Around the time I gave this talk, some 30 years ago, I had a realization at work one day that I wanted to be a presentation coach. I was helping another coach prepare for a speaker training when it...
After I performed my solo show in January, I heard from many audience members who had comments about my performance. For a couple of weeks after the show, I received emails and notes in the mail, and...
This past month, I’ve worked with several artists on how to breathe new life into an old statement. Writing about your work in an artist statement is the hardest writing you’ll ever do. But it's...
Most artists I know (myself included) have dozens of projects. These half-done, never-seen-the-light-of-day "things" can feel like zombies lumbering around your studio. When I look at my files or the...
In 1987, when Marsha Sinetar's book,
I just learned the term “sheep-singing” which is what you call it when you’re singing in a chorus and you don’t ever practice but just show up and blindly follow others. Little did I know that I...
When I receive a compliment, I usually blush, stammer “Thanks” and forget about it. Last time this happened, I had run into author
When you perform—whether it’s giving a speech, an artist talk or telling a story on a stage—you will eventually get thrown off. Somebody will look bored or somebody else will walk out or any number of...
If you use a service like MailChimp or Campaign Monitor, you probably know that you can look to see who has "unsubscribed" from your list. If you didn't know this, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you...
I’ve always been struck by the story of Penelope in Greek mythology. The story, as I know it, is that Penelope married Odysseus, but that he was always off at war, and while he was away, many tried to...