After seeing David Mamet’s play Race on Broadway, Sharon and I had half-an-hour until our train left New York’s Penn Station for our home in Montclair, New Jersey. We went to a bar. I ordered a Heineken and she a glass… Read More »Don’t read this one
Public speaking is a talent before it becomes a skill. A talent is a latent ability, something that is dormant inside you. When you work at it, it becomes a skill. If you do have a potential talent for speaking… Read More »Public Speaking: Talent or Skill?
No one likes to be pulled from a warm bed and thrust into a cold shower. And many people I’ve met feel the same about being plucked from the blanket of everyday life to stand alone on a stage with… Read More »Fear and Loathing of Public Speaking
In the Jobs section of the New York Times, on Sunday March 30th, Phyllis Korkki has written an article entitled The Adroit Speaker Doesn’t Wing It. That’s true and not true. I believe wholeheartedly in preparing, rehearsing, getting feedback, even… Read More »Speaking Anxiety: Stage Fright
I once had a colleague who said that everyone is in two businesses: their own, and show biz. He didn’t go far enough. Every business is show business. Business would be impossible without acting skills. Theater artists have the talent… Read More »Communication Training: The Show in Business
We often think that the placebo effect comes from the belief that a sugar pill is actual medicine, which leads us to the conclusion that if we believe something is good for us, we get a positive physiological response. I… Read More »Interpersonal Skills: the Placebo Effect