Listen Only to Those who Speak with Gravitas

I made a decision this morning to listen only to people who speak with gravitas. The last couple days I have been watching the news on CBS This Morning.   Yesterday Samantha Powers sat with the CBS This Morning hosts, Charlie Rose, Nora O’Donnell and Gayle King.  Ms. Powers is the outgoing US Ambassador to […] Read more

Gravitas – The Missing Quality for Powerful People who aren’t Being Promoted

About Gravitas Gravitas is about using your personal power in service to others and giving up the pleasure of asserting your power with a sharp voice tone. J.S. contacted me and shared that he is strong technically, reports to the highest leaders in his company and gets great feedback that his expertise is valuable. He has […] Read more

Frank Sinatra Demonstrates Audience Engagement Effortlessly

The great presentation guru Garr Reynolds wrote a blog post in which he shows a video of Frank Sinatra singing “You Make Me Feel So Young.” Garr quotes Sinatra saying, “When I sing, I believe. I’m honest. If you want to get an audience with you, there’s only one way. You have to reach out […] Read more

Speaking Confidently LinkedIn Paper on Public Speaking

Dorothea Stuart, a communication coach and consultant from UK, is curating a great new public speaking Paper.Li called Speaking Confidently. Dorothea is including articles, blog posts and videos centered around public speaking. Her contributors include the biggest names in the public speaking world like Garr Reynolds at Presentation Zen, Nancy Duarte, Tom Antion, Tony Robbins, […] Read more

A Gentle Confrontation Skill for Communication

Having a gentle confrontation communication skill allows us to feel a sense of power to influence other’s behaviors. This week I share a very valuable confrontation communication skill learned from my personal trainer JV. During my training, two young men were using a body bar too close to the mirrored wall.  JV stopped them without hesitation.  Masterfully, […] Read more

How Pronouncing Consonant Sounds Clearly Makes a Non-Native English Speaker Easier to Understand

Learning to pronounce consonant sounds is vital to mastering clear, crisp, intelligible speech. This translates into meaningful spoken communication that is easily understood. Pronouncing consonant sounds clearly makes every word you articulate more precise. This in turn makes your overall message more readily understood by your audience, whether it is a small group or large […] Read more

Accent Reduction: Freedom of Speech for Non-Native Speakers of English

People from all over the world come to the US because of the freedoms and opportunities we enjoy in our country. Freedom of speech is among our most cherished and valuable rights which draw ambitious and educated people to our nation. Houston, Texas is truly a melting pot for professionals especially in the oil and […] Read more

Speaking Freely: What is Authenticity? How Does it Help Public Speaking?

In terms of public speaking, developing greater authenticity is an important key to unlocking stage fright and fear of public speaking. To transform stage fright and fear of public speaking, you must learn to be comfortable being who you are in front of other people. In public speaking, the tension associated with stage fright comes from […] Read more

One Subtle Communication Secret for Getting Others to Hear Your Message

The prevailing model for speaking persuasively is a style of speaking that is enthusiastic, energetic and extraverted.  The speaker is asserting a point in hopes to convince the listener to agree. However, this model can be a trap. It puts you in the position of selling.  Of course others don’t want to be sold, so they have […] Read more

You Can Be-Come Anything You Want to Be.

I studied acting for many years. I thought acting would help me become somebody.  I think it did.  Much of what I have become and been able to accomplish is due to my acting training and experience. The one thing I learned from acting is how to become something new.  To become means to be […] Read more