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Join me 3pm Thursdays for your public speaking mentor hour

You are always invited to my weekly public speaking mentoring hour on ‘webby tube’ as my auntie likes to call it!See you each Thursday on YouTube live at 3pm. This week July 2nd we’ll mix it up with good ole love of language, goodwill, and gaining independence from your fear as a speaker or storyteller.

Props to panel moderators, your awesome goals are vast! And your leadership-content resource guide is here

What’s your interest in or overall perspective toward moderating a panel? Well the leadership and creative opportunity for panel moderators has fascinated me actually for forever. In related discussions, often speakers preparing to moderate panel events (on Zoom or offline) have said many panel programs are not very clear or engaged…or they sometimes come across as…

A vital storytelling decision: the first 15 seconds

A colleague-friend years ago scolded me for how I was preparing for a short talk (to be roughly five minutes of stage time). I recall being very concerned that five minutes with the audience ‘just wouldn’t be enough time to make a credible effort…’ During these informal rehearsals, the intro would start with biographical remarks about…

Forging trust with your stories

What cultivates trust with your audience? It is common for tackling this hot public speaking question in context of ‘to entertain is better’ vs ‘to offer teachable perspective is better’.  This at least has been a more recent way to frame the issue in my head! I believe authentic clear perspective as speakers moves trust…

How great (AWESOME) is context for your next speech or story to tell?

I looove all the context ever. It provides orientation, setting, clarity for how the bulk of intended meaning shall ideally unfold. Context gives our oral stories a unifying and structural launching pad for both storyteller and the listeners gracing them. The storytelling experience for our audience builds from relatable ‘chunked’ or thematically grouped scenes, which…

A (fun!) critique for story-slam storytelling

  A former colleague asked for critique and feedback for a talk she was to present at a Washington, DC venue. The informal event’s dynamic was inspired by The Moth’s compelling story-slam style and community. I was so curious how this really casual venue and audience could impact engagement for my colleague.  So ‘Sure!’ I gladly attended her gig which…

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