Tips for More Effective Business Email – Guest Post by Jeanne Byrnes

Email has become the preferred means of communication for business, yet many people forget that it still is mail. And all emails are not created equal. Some are conversations between colleagues and can be very informal, where texting language can be used. But when an email is going outside of the company, especially for an… Read more

Creating from the “Back of Your Head” as Suggested by JK Rowling

JK Rowling is celebrating 15 years of Harry Potter books this month. She sat down to an interview on Good Morning America August 27th to talk about how she crested her amazing characters. You can see that interview here or watch the video below. Ms. Rowling said that her most beloved character, Professor Dumbledore, was… Read more

Open Your Heart to Speak from your Heart at Weddings

Once in a while, I have the pleasure of working with someone who is giving a speech at a wedding. If any speech should come from the heart, it would be a wedding toast. Last week a delightful man, I’ll call him Daniel, came for help with giving the speech of his life at his… Read more

Happy Birthday Mr. President! With Love from Texas for Nelson Mandela

Today Nelson Mandela Nelson Mandela celebrates his 95th birthday. He is a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary who served as the first black President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. After serving more than twenty years in prison in South Africa, he served with love and compassion as the president. he showed the world how… Read more

Speaking for Authentic Expression: Interview with Dr. Brene Brown

“Authenticity is a practice” says Dr. Brene Brown in a conversation with Oprah. You have to choose it every day. This applies not only in one’s personal life, but in business as well. In business, authenticity generates authority. When we speak from our own inner authority, others sense our power. But it takes courage to speak… Read more

Calming Stage Fright: Exercise helps Anxiety

Performing arts training, of necessity, includes methods to develop relaxation, concentration and presence. Years ago, in acting school,  I learned to do a voice and body exercise warm-up before auditioning or performing. While it did not completely get rid of my performance anxiety, it did help calm me. When I became a teacher of public speaking,… Read more

Ron Finley’s TED Talk on Guerilla Gardening in South Central LA

Ron Finley says, “Food is the problem and food is the solution.” He planted food forests all over LA as an act of guerilla activism. Food is his art. Food is a tool for transformation. Food is defiant. Watch his TED Talk: Ron proves that you don’t have to be a perfect speaker to be… Read more

Think actors don’t have fear of public speaking? How Katherine Heigl used her fear to speak from her heart!

People are often incredulous when I share my story about being trained an actress and yet having such fear of public speaking. But acting is a skill based on saying the words of a character, not usually your own words. In acting there is no need to reveal your own thinking, whereas in public speaking,… Read more

Inspiration for a New Year!

As 2013 and the movie version of Les Miserables open, we can all use a little inspiration to remind us it is possible to fly and to spur us all on to new heights. No one did that better than Susan Boyle at her first audition of Britian’s Got Talent! Her is a video of… Read more

Speak Up, Speak Out and Speak About to Make a Difference in the World

The tragic news of our 2012 Holiday Season is the sad deaths of children and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Much has been said and reported; and I don’t have anything to offer that can help the situation. My heart hurts for those families, friends and neighbors who are grieving this… Read more