Episodes
Friday Jun 24, 2016
Spot the frames when someone else is speaking or writing
Friday Jun 24, 2016
Friday Jun 24, 2016
Photo credit: Les Chatfield, https://www.flickr.com/photos/elsie/
Friday May 06, 2016
"If I were you" what would change in me?
Friday May 06, 2016
Friday May 06, 2016
When we hear someone begin a sentence with "if I were you," our first response is often to think (or say!) "Well, you're not me." The problem is that people often don't try to understand what it is like to be us: they just imagine themselves in our situation with all of their history, their connections, their skills and their biases.
- has your physiology shifted to match their posture, gestures and expressions?
- has your language shifted to take on their choice of words, phrasing, rhythms and sounds?
- are you seeing yourself in the picture (in the way that they can see you?)
Monday Jan 04, 2016
Use the language of full engagement
Monday Jan 04, 2016
Monday Jan 04, 2016
In 5 minutes, you'll understand metaphor than you ever understood it in high school. Metaphor isn't just a concept from literature: it's the language of full engagement, the language that uses the most of your brain and reaches out to activate the most of someone else's brain/body/mind system. Using it better consciously takes a little time. It's like making change in the way you walk or pronounce words or breathe. You use metaphor so naturally, it's hard to change. The rewards for changing make it worth the effort. You'll become better at understanding your own thinking and changing other people's.
Tuesday Oct 20, 2015
A brief exercise to settle the monkeys in your mind so you can focus and work
Tuesday Oct 20, 2015
Tuesday Oct 20, 2015
When the Buddhists call it "monkey mind" they mean that the ideas, emotions, memories, passions and connections in your head act like a troop of monkeys, bouncing, climbing, feeding, interacting and making mischief. Use this brief exercise to help your monkeys settle into connection and prepare to work together.
Tuesday Oct 06, 2015
From Monkeys to Miracles: How Language Works
Tuesday Oct 06, 2015
Tuesday Oct 06, 2015
I'd really love you to be part of our symposium in Toronto on October 17. But even if you can't, this introduction will get you thinking differently about how our monkey minds resist the clarity of language, and how we sometimes achieve the miracle of communication anyway. Leading Words is going to be a day that transforms the way people think about time, energy, words and a life well-lived. You'll meet interesting people, share stories of courage and creativity, and engage in conversations that mean something. October 17, Toronto, Ontario, http://bit.ly/leadingwords
Monday Sep 21, 2015
We are wired for connection, and our wires get crossed
Monday Sep 21, 2015
Monday Sep 21, 2015
Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Do you know the right thing when you hear it or do you just know it? Understanding your personality might be less helpful than understanding how all human brain/mind/body systems are wired.
Thursday Sep 10, 2015
So You Want More Control?
Thursday Sep 10, 2015
Thursday Sep 10, 2015
Welcome back after a summer break. Today's episode is about how to get more control: control of yourself, control of your situation, control of what other people will do or notice.
Wednesday May 20, 2015
Music as a model of better conversations
Wednesday May 20, 2015
Wednesday May 20, 2015
We often talk as though our voice always sings solo. Most of the time, voice is at its best when you make conversation the way musicians make music together. Listen to this, then take another 5 or 6 minutes to listen to a group or quartet playing music you like. Listen as if you were playing one of the parts. Let what you learn guide the way you enter your next conversation.
Thursday May 07, 2015
To find your voice, begin in silence
Thursday May 07, 2015
Thursday May 07, 2015
In this episode, Linda introduces the reasons it is so hard to hear your own voice. Language is always carried by a voice, in writing or in speaking. To find the voice that works best for you, you need to separate your own voice from the voices around you and the voices you carry in your head. When you make space in your life for silence, you can begin to focus on separating out your voice from the contagious voices around you and the voices of influencers that you carry within you.
Monday Mar 23, 2015
Do you hate selling? Learn to prepare, engage and mobilize
Monday Mar 23, 2015
Monday Mar 23, 2015
We call our sales course I Hate to Sell. People who love to sell, who find joy and connection and satisfaction in selling don't need a course. They need to sell.