Recently, I have had several clients and students in public speaking classes who quit or tried to quit classes because I asked them to tell stories from their personal or professional lives.  I could not figure out what was causing people to stop their progress in public speaking when they were doing so well in […]

Once in a while, I have the pleasure of working with someone who is giving a speech at a wedding. If any speech should come from the heart, it would be a wedding toast. Last week a delightful man, I’ll call him Daniel, came for help with giving the speech of his life at his […]

“Authenticity is a practice” says Dr. Brene Brown in a conversation with Oprah. You have to choose it every day. This applies not only in one’s personal life, but in business as well. In business, authenticity generates authority. When we speak from our own inner authority, others sense our power. But it takes courage to speak […]

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 […]

In an interview with Charlie Rose, Steve Martin shared that his experience doing stand-up comedy at universities in the 1970s gave him a sense of confidence that people could smell. When Steve describes confidence this way, I think he means that he learned to create chemistry with his audiences. He learned to be so good […]

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 […]

I 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 […]

You, 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 […]

University of Houston professor,  Dr. Brene Brown debutes The Gifts of Imperfection: Living with Courage, Compassion & Connection on Houstons PBS TV station Channel 8 Monday night November 29th at 7 and 8:30 PM. I hope that Dr. Brown will do for authenticity what Dr. John Bradshaw  did for family systems theory when he aired his PBS programs.  He […]

Sean  Buvala  at storyteller.net has written an awesome post on using stories for apologies and healing.  He says that “Storytelling can be used for many different applications. One of the most difficult, but needed, application of storytelling is to express reconciliation, repentance and recompense.” Sean lists five steps that help create a story of redemption: 1. […]