Articles

Breakthrough Story: The Impact of Speaking Circles®
Jack Gescheidt is an environmental activist who two months ago had a major breakthrough addressing hundreds at a forestry conference in a hotel ballroom. You may remember Jack as one of the subjects of my Public Speaking Anxiety Solved! video. In the two-part video...
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Demystifying the Cause and Cure of Stage Fright
The Speaking Circles cure for public speaking anxiety arose from my own 45 years of severe stage fright. I was the deer in the headlights guy, and it was humiliating. Toastmasters didn't help, nor did other methods to break through this confounding issue. It took...
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Relational Presence: A Way to Be With
Excerpt from the International Coach Federation site: A client or prospective client wants to be seen and heard, and to trust their inherent wisdom to bring them to their next action. A coach partners with a client in this process by using presence and communication—a...
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Solving Stage Fright is a Relational Process
Excerpt from the Association of Talent Development: We’ve seen speakers who haven’t been congruent. Their message was rich, engaging, and educational, but the speaker seemed uncomfortable, trying too hard, or being too content-focused. We know we enjoy a speech when...
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Luminous Listening Teams
I received a call last month from an accomplished consultant/author who'd given many successful presentations yet hadn't spoken in public for 7 years after having what she perceived as a traumatic speaking experience. She was approached by a few speaking coaches who...
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Cultivating the Safe Space Within
I can trace the roots of my extreme stress around public speaking--which I didn't solve until I was nearly 50--to growing up in a family that did not provide a safe space to be myself out loud. This started early when my parents followed child rearing advice at the...
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Luminous Listening: Oxygen for the Psyche
When I started treating people with stage fright 25 years ago I didn't set out to teach the finely-calibrated vibration of receptivity that turns out to be the kryptonite to public speaking anxiety. Back then there was little subtlety in my own listening. But I soon...
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Relational Presence Improves Speaker Ease Through Healing Attachment
Summary -- Speaking Circles® are well-known for both attenuating stage fright and fostering speaker-audience rapport, both of which allow for authentic, effective communication. During a Speaking Circle, the speaker receives unconditional positive regard from their...
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