The tragic news of our 2012 Holiday Season is the sad deaths of children and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Much has been said and reported; and I don’t have anything to offer that can help the situation. My heart hurts for those families, friends and neighbors who are grieving this [...]

   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 [...]

  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 [...]

  I am in love with this word – storyselling!  It says it all about the power of stories to persuade listeners to buy products and services or buy into ideas. Storyselling is the act of telling the authentically persuasive story. It is sharing the story that excites others to say, “Yes, I want that!” [...]

  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 [...]

A special contributor to The Tribune Newspapers,  writer Richard Asa, contacted me recently.  He was writing an article on fear of public speaking at family events, such as weddings and funerals. I shared some ideas that I thought might be valuable.  Public speaking when the public is family can produce anxiety for some people.  Many of [...]

  “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 [...]

  My webmaster Kenan Branam happens to be a thought leader about the internet and the future of humanity.  He is always trying to make sense of the world and how we humans live in it.  This cold drizzly Houston morning in December we chatted about a new program I am creating called Your Life [...]

  Storytelling is the way to capture attention, engage listeners, free your self-expression, persuade listeners and make your ideas stick. I believe that storytelling is the most valuable presentation skill you can learn.  My friend Doug Stevenson is a master at teaching storytelling for business purposes.  Doug has written a definitive article on how to [...]

  Shame and perfectionism are interrelated.  Shame is the painful feeling that comes from a deep-seated belief that “I am not good enough.”  It is generated from an unconscious thought that “I AM wrong.”  That means your very Being is not acceptable.  Perfectionism is what we do to try to avoid the feelings of shame.  [...]