January 2014

A great start to the new year!

My January newsletter blog deals with transformations: those of the nominees for Best Actor, 2014 SAG Awards; and those about to happen at Don't Await It, Create It LIVE later this month.

You can also find more info about my upcoming workshops in January. And here you will find details about Focus on You, my service that gets your  business video story out there.

Tips you can use!

You gotta get out there!
The weather outside may be frightful, but getting out and taking a walk, breathing fresh air and moving is just what the doctor ordered. Bundle up, put those boots on, and take a brisk turn around the block before work or  during lunch. Get the blood moving and clear your head for better productivity!

Look again  
When you feel you can't take one more look at your own words, avoid the temptation to say you are finished. Take a break, come back, and read all your writing (not just your speeches) out loud. If you hear no errors, and like the flow, then you are done!  

Answer the question asked
In the old days, speakers were told to handle tough Q & A sessions by answering the question they wanted to answer,  not the one that had been asked. Those days are over. If you try that now, you lose credibility, and may get unsolicited advice on purchasing a hearing aid! 

December 2013

A very happy holiday season to you!

This has been an amazing growth year for my business. And I thank readers of this newsletter for being a part of that success. As I look forward to 2014 I wanted to share with you an exciting event I will be participating in this January. My friend, colleague, and client Julie Jakopic of iLead Strategies is hosting Don't Await It, Create It LIVE January 17- 19 in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia. Julie calls this an "experiential event for Big Thinkers & Game Changers." The goal of the weekend is simple. Julie and her team (including me!) will lead you in a paradigm-shifting experience. You will leave with strategies to help you transform your personal and professional life. Don't Await It, Create It LIVE gives you space to discover--or reconnect with--your own creative energy, so you can always BE your best self. You can see how my work of helping you embrace your own authentic leadership presence fits right in!

My gift to you

I am sure Don't Await It, Create It LIVE will appeal to many of my clients, as well as other readers of this newsletter. I'd love to see you there! So I am offering you a special bonus for signing up to attend. The first five of my readers to register will get a free 40-minute consulting session with me. We can meet by video chat or phone call to work on an upcoming presentation, discuss your speaking style or other leadership communications issues. Simply register at this site, and e-mail or call me at 703.244.7546 to let me know you're attending. Then we can book your session. Have a presentation before Don't Await It, Create it LIVE? I can help with that, too!

Enjoy the holidays. I hope to see you early and often in 2014!

Tips you can use!

Be the toastmaster!

If you think there is a chance you will be called upon to speak at a holiday gathering, give it some thought. Less is more this time of year, so prepare a good (short) story to reinforce one key point, and your success will be assured.  

Flash, not flesh

Ladies: a holiday party thrown by business colleagues is not the venue to "bare it all." No matter what you see on TV and the movies, this can only result in sabotaging your professional credibility. Please pass the word on to your interns.

Relax!

It's easy to get stressed this time of year, but you can sail through if you remember to breathe--deeply and often. Fortunately, delicious aromas and scents abound during the holidays. So take a deep breath of that wonderful pine tree or cookies-in-the-oven smell and feel your self unwind, unbend, and start smiling again.

November, 2013

Judge not!

My November newsletter blog warns against falling into the "speaker's trap" of judging and the fear of being judged.

You can also find more info about my upcoming workshops is December and January.

And check out my new personal business video service, Focus on You, here

Tips you can use!

Dress for that interview
Dress codes vary, so sometimes it's hard to know what to wear. Luckily, you can get clues by looking at a company's website, and doing a bit of research to find out the industry standard. Rule of thumb: dress for an interview one notch up from what you think is normally worn in the workplace.

Turn on your grammar check
But don't rest assured that it will catch everything. If you are on shaky ground when it comes to parallel construction or noun-verb agreement, ask someone who is more of a grammar buff to look over your text before you speak. Just because it "sounds right" to you doesn't mean it is!

Tried and true works
Sometimes things have been done the same way over and over are dismissed too quickly as hackneyed and trite. A classic formula, like the "tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them," is used because it works.