You’ve got a presentation coming up, and you’re excited, you’re nervous, you’re ready to share your message and uplevel your visibility. So what’s your first step? Get your slides together, of course! But….wait! Can I convince you of trying a different, not-necessarily-intuitive-but-far-more-effective-way? Put your slides to the side — and start this way instead The […]

Have you ever met a complete stranger who recognizes and knows you because they were once impacted by something that you said, and they never forgot it? Have YOU ever had a chance to meet someone who had an impact on your life – a speaker, author, mentor, teacher– and you never forgot it? We […]

  A presentation mistake, public speaking mistake, or communication mistake — just don’t do it! A few years ago, I attended a networking group meeting where the organizers regularly gave a different member 20 minutes to present themselves and what they do. Pretty standard practice for many networking groups, and nicely supportive of their members. […]

What happens when you have a brilliant idea, and you’re SURE that you’re explaining it well, but your intended recipient or audience just doesn’t “get it?” So frustrating. Is the problem that they just don’t understand the idea? Or is the problem that you’re not communicating it clearly enough? After hearing this complaint a little […]

  What do you do when work and ‘parent guilt’ collide? A few weeks ago, after the summer months of staying pretty local, I headed off on my first post-summer work engagement in Toronto, followed immediately by another one in Montreal. A busy week indeed! But…I had a problem. My 12-year old son had just […]

Have you ever gotten to a point in your life that you wish things were different, or that you were brought up differently…because maybe THEN you would be someone braver, more confident, and just “better” overall? You’re not alone. Many of us wish that our environment growing up was more encouraging, more accepting, and gave […]

I LOVED the opportunity to speak with the amazing Nathalie Mailhot about some of my most frustrating, annoying moments in my career — which were SO frustrating and annoying that I had no choice but to go outside my comfort zone and try something radically new (and pretty terrifying). Despite being very qualified, I was […]

Having a story to tell does not automatically mean you are ready to stand in front of an audience and share it. You must also consider how to share your message in a way that creates impact and a lasting effect for the specific individuals who are hearing it. In other words, the preparations that […]

What a pleasure it was to get a chance to do this interview with the Harvard Business School (HBS) Online Global Chapter. Facilitated by Gwen Mdinaradze, the HBS Online Global Chapter lead and the CEO of Speakers Alliance Canada, Gwen and I had a wonderful conversation where we spoke about public speaking fears, how to […]

Do you ever get so nervous about your presentation that you get hyper-focused on WHAT to say and HOW to say it that you don’t give much attention to other things you need the day-of? Here’s a reminder to pause and think about the tiny details you might actually need — for example: “Will my […]