Category: Leadership Communication

We all suffer many of the same ailments when it comes to how we appear on stage.  New clients come to me breathlessly listing their insecurities: “I get lost and go blank.” “I’m so monotone.” “I’ve been told I could be more dynamic.” “I get lost in the weeds.” “I speak too fast.”     Let’s focus on that last point today. Speed has lots of dimensions. Sometimes, yes, you speak too fast and end up babbling because you let your talking get away from you. Then you’re lost and go blank and your energy drops and your voice ends …

So many of my clients are dying to use their humor in their presentations. “People tell me I’m a funny guy!” is what I often hear.  And, yes, humor is an important and even life-saving speaking device at times. However, it can also be a crutch. For some of us, nailing a punch line is fun and easy and keeps us safe. Giggles from the audience feel great. They mark engagement and provide a kind of feedback that is almost addictive. But every strength has a weakness, and every weakness has a strength. In my coaching, I’ve seen the strength …

  Leaders I work with in coaching always ask me, “How do I tell stories about me, without making it about….me?” Leaders who speak on stage have an appetite to tell personal stories about their experiences. Understood. We all have great things we saw, experiences that happened to us or lessons that are dying to be shared. Problem is, many leaders I coach shy away from telling those stories. Or when they do, they share their stories awkwardly because they want to do it quietly. Somehow, they’ve been made to feel that it could be inappropriately all about them, or …