Episodes

It’s happened again. A high-profile man accused of inappropriate conduct. Even those with a PR staff to help them out don’t always respond appropriately when their reputation is being attacked. That’s exactly my take on the recent man in the spotlight: Tony Robbins. This week on the Confident Communications Podcast, I’m dissecting the accusations against Tony Robbins and his response. What did he do right? Where did he (and others) miss the mark? What happens next? There’s a 3-step process fo...

The thought of a call from the media, or (yikes!) a request for an interview is the stuff of nightmares for many business owners and executives. But it’s also par for the course if you want to stay ahead of the story, put out the right message and stay transparent and relevant to your audience. If you want to run and hide when you hear a reporter is on the line, or avoid speaking in public because it makes you uncomfortable, you need to take a step back and listen in to this episode of the Conf...

How do you ask for your check at a restaurant? Are you a “Check, please!” person or someone who waits to make eye contact with their server then air-signs to let the server know what you want? Do you know which is the more appropriate thing to do? In honor of National Waitstaff Day, this week’s episode of Confident Communications focuses on all the things your waitstaff wants you to know about dining in a restaurant--but can’t actually tell you. Waitstaff are key personnel in my business because...

Back in the day, you relied on personal relationships when deciding whether to do business with someone. While that’s still the case in a lot of circles, an even more popular method is through our good friend Google. I don’t know about you, but I often Google the name of someone who reaches out to me for business -- for a media interview or for help in their business. I want to know who I’m dealing with before I agree to do any work with or for someone. And I love that it’s so easy to find the i...

As many as 90% of people check out reviews on social media and business or industry websites before buying. That means your reviews matter. But what matters even more nowadays is how you respond to reviews your customers leave online. Unfortunately, you don’t have time to manage your reviews all day long. And you shouldn’t. What you should do, however, is make sure that you respond to every single review you receive--good or bad. In fact, it’s even more important to respond to bad reviews, publi...

I spent a good part of my career working with the media in my role as a public affairs officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and my time as the head of communications for the cruise line industry outside of Washington D.C. The journalists I met had a passion for finding the story and making sure the public heard it. One of the journalists I encountered during my career was Jeanne Meserve, an anchor and correspondent for CNN and ABC News and winner of two Emmy Awards, two CN...

Major League Baseball hits a home run when it comes to social media strategy. But you don’t have to be a multi-billion dollar enterprise to get noticed and stay relevant. By following the winning tactics teams use to engage their fans, you’ll soon be hitting social media home runs with the big leagues. That doesn’t mean you need to be on all the social platforms; it just means that you need to find which platforms your people are on, know what’s going to stop their scroll and then give them the ...

Do you know the power of a hashtag? (Do you even know what a hashtag is?) I get asked about hashtags a lot in my business, and it’s not uncommon to feel like a #dinosaur. Heck, I question myself every time I use a hashtag--still. There’s no shame in not knowing what a hashtag is or how to use it. There really aren’t any true tutorials on it and for us Gen-Xers and older, it’s just the pound symbol on the dial pad of the phone you grew up with. But for those of us who use social media on a regula...

You know you’ve seen and heard it: The person driving down the street texting. The mom Facetiming her teenager in the grocery store. Loudly. The video call with background noise (or underwear hanging on the treadmill in the background). The “reply all” email threads that go on...and on...and on… Sure, you’re well aware of the annoying communication habits that others are guilty of. Do you know what you might be doing that’s annoying others? This week on the Confident Communications podcast, I’m ...

Everyone has difficult moments in their lives, whether it’s a high-conflict divorce, an argument with a friend or family member or clashed personalities at work. It happens because we’re human and because we often don’t know how to react or interact during difficult times. Instead of reacting to triggers that only make the moment more heated, this week’s guest teaches us how to pause a moment to make sure we’re reacting appropriately. Lara Currie is a speaker and trainer who teaches professional...

When you’re in the public eye, be ready for scrutiny. Even if you’re not in the public eye, your audience is looking for transparency both online and offline. Try to hide and you’re going to get some backlash--especially in the face of a crisis. This week on the Confident Communications podcast, we’re ripping from the headlines two fallouts from two executives’ mistakes. One flat-out lied and bamboozled the public and investors out of millions (a billion!). The other thought that denial and hidi...

Your Name Went Viral - But Not in a Good Way. Now What? Going viral isn’t always a good thing. Just ask Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, who both had a rough week in court and online because of their involvement in the college cheating scandal. No one wants to go viral like that. The thing is, in today’s digital age, you’re at risk whether you know it or not. It’s important to be prepared and to know what to look for when you're headed for digital infamy, which is exactly what I’m talking abo...

