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 [...]

   A wonderful new client gave voice to her goal of expressing more warmth.  I think this is a great goal for everyone!  Warmth is an emotion, so it can’t be simply acted out.  You can’t behave like you are warm because others will sense you lack of real warmth. You can’t DO warmth, you [...]

  Great analysis of Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk by John Zimmer.  (No relation to me.) http://mannerofspeaking.org/2010/02/02/analysis-of-a-speech-by-sir-ken-robinson/ I am absolutely in agreement with every point John makes about Ken’s talk! These are all principles I teach and love to see in speakers!

  I just saw Meryl Streep accept the Golden Globe Award for best Actress in a Comedy Feature Film. She said she is very clear that she is just the vessel for other’s stories and other women’s lives.  But don’t we all know that she has opened herself to be a channel to allow full [...]

  I enjoy watching Chris Wallace’s show Sunday mornings. He usually stirs up debate on political issues by asking leading questions to guests and panelists from both political major parties.  I usually watch with partial attention while getting dressed for my Sunday meditation group. Once in a while someone on his show speaks with unusual [...]

  One of my favorite communication experts is Loren Ekroth, Ph.D who is a specialist in human communication and a national expert on conversation for business and social life.  He sends a newsletter that always has a thoughtful and insightful article.  His article this week is on the gift of presence. You can contact him [...]

  Stage fright is fear of feeling in front of others.  It is the fear of revealing that you are human and that you have human emotions that are not always positive. It is fear of being seen for who you truly are.  Becoming the center of attention also triggers feelings of shame – shame [...]

  When you do become the center of attention, there is only one thing to do: try to exit the situation by leaving your body.  If you can’t get out of the situation by avoiding the event, then you try to avoid the sensations felt inside.  The way to avoid the sensations is to leave [...]

  The secret to healing stage fright is to focus attention into your fear, into the sensations of tension inside your body.  Once you do that, you will find that the experience is not as bad as you expected.  Inside yourself, you can relax into the tension and discover a new, safe ground within your [...]

  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.  [...]