Blog Articles

Heart Comes First When you’re planning a presentation, it’s helpful to ask yourself: What’s the heart of the matter here? What am I really trying to say? Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But it’s the hardest, darn thing to actually do. Forget the Preamble Preamble is everything we say before we start to say what we [Read More…]

The Roman God Janus bequeathed us the name of January, for the first month of the year. This was no coincidence. Janus was conveniently a two-headed god, with one face looking back and one looking forward. So all kinds of transitions were under his/her purview. Beginnings and endings. Entrances and exits. I’m a January Baby [Read More…]

Precious Lord, take my hand Lead me on, let me stand I’m tired, I’m weak, I’m worn Through the storm, through the night Lead me on to the light Take my hand, Precious Lord Lead me home. Thomas A. Dorsey, “Father of Gospel Music,” 1932 OMG, what a year it’s been! How wiped out are you? [Read More…]

Growing Up In Montreal Thanksgiving wasn’t much of a “thing” in our family. It always seemed like the Canadian version was a knockoff of the American-style, Norman Rockwell, Hallmark original. Americans had big, noisy gatherings with extended families and groaning boards of overflowing food. We had a quiet family dinner and acknowledged the harvest. OK, [Read More…]

A Question From Our Viewing Audience Last month’s post was about Getting Succinct, and long-time Marketing Executive Recruiter Erica Seidel responded, “Another post I would love to read is simply why people have a hard time being concise.” Great question, Erica. This is for you (and us, too). Why Is It Hard? It’s hard being [Read More…]

Helllooo September! Here in New England, it’s as if a cosmic alarm clock goes off at this time of year. And bingo, just like that, the air changes overnight. It’s crisp. It smells different. There’s that no-nonsense, back-to-business/school feeling. What Year is This? Nature may be following the familiar calendar she knows so well, but [Read More…]

You Can Stop Right Now Please don’t feel it’s necessary to keep on reading. I mean, I love you as a loyal reader of this blog. But let’s be honest, it’s August. The last thing you need is another email or post. Dog Days of Summer With no disrespect intended to any dogs, this expression [Read More…]

Summertime Musicals I just saw two fabulous movies: In The Heights and Summer of Soul. I laughed, I cried, I boogied in my seat. Yes, I was indoors at a movie theatre, masked, and with very few people around. It felt SO GOOD to be pulled into that big screen and huge surround-sound track. If [Read More…]

May 20, 2005 was apparently the date I ordered a hardcover book from Amazon (can you believe the info they have on our buying patterns?), called “The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative.” It’s right here on my bookshelf. Author Stephen Denning described his ground-breaking work at the World [Read More…]

My Personal Communications Philosophy Every time we present, it’s both SHOWtime and SALEStime. Last month I wrote about the SHOW, “Another Op’nin’, Another Show,” which is obviously the pizzazz-y aspect of Communications. But Why SALES? Sales is not a dirty word. When we present, we are always selling something: a product, a service, our credibility, [Read More…]