Worst compliment ever? When I first heard this worst compliment ever at one of my high school reunions, it struck me hard. “You haven’t changed a bit.” I’m sure it was meant as a compliment. I wish they were applying it to my weight, physique, innocence, or maybe even...
Much of what I find myself doing as a speech coach is falling more into the mentorship category than the instructing category. I recently got an idea from a client. He had called to discuss hiring me to speak to his staff, something I’ve done several times for his...
We just passed a milestone anniversary here at MillsWyck Communications. It was just over ten years ago that I said goodbye to my corporate job at (what was then) America’s Best Place to Work and the steady paycheck to become a public speaking trainer. I was...
I went to my first graduation in years yesterday (I don’t consider a kindergarten or elementary school graduation a real event worthy of such a title — there needs to be a diploma involved). I was there to support a speaker and discovered that there were...
Dealing with a Negative Speaker Evaluation A speaker evaluation is important to all speakers who sincerely want to improve their craft. As a speaker, I get lots of gifts. The crystal clock (that got tossed in my carry-on and security picked up as a “dense object”). ...
Public Speaking Myths In the last two weeks, I’ve had multiple students in my workshops ask incredulously, “I get what you’re teaching, but I was taught the exact opposite. Which is correct?” Those are the sorts of questions that can strike fear into the heart of an...
