In the 1990’s, I worked for a company that changed its dress code. We went from business formal to business casual. Employees accepted this change readily. I felt like I got a raise, because my dry cleaning expenses almost disappeared. And the comfort of ditching a suit for the dark jeans, tee-shirt, and blazer combo? …

So. What do you do? For years, I’ve read articles that tell me to never ask people what they do as an icebreaker. And yet, people I don’t know keep asking me what I do. How about you? Do people ask you what you do a lot? I suspect that no matter how many articles pile up on this …

Being a part of a team or ensemble can be fun and uplifting. And for the audience, a great team is a joy to watch. Ask any sports fan. They’ll tell you this is true. In contrast, let me describe the on-screen action I saw in a recent online group presentation. Maybe this will sound …

On a personal note, friends have texted me the octopus emoji over the past year. Same deal with the fire emoji. These are inside jokes. They make me smile. The red hot octopus emoji? They help me bond with my friends. 🐙🔥 But what about using emoji in business? How well are businesses using emoji …

Authenticity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. To show our care and compassion for others, we often need to put aside our feelings. There are higher truths that need to be served. Ask a mother whose child has fallen off a swing set. The child is bleeding and crying. Does the mother give in …

I love meetings. But I understand why you might not. A friend recently shared a workplace anecdote. One day, she and her colleagues gathered together for a meeting. For the first few minutes, they shuffled papers and fumbled with their phones. Then they stared at each other. Finally, someone said it. “Hey, what’s this meeting about?” …

Apparently, I have Impostor Syndrome. An estimated 70% of us do. Even so, I don’t feel I should write this post. Who am I to write about my own experience? I don’t even know how to spell it. Is it Imposter Syndrome? Or is it Impostor Syndrome? E or O? That’s the essence of Imposter Syndrome. …

I often act patient, even when I don’t feel it. I’ll bet you have, too. We’ve been conditioned. Let’s say you been on hold with customer service for what seems like forever. One of the first things the phone rep might say is “thank you for your patience.” They’ve been trained to say it. But …

After a student gives a class presentation, I’ll sometimes conduct a quick poll. I’ll ask the entire class: on a scale of 0-10, how nervous did the speaker appear? The audience might give the speaker a 2 or a 3. But the speaker? A nervous speaker might rate themselves a 7 or 9. That’s a …

As a public speaker, you’ll want your audience to understand you. You’ll want to be clear. To gain insight about your speech clarity, try this insightful and easy exercise. Take the one-minute “speech pace” exercise I posted last week. Then, upload your one-minute video sample to YouTube. Within a few moments of uploading your video, YouTube …