Speaking Tips

 

The Work of Words

Last week, we attended the inaugural Santa Fe Literary Festival. It was a thrill to hear authors including Margaret Atwood, John Grisham, Don Winslow and Jon Krakauer speak about their process. Although each has a unique style and genre, they all have a goal of...

Storybard

Carmine Gallo, Harvard instructor, author and keynote speaker just published a terrific piece in the Harvard Business Review called What the Best Presenters Do Differently. It’s about how outstanding presenters incorporate storytelling techniques to transform lectures into compelling performances.Gallo references Abraham Lincoln, who developed his...

Imperfectly Perfect

An article called Faux Feast appeared in last week’s NY Times. Author Teval Rao wrote about Shokuhin Sampuru. a multibillion-dollar industry in Japan, China and Korea. If you’ve seen life-sized food displays in windows of Asian restaurants, you recognize this craft. Here’s the surprising part. Asian...

Salty Solution

We conducted a training last week for a tech company based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Thanks to their explosive growth, they face a new challenge—how to navigate and adapt to the changes that accompany success. After completing the training, we drove back to Santa Fe...

An Original

Julia Child was an unlikely celebrity. She walked away from a conservative east coast upbringing, married an unconventional man (Paul Child) and moved to Paris. She took a cooking class at Le Cordon Bleu and the rest is history. The 2021 documentary Julia on Netflix...

Rubber Band Effect

Most everyone says they love creativity. But when it comes to implementing, what keeps us from adopting the new thing that initially excited us? Humans are averse to innovation because it intensifies feelings of uncertainty. Putting creativity into play means change, but does not guarantee...

First Lady Fear

Recently on CBS Sunday Morning, Lesley Stahl interviewed three actresses starring in the new Showtime series The First Lady. Gillian Anderson said that Eleanor Roosevelt, who she plays, hated public speaking. But “Roosevelt did it anyway because she believed that what she had to say was...

Hope Springs Eternal

Spring is a dicey time here in northern New Mexico. With higher temperatures, the ground has warmed, trees and plants are in bud and some are already in full bloom. Yet this week saw lows in the 20’s and snow is still on the mountain...

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...

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...