Diversity and inclusion has (rightfully) been a hot topic in workplaces. Unfortunately, language habits can often get in the way of proper everyday inclusiveness. This is especially true for colonial expressions and manners of speaking, which are deeply embedded and often unconsciously (or perhaps unthinkingly) used. Decolonizing our language, however, requires thoughtfulness, deliberate engagement, and for…
So you’ve given a number of talks at conferences and events in your industry, in front of some decent sized audiences, and you’ve caught the speaking bug. Now you’re wondering how you can move from being someone who speaks as part of your job to a paid, professional speaker in your own right. But you…
Have you found yourself tacking “right?” on to the ends of your sentences, even when it makes no sense? I know, right? This common filler word drives a lot of people crazy, including Mike, who has noticed he’s been doing it more and more often. So Mike reached out to me for help, and he…
I know you’ve done it. I certainly have – we all have. Talking smack to ourselves, hoping to try to bully ourselves in to more productivity, better performance, higher achievement. In the words of my interview guest, “How’s that working for you?” Today we’re wading into the murky waters of self-talk, and how we can…
In this episode of Communication Q&A, I have a question about a really common speech habit, coming our way from Melissa, who writes “Hi Lauren – I saw your video on vocal fry and it made me think of a problem I’ve been having. A colleague has told me that I often use “upspeak” and…
To stand or to sit? This seemingly simple question sparks a lot of debate – and feelings – in the speaking community! In this Communication Q&A, I tackle the question of whether it’s better to sit or stand when you’re giving a talk or presentation via video conference (or Zoom, or any other virtual meeting…
Holiday stress. Pandemic stress. Contemporary life stress. There is a LOT of stress in our lives, and it all has an impact on our energy levels and our ability to pursue our goals. In this Talk Shop, Goal-setting and energy management maestro Michelle Cederberg joins me to talk about her new book, The Success-Energy Equation,…
Ah, vocal fry – that little edge to a voice that gets people (almost always women) accused of sounding like Kim Kardashian or whoever the vapid-starlet-du-jour may be. But what *is* it, precisely? Is it actually a problem, or is it just another way of policing someone’s (again, usually a woman’s) voice? This communication Q&A…
Widespread masking is something many of us are needing to deal with for the first time, and that piece of cloth really affects how we speak and communicate. Whether you are in an area that has mandatory masking or you are voluntarily masking for people’s health and safety, figuring out how to speak and present…
Thanks partially to my former professional life as a librarian, I have a bit soft spot for information literacy. And right now, information literacy is a very, very big deal. There’s a lot of health information out there, some of it good, a lot of it bad. If we’re going to argue over what study…
