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…
Icebreakers: those awkward exercises at the start of a workshop that are supposed to help participants warm up to one another but in reality just annoy everyone in attendance. Sometimes, however, they are necessary. But how does one go about giving an icebreaker that doesn’t make the audience want to throw their notebooks at you?…
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,…
Do you find yourself getting slammed with jittery nervousness right before you get up to give a talk? Many people get a rush of public speaking jitters when they get up in front of their audience, even if they don’t feel nervous when preparing the presentation. And while that nervousness might go away a minute…
Have you ever felt that your voice was blocked, that you wanted to say something but couldn’t get the words out? In today’s talk shop interview, join me and professional soprano and voice coach Rush Dorsett as we look into how your voice works, what can cause you to hold back, and how to overcome…
Are you among the many (MANY) people who like to “take the edge off” before giving a speech with a drink or two? Whether you’re giving a speech at a corporate gala, acting as emcee for an event, or making a toast at a wedding, a quick drink before taking the microphone is a common…
Is your speech plagued by umms, ahs, and other pointless filler words like “so, like, y’know,” etc? I’ve got a question from Tamara on this very common issue: Hi Lauren – I find myself saying “um” and “ah” a lot when I give a presentation, and I hate it! It’s distracting and makes me…
So you made a mistake during your presentation. Even if the rest of the presentation goes great, it’s the mistakes that get burned into our brain. Yes, everyone makes mistakes, but how to you get over a mistake when the memory of it makes you want to hide with shame? It’s important to figure this…
It’s a presenter’s nightmare: some jerk in the audience decides to give you a hard time, asking impossible questions, challenging everything you say, making snarky comments, and trying to make you look like an idiot. Congratulations – you’ve got a heckler. Hecklers can really throw you off your game, and it happened to Laura who…
