The Power of Now (what was I saying…)

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Louise
communication coach Philadelphia
Photo courtesy of Ray Halegara

I will admit that this topic has me a bit stumped.  It is part of a blog hop of ICA students and graduates.  Every month a group of us select a topic – that usually is the easy part.  Then drawing from our unique perspectives as coaches and our various specialties, we write something on the topic.   

Up to this point, I’ve found the topics fairly ‘easy’ to write about.  At least as easy as writing comes to me!  This topic though, The Power Of Now, seems so big I’m not sure how to tackle it.  And maybe that is the point – what really is The Power of Now?  What does it mean? Why should I care about it as a coach or as a client?   Continue reading →

Posted in Fear of public speaking | Tagged , , , , , | 29 Comments

How do you measure a year?

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Louise

2011 had 12 months, 365 days, 8760 hours, 525,600 minutes – just like 3 out of every 4 years.  (2012 being leap year has 366 days….)   

A lot of those minutes were spent sleeping.  So where did the rest of them go?  How did the year go by so fast in some regards, and yet in retrospect seem so long in others?  This could create an entire philosophical discourse on “What is time?”    Continue reading →

Posted in Fear of public speaking, Media referenced | Tagged , , , | 16 Comments

Moving Past Fear – ICA Blog Hop

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Louise

I have a fear of dentists.  It started when I was young and ended up in the dentist chair at night with an emergency that resulted in a tooth being pulled.  It hurt and I cried.  Well, I was only 5 years old.  That memory came back in force the last couple of weeks when I found myself back in a dental chair with the same searing pain and found tears running down my face, again – and I’m no longer 5 years old!  This time it was the need for a root canal that had to be made over two visits.  Both were extremely painful.   

Now between that first visit filled with pain and the last couple, I’ve had numerous other visits to the dentist that didn’t have as much pain.  However, the fear has always been there, even though my desire for good teeth eventually outweighed my fear.  And even with these last two visits I’ll be back in that chair next week to have a permanent crown fitted for that tooth – and given how much trauma it has had, I expect it to hurt also.  But I’ll still go.    Continue reading →

Posted in Fear of public speaking, Media referenced, Presentation Basics | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Thanksgiving and Gratitude

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Louise

Thanksgiving is upon us here in the USA.  This year we have been able to celebrate Thanksgiving twice.  We were with dear friends in Canada in October and now with friends and neighbors.  While this year has had some challenges for us, and for many others, we are truly thankful for all the friends and family we have.  My family live quite far away and as we’ve gotten older, my siblings tend to want to create their own family traditions.  My husband, being Canadian, has embraced Thanksgiving in November, while his family celebrates in October.  So our tradition has evolved to involve friends and neighbors.  Continue reading →

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Talking, Word Press and Dancing

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Louise

One of my coaching clients expressed dismay when I talked to her about practicing her speech.  “Why do I have to practice?  It is just talking and I know how to talk.”  

Like so many things in life, we think that because we can do something, then doing that something just a bit differently should be easy! Why should it be so hard?  That aspect for me is designing this web site.  I know how to type, I’ve taken a couple of programming courses, and WordPress is supposed to be ‘easy to use’ – so why does it take so darn long to do anything?  Because of course, that my ‘something’ of a skill needs to be honed in a different way and that honing takes time.    Continue reading →

Posted in Presentation Basics | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment