A standing ovation is a spontaneous emotional response from an audience that is moved deeply by a speaker or performer. The only way to earn a standing ovation is to get naked! I don’t mean take off all your clothes, I mean take off all protection and pretense, and be emotional. When a presenter is […]
Continue readingArchive for the "Transparency" category
Travis Kalanick is the CEO of Uber, a service that uses apps to call a car, usually a Town Car, in 15 minutes. What I like about him is his authenticity. He says that telling your authentic story is how business needs to be communicating. He shares that in toughest times, we learn to be […]
Continue readingThis is the absolute bottom line of what to do to transform your public speaking tension and performance anxiety into radiant, authentic presence so that you shine in front of others. Coaching a corporate HR executive from a Fortune 100 company on his anxiety about public speaking, I said something new, something I’ve never said […]
Continue readingI had an experience yesterday that humbled me and made me let go of some old thoughts about my past. As a result, I can no longer kid myself about having not made it as a professional actress. Three of the most successful actors who went to school with me at the University of Houston […]
Continue readingYou, as employer, supervisor or coach want your presenters to be open and transparent, because you know that clients respond to authenticity more than to slick and canned presentations. Supporting presenters to be genuine is hard work! You can’t afford the luxury of telling them what is wrong with their performance. Presenters are vulnerable, even […]
Continue reading“Has anyone ever been in prison?” These were the words that opened W Mitchell’s talk to NSA Houston Chapter in September 2010. Words spoken quietly in a voice vibrating from deep within his chest. Words not spoken immediately. W Mitchell wheeled himself to the center of the staging area, sat deeply into his wheelchair and […]
Continue readingRecently, I was fascinated by an NBC Dateline documentary spotlighting the singing star, Taylor Swift. What compelled me to pay attention and watch the whole hour twice was the authenticity from which this dynamo of a performer and businesswoman lives her life and runs her productions. At 19 years of age, she […]
Continue readingI heard this on the radio today, “Great Leadership begins with the ability to level with people.” That’s another way of saying we must be transparent to be effective as leaders. I just heard Obama criticized for going to Cairo to “apologize” for American behavior. It might just be that he was being transparent – […]
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