203 - The Lost Art of Casual Conversations (and the cost to our relationships)

You can’t speak with confidence if you’ve ‘lost’ your professional confidence … and I’ve had too many conversations lately about ‘how to get your confidence back’ to ignore. So in this episode I’m chatting about the times that I’ve lost my professional confidence, and some techniques I use to get it back. Listen in to hear: What’s caused me to lose my confidence at different times of my professional life, both as a business owner as well as when I was working in local government

Most people shy away from the thought of being noticed, let alone ‘famous’. But if you want to make a difference, grow a business, make an impact or even just get promoted, a bit of ‘work fame’ might be just what you need. Leanne Hughes has written the book she wishes she had 10 years ago, providing a real look at how everyday people become ‘work famous’ and in doing so, make a bigger impact in their world (without being a diva). Listen in to our discussion to hear: Why ‘good work’ no longer speaks for itself and why you need to toot your own horn a bit more

How do we find the courage, or the skill, to speak up for issues we feel strongly about when there is a real risk of consequences? That’s exactly what I’m exploring in this episode. I’ve recently decided to focus my ‘change the world’ energies into one cause - housing affordability - and in doing so I’ve had to confront my concerns about negative consequences. Being seen as ‘political’. Being seen as a left-wing hippie (proud to be one, if I’m honest). Potentially losing work because of my views. There can be real risks that need to be managed when we speak up, so I’m sharing the process, the thinking, that I’m using to feel ‘safe enough’ to speak up. Listen in to hear: Why ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’ is shitty advice

If you overthink or second guess how you're going to express yourself in team meetings, this episode is for you. In our reluctance to NOT appear 'bossy' we sometimes overthink our messages, try to facilitate a discussion when really, our recommendation is appropriate and prioritise consensus over getting things done. Inspired by a real conversation in my Communicate with Impact program, in this episode I'm sharing some practical and mindset tips to help you say what you want to say, with authority and credibility, without sounding pushy, bossy without feeling awkwardly assertive. Listen in to hear: Mindset shifts for confident recommendations How to own your expertise in meetings Language hacks to soften any potential harshness Moving from asking for permission to making direct recommendations The impact of imposter syndrome on speaking up

It will probably suprise you to learn that, despite being a communication and speaking coach, my natural tendency is to ramble. In fact, it was my rambling, and my deep frustration that I wasn't making sense to my colleagues (despite my intelligence and experience) that inspired me to start my business and podcast. So in this episode I want to share what I now understand to be the causes of my rambling, and how I manage it so I can be an impactful communicator, without stifling my thought process or my personality. Listen in to hear: how it was reading about split-brain experiements that was the 'a-ha' for me about what I now understand is verbal processing the gorgeous experience with a friend that had me realise that verbal processing wasn't necessarily normal (who knew?!?!) the reasons why verbal processing works for different neurodivergent minds (and what rings true for me) how I signal to my listeners, when I can, that I am 'thinking out loud', so I can still 'think' but they don't have to follow the (crazy-to-them) details why feeling like I need to defend my position will also cause me to ramble, differently to the verbal processing style how I'm learning to trust my contribution without third party credibility and how, when rambling really isn't ok, I manage to collect my thoughts and land them to move my listener closer to where I want the to be