03 Apr Loss for Words

At the recent Academy Awards, Will Smith slapped Chris Rock because of Rock’s comments about Smith’s wife. This shocking sight was viewed by 15 million people worldwide. Then Smith cursed Rock in front of the entire audience. His assault diverted attention from the fictional film...

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27 Mar Ready to Wear

Consider the differences between costume, wardrobe, and clothing. In the theatre, actors wear costumes. In film and television, costume designers create wardrobe. Costumes and wardrobe specifically reflect the time period, status and personal expression of the character. Civilians wear clothing. Apart from practical purposes, all...

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20 Mar Critical Moment

This week, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a compelling speech to President Biden and Congress. He asked for America’s support; specifically, military aid. We usually avoid politics, but there is no better example of a memorable speech when the fate of a country...

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13 Mar Rusty

Last week we trained a group of creatives from The Studio. When asked about communication challenges, a few said they felt rusty because they haven’t done many presentations during COVID. And now that they are tasked with speaking live in front of clients, they were...

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06 Mar Ooda Loop

The dire state of international wars, global warming, and political polarization grabs our attention daily. This extreme pressure can interfere with our ability to make clear and rational decisions. So, we searched for a mechanism to keep steady in rough waters. It doesn’t matter whether...

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27 Feb Go with the Flow

The Beijing Olympic games were a mixed bag for the United States. There were many more failures than anticipated. Why do some competitors meet the moment and others fold?In a recent NY Times article, Sian Beilock (President of Barnard College) states that humans are hard-wired...

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20 Feb Nerds Rule

When you look at Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp, he isn’t that impressive: 6’2” and 208 lbs. Why did he win the Most Valuable Player for Superbowl LVI? Because nerds rule!Kupp’s determination to be the best is nothing short of miraculous. He turned...

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13 Feb Next Mountain

For Olympics fans, the unthinkable happened. The alpine racer, Mikaela Shiffrin fell in both of her first two races, the Giant Slalom and Super G. Both times she posted a DNF or did not finish.Mountain conditions are precarious, where a wind shift, cloud shadow, or...

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06 Feb Sounds Like

Joel Cohen directed Denzel Washington in the recent film The Tragedy of Macbeth. He harped on Washington to harden his R’s. Cohen wanted Macbeth to project power and knew that precise speech would deliver that quality. And without a regional accent, Washington’s Macbeth could be from...

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30 Jan Speak Up

David recently recorded an audio version of the book The End of Burnout by Jonathan Malesic. The author is on to something. Last year, over 38 million workers left their jobs in the U.S. This poses a huge problem for businesses that need to continuously...

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