Do your palms get sweaty and your heart races just thinking about having to speak in front of an audience? If so, you aren’t alone – 74% of people have a fear of public speaking. This makes it the #1 phobia – greater than the fear of dying, spiders (my biggest fear) and darkness. If so many people have this…

Anyone who is responsible for updating a website, social media accounts or writing a blog knows that content development can be tough. In addition to your daily workload, you need to think of ways to be fresh, relevant and present on a variety of platform. For websites, Google and other search engines look at how often your site is updated…

Have you ever worked with someone who seems willing to sell their soul to get a promotion or the attention of the boss? You know who I’m talking about. The person whose moral compass is spinning like as fidget widget, going round and round in a circle, never really stopping anywhere? If you’re fortunate to have no idea what I’m…

If you’re like me, the word audit has you rolling your eyes and sighing. Don’t worry, it’s a common reaction, especially amongst communicators. Okay forget about the word audit for a second. Think about a communications audit as taking a screenshot of your organization’s current communications systems and processes. This is all about hitting the pause button. It’s looking around…

Ten months ago I quit my job. It was good paying job with benefits, lots of vacation time and a short commute to work. I had moved across the country to take this job (in honesty, I had taken the job to move across the country). And I had only been in the role for two years. A lot of…

Last week I had three clients call me, all in the thick of trying to control an emerging or developing issue. Two organizations were looking for advice on how to be proactive, while the third was trying to convince its board of the value (and importance) of getting outside help. What they had in common was they were each scrambling…

Every January I work through my vision and goal setting for the coming year. I know I’m not alone in doing this as it seems to be an annual topic of discussion with many of my friends. I can’t count how many times quitting a job, going after a dream job (or less soul sucking job), getting a promotion, learning…

I hate New Year’s resolutions. Why? Because they are often broad, overarching statements that have little accountability or are grounded in reality. They are often based on something we aren’t happy about or did wrong in the previous year, without really reflecting on the lessons learned or understanding why we didn’t accomplish something (exercise, being more patient, quitting a job…

Right now I’m busy running kids to activities, shopping for presents and going to holiday gatherings. Let’s face it – it can all be a bit much! While this time of year is about giving to others, I wonder when, if at all, we give ourselves permission to give to ourselves. Now I’m not talking about going for coffee with…

When I worked for a corporation, we had a corporate training department that offered a long list of in-person and web-based courses and trainings for employees. About once a month I’d scroll through the training calendar looking to further develop my skills (and resume). While there was lots of health and safety, Microsoft office, and IT training, soft skills training…