I’m going to lay a head trip on you. Check this out. If you’re feeling nervous or scared before your next presentation, think about this: “…why not re-frame that term ‘I’m nervous and scared of public speaking’ into ‘I am excited about presenting to my audience’?” It’s a small change, but it’s effective. Try it out …

I keep a daily journal in Scrivener. I’ve been writing in a personal journal every morning for decades now. Yet I only started using Scrivener for my journal since October 2015. At that time, I looked for an online template to use, but I couldn’t find one. Undaunted, I kept writing in Scrivener every morning. I refined my …

I’m a cheerful person. But I don’t like positive thinking. It makes me cringe. Instead, I try to spend some time every day engaging in negative thinking. For me, it’s a joyful meditation. “What’s the worse that could happen?” is a question I ask myself every day. And then, I imagine it. I take some …

  I came across a stranger with a dog a few months ago. As we walked toward each other on my empty street, I grinned. “Cute dog,” I said as we grew closer. “Thanks,” she said. “It’s not mine, though. I’m dogsitting for a friend. Hey, do you know any good places to walk around …

As an intelligent business person, you might think you are excellent at answering simple, direct questions. But are you? Take this easy, 5-question quiz to find out: 1. A venture capitalist asks how much your new service costs. You: A: Explain how you and your team arrived at the various price points. B. Respond, “$79 …

Here’s my number one tip for writing scripts and speeches. It’s simple, powerful, and only four words long. Say it out loud. 1. Say 2. It 3. Out 4. Loud Four words. It’s such an easy tip. So simple. And so overlooked. I get to write and edit scripts and speeches and dialogues for a living. And …

I hope you never experience a crisis. But when you do, be prepared. Introducing Crisis Communication Fundamentals, my latest online course. It’s available now in the Lynda.com content library. I felt inspired to write this course because I’ve watched people struggle to figure out how to communicate when something unexpected and unpleasant strikes their organization. My aim is to …

Public relations pros don’t like the word spin. Call one a “spin doctor” and that’s a low blow. A rude insult. So how can we put a better spin on our profession? As a child, my mom gave me this piece of life advice: “Don’t call people names they don’t want to be called.” However, …

People in Washington say it’s not the initial offense that gets you in trouble. It’s the cover-up. They say you should admit what you did, get the story out, and move on. What this overlooks is the fact that most of the time the cover-up works just fine, and nobody finds out anything. I would …

I bristle at the trendy, thoughtless phrase “hire to cultural fit”. And I’m not alone. Often, you’ll hear this phrase parroted at tech, business, and startup conferences. Generally, it means, “when hiring, consider personality first — consider tech and business skills second”. Here’s the loosey-goosey rationale for ‘hiring to cultural fit’: “Hey, it’s easier to …