Too many people get stressed out when it comes to writing, and it’s usually because they’ve told themselves that they’re a bad writer. But that’s not actually true. Most people know how to write. What you need to figure out is how to make writing a little less something you dread. When I was a kid, I loved writing-- as most kids do. But it was when my paycheck started depending on my writing ability, that writing became something I dreaded. I’ve noticed that this is usually when most adults star...

For most people, your voice is simply the tool you use to communicate. But for Gina Razón, this week’s guest on the Confident Communications podcast, the voice is much more than that. And when you don’t use your breath properly, your voice (and your credibility) can suffer. A former opera singer and current public speaker and voice coach, Gina shares with us why the voice is a tattletale for your confidence and exactly what speakers do when they’re not as confident or as prepared as they’d like...

Did you watch the 2019 Oscar telecast? I did - that's why I’m looking at how the stars’ publicists did on the most important night in Hollywood. It was the first time in the history of the broadcast that the program went hostless. Join me and my long-term friend and fellow pop culture enthusiast Mary Mitschow as we each chose our top three hits and misses by both stars and publicists on Oscar night and riffed on our take. We’re digging into whether the stars’ publicists did a good job of promo...

Let’s face it, we all lie. Many of those lies are innocent white lies with the intent of making the other person look or feel better (That jacket looks great on you!) but other lies are much more hurtful and impactful (think: the Fyre Festival). Most people can’t spot a lie because humans are wired to believe one another. In this episode of Confident Communications, I’m sharing the common reasons we lie, which gender is more likely to lie, the lies each gender tell and which gestures can be mis...

More than ever, being President of the United States means you need to be at the top of your game as a communicator. And no matter what you think about current or past presidents, each one had his own challenges and triumphs when it comes to communicating with the American public. In this non-partisan episode of the Confident Communications podcast, I’m sharing how communication by our nation’s leaders has changed over time--from the written State of the Union to fireside chats that worked for ...

The subject of race is a hot-button topic, one that many people shy away from for fear of offending someone. But in America today, it’s not going away. Part of being an effective communicator means being able to relate to and talk to a range of people, regardless of race, creed, origin, sexual preference, age and more. That’s why I wanted to talk to Jeffrey Blount about the topic. Jeffrey is an accomplished speaker on race and social justice and gives us deep insight into what it means to grow...

When a big story hits the news, we all take notice. Many of us dissect the events strictly from a "just the facts" point of view, but plenty more tune in to watch the twists and turns, and eventually, the reputation fallout. The latest - the story of Nick Sandmann. A Covington, Kentucky teen who was caught on video with what looked like a smirk on his face while allegedly staring down a Native American protester. But do we really know the whole story? In this week’s episode of the Confident Co...

We’re in a whole new age when it comes to making personal announcements. No matter what the announcement is, the bigger the name, the bigger the story. When Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos announced their divorce on January 9, they chose only one public communication channel - Twitter. Twitter posts for high-profile news announcements have taken the place of the tried and true press release, and Facebook posts have taken the place of phone calls for the general public’s announcements. Both of these ha...

December is one of the most popular times of the year to get engaged, which means that many brides (and their mothers) are planning weddings! There are so many communication dynamics that go into wedding planning--from announcing the big day to booking vendors to managing family relationships and opinions. In this episode, we’re tackling all of these issues, as well as how vendors can help brides feel a little less overwhelmed during this busy time of their lives. Wedding planning requires two-w...

In this non-traditional Golden Globes recap, I’m looking at how the stars’ publicists did on one of the most important nights in Hollywood. More than 18 million people tuned in to the 2019 Golden Globes on Sunday night and I was among them, as usual. As a Gen-Xer, I’m a pop culture fan and usually tune into the awards shows for both the entertainment value and to theorize about publicists’ angles. The show did not disappoint, as I discuss with my long-term friend and fellow pop culture enthusi...

Every business needs a foundation to communicate with its employees, which is why I brought Victoria Dew of Dewpoint Communications to talk about this critical piece of the communication puzzle. Victoria’s unique perspective as a former entertainment industry professional and in-house communication professional both in the U.S. and overseas helps to bring a new voice to the creativity and transparency that goes into communicating with employees. In this episode, we talk human-centric business, c...

Communication fails are a starting point in talking about the importance of having a sound communication skill set. And there were a lot of them in 2018. It helps to know what mistakes look like so you can avoid them, and even learn how to come back from them effectively. Last week, I talked about the top communications wins in 2018; in this week’s episode of the Confident Communications Podcast, we’re looking at the flubs. From mistweets to apologies gone wrong, from insensitivity to public saf...