered about the #metoo stories coming out and couldn’t imagine taking advantage of an incapacitated

Time for some wordplay and levity… “He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.” – Winston Churchill “Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I’ll waste no time reading it.” – Moses Hadas “He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know.” – Abraham Lincoln “I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play, bring a friend… if you

Working as a speech coach, one of the successful techniques I use to help people speak clearly is to figure out where there may be snags in their speech patterns. Here are two of the most common. 1. Are you dropping volume at the end of sentences? It is normal to soften your volume at the end of a thought, but don’t trail your sentences into oblivion.  Assess your volume by taping yourself and checking

Communication fascinates me. This is one of the reasons why I love being a communication trainer and coach.  Communication is like breathing, it’s happening through every person every minute of the day. Communication breakdowns are inevitable no matter how thoughtful we are. As a communication trainer, I can become an observer/researcher to distract myself from negatively reacting (sometimes) as I did on a recent family visit. The opportunity to learn came from my 19 year

Hearing and listening are not the same process.  Hearing is the physical act of sound striking the eardrum.  Listening is differentiating among those sounds. Hearing is an involuntary and reflective act.  Listening is a voluntary and initiative act.  As you read these words, you are hearing sounds in the room or outside the building.  You are probably hearing an air-conditioning system or a furnace, or voices in the hallway. Perhaps you are hearing street traffic or an

In Nan and Billy’s house it goes like this: Nan: I wish I could find a cause to get into, maybe volunteering or just doing something worth-while. Billy: So call the College Club – I heard they need help, and the hospital gift shop might be looking for    volunteers.  Nan: Forget it, you don’t even know what I’m interested in. Billy: Geez! Why bring it up if you don’t want my opinion? Billy means well,

Three different speech coaching clients have told me how they are planning to follow the steps of Amazon and do away with PowerPoint in their senior executive meetings. Fortunately, I was able to stop this colossal mistake before it was too late. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not unaware of the torture and mis-communication that can happen when PowerPoint is used.  I agree and support that certain types of meetings are best conducted without it.