About “Improvisation”

Start here with this idea: We often make the mistake of thinking that “improvisation” is just that – totally spontaneous!  Look beneath the surface and you find that the speaker, singer, musician or performer doing the improvisation has had long practice with the subject matter, the style, the instrument or the theatrical discipline.  They didn’t really just walk on the stage, pick up an instrument and blow “Take Five” or “Kind

One Core Story…

Who can argue that each individual is possessed of a unique voice, expressing a special communication style?  Who can argue that this divine expression is a personal and un-duplicatable gift, which should not be tampered or tainted?

Yet when an individual goes to work for an organization, their voice becomes one of many; comprising a single piece of an orchestrated communication

“When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson, Writer, Philosopher, (1803 –1882)

It’s been a dark time: financially, politically, emotionally. It’s been easy to see the comets, burning brightly for a second then flaming out.

Look again – People going to work. Serving silently.

Pitch a Conversation

“I went to a presentation once and a conversation broke out!”
— With apologies to Professional Hockey

Something goes haywire in the mind when you’re invited to “Pitch…” The normal intelligence which drives your business behavior short circuits and you fall back to the basic question: “What am I going to say?”

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Why Are You Here…

Seems like we’ve all been to that meeting where much was discussed and very little got accomplished. We may be able to offer some encouragement.

Most of us get in trouble in meetings and presentations because we are all trained to view communication as a “one-way” thing (where we say what’s on our mind); or as a “two-way” thing (where everybody says what’s on their