I love spotting rhetorical concepts in the wild. It’s a thrill to have the news on in the background and suddenly getting to shout “There – a Red-Throated Concessio*! Do you see it? Look how it struts!” I figured yesterday would be a good day for rhetoric spotting. Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing was on, which…
There’s conflict in the office, trouble in paradise…who should apologize first, and how? Today we’re going to tackle a dilemma you’ve probably faced yourself: whether you should be the first to apologize…and how to do it without losing face. This question is from Edward, who writes: Hi Lauren, enjoying your videos. I have a…
Before getting into communication training and professional speaking, I had a very different career trajectory. I envisioned a career in librarianship, which is a wonderful and highly varied field of work. But despite my interest in different areas of library and information work, despite my belief in so many of the profession’s values (which I…
Are you one of the many, *many* people who “like” a little too much? Like, you pepper your speech with “like” so often it practically stands in for, like, a comma? Or maybe there is another filler noise that’s messing up your verbiage – the infamous uh, um, and ah , or perhaps their pernicious…
You need to write a speech but you don’t know where to start, or your pressed for time, or you just don’t feel like putting pen to paper. Then the thought occurs to you: “I could just let ChatGPT do this for me!” It’s tempting, isn’t it? After all, it does produce eerily human responses,…
It’s time for a Communication Q&A – the best time of all! If you need to record a lot of video – maybe you’re creating training videos for work or are creating a whole pile of resources for your clients or staff – a teleprompter might come in handy. Many companies also like to use…
Does thinking of digital marketing give you a headache? Me too. For business owners, creators, or anyone wanting to bring more visibility to their work, digital marketing is an important part of their communication strategy. But it can also be intimidating and murky. SEO? Paid advertising? Social vs Google? When the tools and tactics…
Whether your big idea is a business you want to built, art you want to create, or a big change in your personal life, confidence – or the lack thereof – can be a determining factor in whether you act on that idea. Growing your confidence, however, is a daunting prospect for many. On this…
The words you speak and the words you think both have enormous impact on your performance, confidence, and sense of personal power. Choosing those words with intention and purpose is an important step in improving your well-being and performance. On this episode of Talk Shop, we sit down with Mark England – TEDX speaker, language…
Are you needing to bring more polish and professionalism to your virtual meetings but don’t want to turn your office into a professional-grade recording studio? You aren’t alone. We’ve been at this virtual meeting thing for a while now, but many of us are, understandably, still struggling with poor quality meetings. The visual and audio…
