In Praise of Contagion
Contagion is good. At least, in an emotional sense, in audiences, and most of the time. As public speakers, we ...
What Is the Difference Between Good and Bad Storytelling?
Good storytelling begins in pain. At the core of every great story is conflict, and that means that someone is ...
Can Your Body and Your Brain Think Together?
One of the mysteries of the human mind that we are only beginning to delve into is the relationship between ...
How to Talk about Change
How should speakers, writers, and other communicators talk about change most effectively? Not the way we’ve been doing it. Not ...
Four Commitments Audiences Want from their Speakers
In my ongoing occasional series on the persona that a speaker presents to the audiences she addresses, I’ve talked about ...
Why We Get Defensive, in Neuroscientific Terms
We are still in the early days of understanding how our brains work. Neuroscience adds to our bank of knowledge ...
Should You Smile for the Camera? Be Careful — It May Age You!
We humans smile a great deal. We smile when we’re happy; we smile when we’re sad, to disguise the feeling ...
Are You Anxious? What Are the Uses of Anxiety, if Any?
I am an anxious person. I like things to go well, especially social situations, and I put energy into trying ...
How Long Do Emotions Last?
Every now and then I run across a neuroscientific study that makes me think in a new way, because it ...
How do you react to change?
The only people who crave change are wet babies. I first heard that maxim from my grandmother, and it has ...
