Bless Your Holiday Stress, Revisited
Here it comes again –the season of giving AND receiving. You know how you’ll be “receiving” some family and friend obligations you never receive except during this season? Once you CHOOSE to receive, you now get to choose your attitude and behavior. In my book, Bless Your Stress: It Means You’re Still Alive! I define “bless”: to redirect the…
Read MoreFun: The New Work Ethic
“Everything is for my entertainment or my education. If I’m not having fun, I must be learning.” I first heard that when I worked at Disney. Did Walt say that? Not sure. I say you can have fun while learning. And “fun” seems to be my brand. I got an email the other day from…
Read MoreYour Job: Be the Nicest Person in the Room
It pays to be nice. As a professional speaker, for over 30 years, I have found this to be true. Don’t believe the hype, even when people tell you that you’re fabulous at what you do. Years ago, I experienced a wake-up call. I was booked to keynote at a women’s conference at a university…
Read MoreBetter Than the First Day of School
Yesterday was the First Football Sunday of the 96th season of the National Football League. I took the whole day off from writing my next book. The working title is Pitch Perfect: Speak to Grow Your Business in 7 Simple Steps. Helping people find their voice and toot their own horn about their business is…
Read MoreYour Speech Coach Says, "Put Your Audience First"
How do you persuade customers or clients? The only way you can get someone to give you what you want – to persuade them to use your product or service – is to motivate them with your words. And here’s my little story about motivation. Picture it – you are eight years old in 3rd…
Read MoreWhat's Your "Why" Story?
If you are speaking about what you do for more than five minutes, an important story to include tells WHY you are doing what you are doing, or selling what you are selling. What is it that lights your fire? Where does your juice come from? What’s at the HEART of your business? People want…
Read MoreYour Speech Coach Says, "Play to Your Strengths"
Loved watching every moment of the NBA Finals—tweeting with millions of others as I watched! I looked for a connection between those fast-paced, close-scoring games, and coaching you to present yourself and your business with confidence. I found 3 points of intersection. 1. Know your opponent (in sports), or audience of potential clients (in business). …
Read MoreYour Speech Coach Says, “We. Don’t. Quit.”
Ever notice you barrel through, or stumble through, the meat of an assignment, but then, when it comes to putting on the finishing touches – BAM! Life gets in the way. To achieve most things in life, even small ones, but especially big ones, you have to have commitment and discipline. Commitment is the will…
Read MoreWhy You Should Never "Wing It"
Remember, one of Mimi’s Laws of Great Speaking: “Never make an audience nervous.” It’s not just that the audience is reminded of 8th grade speech class, it’s that they are way more sophisticated now. With the advent of TED Talks, people are used to well-structured excellence from the speaker on stage. They expect you to…
Read MoreThe Two Things Audiences Will Not Forgive
As you may know, the number one fear of people is public speaking. Death is number five. But the truth is, audiences really want you to succeed. There are very few things they can’t forgive. I know of only two: don’t be phony, and don’t make them nervous. “Be authentic,” the experts say. Indeed, authenticity seems to…
Read More