Next week I am facilitating a day-long training program for sales professionals in the world’s fifth largest software company. Unlike my usual clients who feel fear of speaking, these folks will be good at speaking and selling.  They are already very successful. So, “What,” I wondered “Do they need from me?” They need me [...]

  Presence happens when you are so deeply relaxed into yourself and accepting of yourself that you feel free to be genuine.  The secret to presence is to be fully grounded in your body so that you have a full-body sense of awareness.  When you are grounded and present, you experience sensation and awareness in [...]

   American Idol for 2011 has completely captured my attention.  I am loving it!  Finally they have a group of judges who all are insightful, honest, compassionate, entertaining and funny!  Steven Tyler is a total delight!  He listens with his eyes closed and feels the music as contestants sing.  Sometimes he sings along with relish.  Jennifer Lopez [...]

   I don’t want you to work so hard at public speaking. Consider opening to the experience that public speaking doesn’t have to be so hard and that you don’t have to work so hard to connect with listeners.  I have this new battery operated toothbrush that does all the work for me.  But I [...]

  Much has been said about Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg and how he appears when speaking in public.  As recently as June this year, he sweated profusely while being interviewed.  But last Sunday he seemed calm, comfortable and in command of himself on CBS 60 Minutes.  His passion is palpable in this interview.  Some have speculated that [...]

  “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 [...]

  I found a wonderful blogpost by Kathy  Reiffenstein at Professionally Speaking Blog that I simply must share with you!  Kathy draws some valuable lessons on speaking from the Broadway production of A Little Night Music. So much of my skill as a speaker and speaking teacher comes from my training as an actress.  So [...]

  The following is a post written by my friend and client Leigh Mires, Principal and Training Director of Walter P Moore Engineering.  She and I have been working for seven years to train their engineers to reduce their dependence on PowerPoint.  I guess we have more work to do!   Married to PowerPoint  Cate Blanchett, [...]

   This week, I coached a Director at a Fortune 100 company who is preparing to deliver an executive summary presentation.  Twice a year, “Steve” must present to senior executives an update that includes what his team has achieved, what they are working on, what their prospects are and what they have contributed to the [...]

Presence is also an external quality that others sense and to which they respond.  Other people perceive your presence as a magnetic force and they are drawn to you, because presence is actually a radiation of psycho-physical energy emitted from your body.  It is your life force emanating from your body, and it occurs when [...]