Your bio is not your introduction The person who introduces guest speakers sets the stage for the presentation. They can either get the audience excited or have them dozing before you take the microphone. At a recent seminar, the speaker gave a dynamic, information-packed presentation. But it was preceded by an introduction that was so [...]
The Many Meanings of Medium I’m developing an online class on how to promote your business using the publishing platform Medium (watch for an announcement and link when we launch it). Of course, I have to say the word “Medium” over and over in the training. And it got me thinking about the many meanings [...]
Can you hear it in your head? There must be … “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” I wonder if Paul Simon had any idea when he wrote that song how many ways the title would be modified and reused. More than 20 years after the song’s 1975 release, a magazine gave me an assignment [...]
Serve Steak, Not Stew I like steak. I also like stew. What does that have to do with writing? One of my biggest challenges is when I’m in the middle of writing one thing and something unrelated pops into my head. What do I do with the new idea? I don’t want to lose a [...]
Critique your performance so you can improve A pastor I know is quite comfortable getting up in front of his congregation, but he’s a mediocre preacher. When I asked him if he watched the videos of his weekly sermons, he said, “No. I don’t like to see myself on video.” These days, more and more [...]
When you say, “Don’t worry,” you’re telling me I should worry. I’m not talking about trying to comfort someone who is already worried (although when does simply saying “don’t worry” ever stop someone from worrying?), I’m talking about prefacing a statement with, “Don’t worry” and then saying something that might be worrisome. When you do [...]
Imagine a platform with more than 120 million readers and no ads where you can publish whatever you want and get paid for it. It's not a fantasy–it's Medium. I was first introduced to this platform in 2019 by someone who asked me to write an exposé about a sleazy seminar company and publish [...]
One of the most common questions prospective clients and aspiring authors ask me is, “How long should my book be?” It’s an important question with a simple answer: It depends. Your book needs to be long enough to accomplish its purpose. For some books, that could be as few as 5,000 words; for others, it [...]
Whether writing or speaking, your goal should be to communicate, not to impress. Many years ago, I was at a Mensa gathering. It was a games night and we were playing Password. I usually do well at word games, but not this time. My partner decided he wanted to show off his expansive vocabulary rather [...]
Have you ever been embarrassed by a mistake in an email you sent? Whether you’re creating marketing emails that go out to thousands of people, writing business emails that go individually or in small groups to colleagues and clients, or just emailing to your family and friends, accuracy and clarity are essential for effective communication. [...]
