You don’t have to agree to belong. Some of the most courageous contributions you can make at work (or at home) come not from nodding along, but from speaking up. This isn’t about criticizing; it’s about constructive dissent. According to author and university lecturer Jenara Nerenberg, the key to being a better dissenter isn’t just
As women, we face a unique challenge when it comes to public speaking: the double bind of being expected to project both authority and warmth, confidence and relatability. It's an unfair and often unconscious bias, but one that can leave us feeling like we're constantly walking a tightrope between being "too much" and "not enough."
I was five years into my executive coaching practice when I was invited to lead a workshop on “Coaching Skills for Human Resource Leaders” at a global conference. As the room filled up with participants, I identified a few colleagues who had already been coaching professionally for more than a decade. I felt self-doubt start
As a public speaking coach, I’ve spent decades helping people plan for what to do if something unexpected happens to them in the middle of a presentation. I had to take my own advice. I had COVID, and I ran out of air during a webinar I was leading. The more I spoke, the more
Three years ago, the way we shared presentations at work (and school) drastically changed. Anyone used to presenting in person had to adapt, revise, and change their public speaking strategies. Whether you were a student sharing work with your class, a sales associate pitching to prospects, a consultant advising clients, or in any other field,
As a professional speaker for three decades, I’ve had to deal with my fair share of surprises that could have completely derailed my presentation. Like what? Like speaking during two separate blackouts without lights, AV, or functional toilets. Like facilitating a two-day training session where, in the middle of the first day, all participants got
Several years ago, I traveled from New York to Geneva, Switzerland to be the closing keynote speaker for the World Communication Forum. I was excited to have the opportunity to speak with global leaders about how nonnative English speakers can present their ideas — and themselves — with greater clarity and confidence. For my allotted
How can you take the America’s number one fear—public speaking—and make it even scarier? Oh I know! By adding in almost no time to prepare. And who would do such a thing? Oh, just bosses, clients, the real speaker whose flight was delayed. So, in other words, it happens all the time, when you least
As a professional speaker and speaking coach, I rarely refer to notes while I'm actually speaking, and that's for three reasons: First, it's my job to know my content inside and out. Second, because my presentations are interactive, I have multiple opportunities to check my notes while my audience is doing an activity or having a discussion.
You've spent hours, days, and weeks making sure that you have all of the data, facts and statistics exactly right for your big presentation to the boss, and two minutes into your remarks, she says, "Let's skip to the end. What's the bottom line here?" You're in a meeting where your colleague is animatedly sharing his bold new approach
