Articles
Essential Elements: Eye Gaze
Eye Gaze in the specific context of Speaking Circles practice refers to a state of being in soft-focused eye contact with one’s listeners in a way that is personal enough to be human but relaxed enough to be “beyond the level of individual personality.” Prolonged Eye...
Essential Elements: Relational Presence
Relational Presence is the state of experiencing connection with one’s audience without agenda, or even a need for words, in any given moment. It is a foundation for powerful connected communication, where speaker and audience feel as if they are participating in a...
Let Go of Your Face
These words came to me a few weeks ago while observing a newcomer in one of my classes struggling up front to cope with extreme self-consciousness while maintaining a strained smile. When I asked if she was willing to take some coaching she nodded "yes" and I...
Demystifying the Speaker/Audience Connection
Educator Janet Surrey wrote: "To be in connection with another human being a person needs to see and be seen by the other." So what does it really mean to "see" the other? In Speaking Circles we do this through practicing a warmly attuned gaze of positive regard with...
Soften into the Moment
At a Speaking Circle Facilitator Training in 2013 Doreen Hamilton and I were coaching Facilitators in bringing Relational Stillness to their participants. When someone said the words, "soften into the moment," my body, which I am not often in good communication with,...
Speaking From Your Center
A way to explain the thrilling alchemy at Speaking Circles recently came to my attention through the words of philosopher William Segal (1904-2000), from a 1995 article in Parabola Magazine. When asked "Is there a way in which I could practice developing the...
Developing Leadership Choice Point Mastery
More and more leaders are looking for ways to change the world for the better. They come from the fields of business, coaching, therapy and other healing modalities, spirituality, education, community activism and advocacy, among other realms. Their passion to bring...
The Space Between Sentences
French composer Claude Debussy said "Music is the space between the notes." Similarly, classical pianist Arthur Schnabel said "The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes - ah, that is where the art resides!" In a similar vein, I...
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