“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul alike.” – John Muir

Once a man I loved wondered why I didn’t want to move into his ratty little house. He felt that love should prevail even if I didn’t like the place. When I told my sister about it, she commented, “You should tell him you grew up in a family that would spend two hours picking out a campsite.” Continue reading →

The Alchemy of Change: Understanding the Obama Phenomenon – and applying it to your speaking success

The Democratic National Convention in 2004 marked the historic speech that brought first-term senator Barack Obama of Illinois to national attention. Four years later his name and image are center stage and his capacity to touch people through speaking has led him all the way to the Oval Office. Obama understands something few speakers grasp: good information and delivery is not enough to be great. The capacity to inspire is where real change originates.

Obama’s presidential campaign inspired a previously silent majority to vote, signaling that “politics as usual” was in for a wild ride. The early Iowa primary heralded the beginning of young people and independents deciding it was time to have a voice in the governance of the United States. As we witnessed this man’s compelling message telling us that nothing can stand in the way of millions of voices calling for change, his words rang true: “There is nothing false about hope.” Continue reading →

“Take care of the children, for they have a long way to go.
Take care of the elders, for they have come a long way.
Take care of those in between, for they are doing the work.” – African Proverb

Yesterday I received a voice message from a friend and colleague whom I had asked if I might stay at her home during an upcoming conference. She expressed sheer delight that she had reached my message system instead of me so she didn’t have to have one more conversation. As for my request to stay at her home, she responded that she “could not get in touch with a yes” because she was in a place of “drastic over-interaction.” She explained that she needed to be fiercely protective of her time and space to be personally sustainable and suggested I come in a day early for the conference for quality time together and then book a room. Continue reading →

“Fear is merely excitement without the breath.” So stated the legendary psychiatrist Fritz Perls.

So when Sankara Saranam, founder of the Pranayama Institute, attended Real Speaking, I asked him to develop some breathing exercises for speakers. I tried his suggestions below and found them remarkable tools for becoming more present and focused.

Here are three simple yet highly effective methods to gain focus and utilize nervousness to one’s benefit before public speaking. These methods can also be used before meeting someone, to regain composure in a tense moment, or simply as a meditative exercise in the morning and evening by closing the eyes and directing the attention upward toward the brain, especially with every inhalation. Continue reading →