Speaking Success International

Happy Spring Everyone! Well, I spent most of March in snowy Massachusetts wearing two coats, scraping ice off my windshield and shoveling snow for my folks. Yet every day I could see flowers called snowdrops coming up through patches of ground. Snowdrops are a beautiful small white flower and they come up and bloom in the snow- even in the worst winter.

I LOVE snowdrops. They show me in life anything is possible and that beauty is always around us and in us. They are proof that we grow and can conquer in the midst of anything!

You too are blooming and growing, and can conquer anything. I had fun speaking to business groups while I was back East and had a phone interview with Guy Finley that felt to me just like the miracle of snowdrops. Guy Finley is a prolific author and human being who truly can help us live without fears in our lives, live more joyfully and prosperously. No matter what the circumstances. This is a conversation that will help you blossom right now wherever you are and never again feel powerless about anything. Listen and enjoy. It is an extraordinary opportunity with an extraordinary person! I will be visiting his foundation’s retreat center in Merlin, Oregon soon and will report back!

Click here to listen to this interview: Guy Finley

Guy Finley’s Fantastic book! We discussed many things including his fantastic book. I read it and loved it. Click here to learn more about Guy Finley at www.guyfinley.org and his new book “The Essential Laws of Fearless Living- How to Never Feel Powerless again”

I just professionally audited an acting class in LA by a colleague who is one of the world’s most famous acting teachers. His clients win Academy Awards. Today he was teaching a class of future stars in the making. The students were exciting actors with top notch talents and abilities, they chose challenging material, and had given lots of committed thought to their acting intentions and character development.

So why did he berate so many of them? What made him so frustrated that he threatened to throw one actor out of his classes forever? What part of their preparation had they overlooked?

Their voices. He knew what these actors could be, and that their voices would be forever holding them back from their success. The fact of that drove him wild!

In turn the actors I saw had harrowing problems with projection, sentence follow through, voices that were caught in their throats and strangling their expressiveness, squeaky tones, poor enunciation, lack of vocal depth and ‘presence’….the list goes on.

I understood his frustration, and was keenly aware of the very dire urge I had to speak up and tell them simple things like, “You need to breathe right now! You are not breathing at all!” I am a voice specialist. I am a voice specialist because I believe the world needs to hear from all of us. It hurts me when people are not heard. The voice is the instrument by which you express yourself in the world, and especially for a career on the stage or in any public life you must practice it like an instrument. Dedicated practice also leads you to your personal power and discernment. For example, when I first began learning Alexander Technique training years ago, I noticed that it changed me in unexpected ways. I found that when I dropped my speaking voice down into my body where my deepest core feelings were that I needed to speak less often. When I did speak my words were economical and carried quiet strength. People noticed it and heard me in a new way. This same effect happens with all my students who use this process. Mature musicians also do this as their career extends into senior years, notice that they DO less and GIVE more. Each note has their personal authenticity. They are simply playing or singing their truth for us and we love them for it. Think Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett, Paul Robeson and you know what I mean. [Read more →]

Want a Date this Valentine’s Day – because Cupid isn’t Stupid. Want to give a winning job interview? Learning the skills for how to build trust in 90 seconds or less can win both.

People don’t often realize that when they meet someone for the first time they evaluate each other within 90 seconds in 4 ways on a super-alert subconscious level.

The instant people meet someone new in any situation they evaluate them with two absolutely crucial appraisals that have to do with assessing their safety: “I do/do not feel safe with them” and “I do/do not trust them”. Here are the consequences and solutions:

Depending on how they feel at their decision People make a snap ‘blink-of-the-eye’ decision whether to open up further or shut the other person right down.

To be successful at work and career or dating people need to know how to manage those first few seconds.

Those who are dating, speed dating, job hunting, networking or business socializing will have more success from knowing the four ways we evaluate each other in 90 seconds. Managing these 4 evaluations will grow relationships the way they are wanted to grow faster and easier.

Top professional speaking coach Dianne Legro offers the following 5 tips on how to connect instantly with others with confidence and ease so people can maximize their chances of producing the favorable results they want. [Read more →]

I have the great pleasure to be talking with Terri Murphy, Social Media Expert, CEO of Women’s Wisdom Network and top rated Motivational Speaker at NSA about bringing in cash in these times. She gave so much info for us to use! Listen to the interview – she rocks! Here is a thumbnail sketch of the ground we cover, but really you gotta hear Terri lay it out! I highly recommend you hear the 10 minute recording.

Click here to listen: terrimurphy.mp3

I asked Terri what she is doing in her successful businesses right now and what she is seeing others doing that is working. Terri says the businesses that will survive and thrive will answer yes to this question: [Read more →]

I am going to start the year myth busting about speaking in public. This is for experienced and beginner speakers alike.

Coaches and service providers just don’t understand how easy it is to talk to a group of people… I am asked everyday if it is possible to become a speaker, to get paid, to find audiences, to get bookings… and so on. Let me bust some myths for you that you yourself might be having that could be holding you back unnecessarily from speaking in public.

Contrary to popular belief, (maybe yours?) it is possible to speak publicly and be authentic, have a smooth, successful, enjoyable experience. For that to happen, though, you may need to debunk a few of these common myths about public speaking. [Read more →]