Blog Articles

By Diane Ripstein

I (Heart) You.

by Diane Ripstein • February 12, 2020

Hearts Are Ubiquitous And I don’t mean just because of Valentine’s day. Have you noticed how often hearts pop up in our emoji-laden, shorthand, pop culture? A Little Heart-Based Googling delivers a wondrous abundance of just how vital this organ is to our verbiage. At heart=basically. By heart=from memory. Heavy heart=sadness. Lose heart=discouraged. Big heart=generous. [Read More…]


Dry Spell!

by Diane Ripstein • January 15, 2020

Just Kidding This snowy photo is NOT current. It’s a view of the cars belonging to my condo neighbors and me, during a previous winter. Boston, Chicago, Toronto I have it on good authority (embedded family members) that each of these Northern cities, which one might consider winter cities, is totally dry today. Now we [Read More…]


Going Towards The Light!

by Diane Ripstein • December 18, 2019

It’s Coming The Winter Solstice, that is, and it can’t come a day too soon for me. I’m feeling irrational exuberance about the shift towards more daylight that starts December 21st, always a highlight of my year. We Need Light It’s primal, this need to feel fueled by daylight and the warmth of sunlight on [Read More…]


It’s All About the Connection!

by Diane Ripstein • July 22, 2019

As a Communications Coach, I regularly work with clients who want to connect more successfully with their audiences. But the Bigger Issue Is first connecting with ourselves. Call it the Inner Sell. Or remembering why we care about our topic. Or reminding ourselves why we’re good at what we do. It’s so easy to forget, [Read More…]


Diane in Action:
Wandering in the Desert of Extraneous Verbiage!

by Diane Ripstein • June 14, 2019

Wandering in the Desert is how I describe that feeling you get when you watch a speaker talking and talking, looking for their point, as if it might hopefully arise from the desert sands like a mirage. You know they don’t know where they’re going. You might even see it in their eyes. Not a [Read More…]


What’s New With You?

by Diane Ripstein • May 20, 2019

Your Default We all have what I call a Default Communication Style. It’s the most natural and intuitive way in which we present. It’s normal and expected. We don’t have to think much about it. What’s Your Counter-Intuitive? When you want to ratchet it up a notch (or two), the quickest way to sound more [Read More…]


Why Am I Procrastinating?

by Diane Ripstein • April 10, 2019

Coming Clean Here I am a procrastinator. Why? Well, let me just Google it, read several articles about the causes and symptoms, talk to colleagues about their own challenges, make myself a cup of tea, graze lightly for some edibles, and find more first-person procrastination pieces to mull over. “Attention Week” in the New York [Read More…]


It’s a Balancing Act

by Diane Ripstein • March 13, 2019

The Spring Equinox is right around the corner. Hearts in New England are starting to beat a little faster as we sniff Spring’s arrival. The Equinox brings equal light and dark. Day and night are balanced, which is highly unusual and only happens twice in an entire year. Perfect Balance is Unusual in Nature It [Read More…]


You’ve Gotta Have Heart!

by Diane Ripstein • February 12, 2019

Damn Yankees was a hit 1950’s Broadway musical, later a movie, about a desperate fan who makes a bargain with the Devil, so that the Washington Senators baseball team can beat the Damn Yankees and win the pennant. (Hmmm, no comment here, please, about New England sports fans.) The show had fabulous singing and dancing. [Read More…]


Diane in Action:
Stage Manage Your Environment

by Diane Ripstein • January 24, 2019

There Really Is a Stage Door that leads backstage in every theatre. This separate entrance is reserved for the cast and crew, who make the magic happen. Without these pros doing their jobs backstage, the audience doesn’t get the experience they’re paying for out front. The Real Work Happens Behind the Scenes and as speakers, [Read More…]