The Glass Cliff
Driving on the Warburton Highway this morning I had some fellow in a big black Ford drive up my rear end, then pass at speed, revving ridiculously. Then, when he went to turn right and was stopped at the lights, as I drove past in the other lane, he swerved his car out to try […]
Nerves?. . . Get in line!
On a daily basis I hear the phrase “I get nervous”. Sound familiar? You might be surprised to hear (or maybe not, if you know me well) that my reply is “Get in line”. We all get nervous! Astoundingly, people think some don’t. Wrong. Almost everyone suffers at times and many, like you (and me) […]
The Language of the Body
As a girl at school presenting in the school hall I was told to stand still and stare at the clock at the back of the room. Later suggestions were made to get over nerves by putting myself in a glass box or perhaps to imagine the audience in the nude. Seriously, where were these […]
Touch, Is it Over?
A friend of mine recently babysat her 3 year old grandchild and took him to the park. There were a lot of children playing and her grandchild, trying to make friends, embraced a little girl he wanted to befriend. “We are not allowed to touch anyone” the little girl told him. “Touch is banned”. She […]
Voice
Voice is important. It sounds obvious, but somehow that message just does not sink in these days. No matter where I look there appear to be incredible difficulties in working with the deep and complicated area of voice, hindered by the disparate fields of the vocal, body and ‘communication’ professions, none of which consciously address […]
What to Wear?
Sometimes there is a Zeitgeist at play and a mini Zeitgeist recently has had several people ask me, all in the one week, “What do you wear?” Although I have never thought of ‘what to wear’ as being my special expertise, over the years I guess you build some ideas and here are mine. Hope […]
The Confident Leader Retreat Early Bird Rate ends this week. Book now!
Are you a CEO, Executive or Senior Leader and find yourself thinking: “I can’t think”: feeling under pressure when all eyes are on you can mean that you’re trying to talk and think at the same time. “I’m waffling and can’t stop”: When presenting, your voice can seem to take on a mind of its […]
Balance the Gloom with Positivity
Seriously! Too much doom and gloom. Today, a client was sharing how there had been a crisis at work and the executive needed to share with staff what was taking place. The reality was one of a good solid process in place, people taking action with enormous capability and excellent crisis planning with an expected […]
A world in Opera
Last week, I had the joy of bringing together some clients and friends for an evening at the opera. Having been a professional opera singer it’s such a joy to experience the skills of live performance. Singing as a profession was not about talent, but regime. Like an Olympian training, we kept fit, we practiced […]
Doing a Titan? Don’t!
How fascinating has it been to follow the Titan disaster and watch the 2022 BBC interview with Stockton Rush, where he is seen inside the submarine displaying the PlayStation controller used for navigation. What?! Did you just say ‘PlayStation controller’, Louise, for a trip from which there was no possibility of rescue? Call me old-fashioned, but… Guess […]