When you have a big presentation coming up, do you say to yourself: "I must be knowledgeable." "I must be the expert on this topic." "I must be able to answer every question." The problem with these statements The first is the use of the word "must". This makes them...

My mother is an elegant French woman. She taught me how to dress well, and in particular to avoid wearing clashing colors. So wearing clothes that clash makes me feel uncomfortable. I feel like I've got a neon sign on my forehead flashing "Look at me, and judge my...

At the beginning of this year, I was stuck in bed following a major accident. I had a lot of time to think. There was one problem that I turned over in my mind. For 20 years I had run public speaking courses in New Zealand and tried my best to help people overcome the...

The pilot of Journey to Confidence has just concluded and I am busy wrapping it up and getting ready to open the program up for enrollment again. Meanwhile I want to share with you some of the insights that the first group of students had. Torna Pitman has been a...

Shonda Rhimes is the creator of award-winning TV shows, Grey's Anatomy and Scandal. Like many introverts, her safe space was sitting in her office writing. She turned down most speaking engagements and when she couldn't get out of it ... "I was a walking panic attack....

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know that over the last couple of months, I've been stuck in bed due to an accident. I've been using the time to resurrect a long-held dream. That dream is to create an online program to help people overcome the fear of...

Many times, back when I was working in the corporate world, I would sit in a meeting listening to a discussion knowing that I had a valuable perspective to offer. But as I thought about offering my opinion I would start to feel my heart beating hard inside my chest...

Rather then making a resolution, I like to choose a word for the year. Typing is not my strong suit right now, so here's a video to explain:

As a young lawyer I idolized a senior lawyer in our city. Margaret Nixon was cool and poised. As a speaker she was clear and logical, but still warm and engaging.  She got her message across every single time. And did I mention she could also make people laugh! To my...

It was 9am - the beginning of an inhouse company training course like hundreds that I had run before. The corporate training room was standard, the number of participants was not more than usual, and it was a pretty normal gender mix. There was nothing exceptional...