How do you create a sense of urgency that inspires action and not stress in your audience? Here are my 4 tips to do just that in any public speaking role – whether you’re talking to your team, presenting to the board, or delivering a keynote address.

Triggers are a hot topic these days. Ever notice how you start to feel when someone says something seemingly innocuous (like the above scenarios) yet your interpretation of the question or statement flips an irritation switch in your brain? If you get agitated, reactive, or tend to blame/shame/rage/get controlling and become instantly resentful when someone says something that could be interpreted as “innocent”... congratulations! You’re human. You’ve also just been triggered.

Without forgiveness, there can be no trust. Without trust, there can be no leadership.

You know that old saying, heavy is the head that wears the crown? There is a direct relationship between effective leadership and responsibility that can easily be overlooked in a corporate structure of titles, management, and business hierarchy.

It’s easy to be professional, kind, patient, and understanding. As long as you’re the only one in the room.

You know the old saying about the only certainties in life being death and taxes? I’d like to add another miserable one to the list: difficult people…

Effective communication is tough. And rambling is easy! After all, there is science to show that talking about ourselves produces dopamine which means we keep doing it. And doing it. (And maybe not doing it well). Guess what else science tells us? That people lose interest in your conversation if you talk for longer than 40 seconds uninterrupted.

Unless you’re new around here, you know how passionate I am about reading. In fact, I have an entire section of my website dedicated to books that have been ‘Worth A Read’ for me. In a world that is chock full with ways to learn new things, master fresh skills, and expand our horizons, you’ll still find me curled up the old-fashioned way: with a BOOK.

What are you waiting for? To make that big change, to take action to follow your dreams, to finally start taking steps to Make It (whatever “IT” is for you) Happen?

Mel Robbins says almost everything in our lives can change for the better if and when we start taking action…

You’ve developed a superpower when you have overcome or improved upon an identified issue. If that issue is public speaking or leadership, congratulations! You’re in good company. Forbes says over 70% of career professionals fear public speaking or presenting from the front of the room, while over 45% consider themselves to need “better leadership skills.”

Okay, so we all know a picture is worth a thousand words, but what if I told you that stories are the most valuable tool available when it comes to magnifying a memorable message? Not only do stories make a presentation more memorable, they make it more meaningful AND more motivational, as well. They build a bridge between you and the audience – connecting you with them and connecting them to your message.

When it’s time to increase your presence, influence and impact without compromising on authenticity or results, it’s time to speak like a leader. If the ability to persuade, influence and communicate effectively is essential to your role, but you feel frustrated by your current capacity to do so, this article is the perfect starting point to help you flip the switch from meh to marvelous.

We are still in the midst of a global pandemic and now COVID cases are on the rise again. We are still witnessing senseless violence against people of color. We are living through a war, women’s rights are under attack and there is a recession looming. Yet, somehow we’re still expected to do our best work. Unreasonable expectations in combination with little-to-no support are a recipe for burnout. I want to share a few of my own hard-learned lessons as a burnout survivor with the hope that they may help anyone out there going through it NOW.

When I walked away from a 6-figure contract earlier this year (completely separate from my scenario above), I walked away from a superficially diverse c-suite filled with mostly (white) women and a few men. And, as excited as I was to join what was sold to me as a “sisterhood”, it was a horribly toxic, inauthentic nightmare of a company - that literally made me and my family sick.

Yes, we are all responsible for our own energy, protecting it, elevating it, understanding it, and shifting it for our own good. To do so successfully, we must accept and implement a radical level of self-care.

Sometimes this self-care looks like staying. And sometimes it looks like walking away.

TikTok is the latest tech giant to be taken to task by its employees for what is being described as toxic workplace culture and an emphasis on “relentless productivity.” According to The Independent, TikTok staff claim to be suffering burnout and severe mental distress due to its punishing workplace culture. Exhausting hours and sleep deprivation are common amongst staff, while some employees said they averaged 85 hours of meetings per week!

Let’s talk about something that isn’t necessarily new, but is rather a much-needed approach for successful women and men in today’s professional environment to break limiting gender stereotypes inside of communication at work, helping them cultivate healthy professional relationships on all levels. Hint: this has got nothing to do with sacrificing any part of who you are.

For some people, Mother’s Day can be a painful reminder of loss. And for those who haven’t lost their mom or access to their children, it could still be a difficult time – memories of disconnection, instability, dysfunction, and more can certainly be brought to the surface. For the rarest – those women who have managed to reach the age of motherhood themselves without a) losing their own moms and b) a past better left undisturbed – this can STILL be a tough season fraught with disappointment, unmet desires, and additional stress.

If you’ve been around here long, you know I’m a big fan of flipping the script, rewriting the narrative, taking control of the story (you get the idea), so it shouldn’t surprise you that when it comes to discouragement… I’m all about using it and then leaving it behind.

I recently observed an exchange between a female senior executive manager and a female employee where the former called the latter “the weakest person we have” in her position in the company after the employee asked for assistance and feedback in an area where she felt she needed help. Shocking? It doesn’t just shock because of its poor taste. It’s truly terrible, toxic management from a communication standpoint because…

We sacrifice authenticity for ease, honesty for tact, and skirt around issues to make life “simpler” but in reality all this does is create conflict within ourselves. Our conflict-aversion becomes conflict-creation.

What if the real issue we should be discussing is less about gender and more about energy?

Here’s the real issue I want to address: it’s time to move away from the gender conversation and start addressing masculine and feminine energy. Feminine and masculine energies are equally important BUT in the world we’re living in today, more feminine qualities – like empathy, receptiveness, openness, intuition, etc – are desperately needed.