It's clear that virtual meetings are here to stay. ​ So…here are 5 ways to look your best on Zoom.💻 ​ (…or on Teams, Meet, or whatever virtual platform you prefer!) ​ ⚡ 1. Lighting is your friend! ​ If you’ve ever noticed during a virtual meeting that one of your colleagues looks like they’re in witness protection - that likely means that they are back-lit. ​ Their light source (lamp or daylight) is behind them. ​ If you are not hiding from the authorities, put your lightin

I left the class feeling drained and stressed. 🙁 ​ But…intellectually, my brain was feeling pretty satisfied. ​ Weird. 🤔 ​ What was happening here? ​ I thought back. ​ 🌱 The teacher/CEO was engaging – she was enthusiastic and really knew her stuff. ​ Ok…good! ✅ ​ 🌱 The topic – how to scale your business – was important to me. ​ Good again. ✅ ​ 🌱 I was picking up some good insights and tips about creating programs. Just want I wanted. ✅ ​ What else? ​ The class was o

I used to believe that the more skilled I was, the less nervous I would be. Years ago, as an actress, I figured that the more training I had, the less anxious I would feel before performances and auditions. But, somehow, the opposite was true. Sigh. The more I worked on my craft, the higher my standards became to get things “right”. I wanted everything to be 100% emotionally truthful. Authentic. Natural. Spontaneous. These aren’t bad things to want. I LOVE perfo

"Presenting is the art of continually being present." - Me When you are fully present in the room (or on Zoom), your audience is much more likely to stay present with you. When you are present, they are more likely to... 🌼 Let go of their worries for a bit 🌼 Put their phones away The present moment is where you have the most power. A lot of the work I do with my clients is to help them shift away from: "I just want to get this over with!" ...and shift to: "I'm excited to

We did it! We're here in 2026! To be honest, I'm still sorting through all that happened in 2025. And at the same time, I'm definitely ready for that fresh new start feeling. My friend Laura and her husband, Eric, came over on New Year's Eve to celebrate with Art and me. She had a pumpkin pie, presents🎁, a 4-point plan, paper, and pens. Laura's 4-point plan for saying bye-bye to 2025: 1. Think of a few things I don't want to bring into 2026. ❌ 2. Write them on a

Hey there! ​ It's me, Amanda the tooth fairy, here to deliver a little treat… 🦷 🧚 A free meditation just for you! I created this meditation to help you ease your nerves and feel more centered in just 7.5 minutes. 🧘 Meditation is a simple, powerful, and awesome way to signal to your body that it's okay to let go of stress and anxiety. It's been proven to have amazing short and long term effects on our mental and physical health. 😌 And, it can be done in your jam

My client, Andrew, landed EXACTLY the opportunity he wanted…but his nerves were stealing his success. Andrew is a chef and recipe developer on a TV show.He is passionate about food.The kitchen is his happy place. But, when his episodes were filmed, Andrew felt stressed and overly critical of himself.🥕 A little context: during a typical episode of this cooking show, Andrew has quite a few things on his plate. (Pun intended!) 1. He chats with the host about his food experience

When I see a video like this, two words come to mind. More, please. With utter seriousness - funny animal videos are so good for my mental health. (I like to imagine that they have their own videos of humans doing funny things, too.) A goose going down a slide? Fabulous. And fun. Slides? In this context, fun. Slides at work? Usually….not so much. Check this slide out. ⬇️ Can we say overwhelm? I wrote down some of my ideas on how to make your work slide

Which comes first - your confidence or your presentation message? 🥚🐔🥚🐔🥚🐔🥚🐔🥚🐔🥚🐔🥚🐔🥚🐔 After supporting one-on-one clients to create presentations that feel alive, relevant, and relatable for over two decades, I have a strong opinion on this. Ready for it? Here's my answer. They feed each other. CONFIDENCE ←→ PRESENTATION As your confidence in knowing who your audience is grows, your presentation gets stronger.💪 As your presentation gets more clear

1. Someone Asks, "So, What Do You Do?" ​ Do you find yourself rambling on about your job, trying to explain each and every facet? ​ Or, do you get tongue tied, feeling like it's too much too explain, so you give a very vague answer? ​ Yep, sounds like a moment that calls for some speaking skills! ​ ​ 2. A Job Interviewer Says, "Tell Me About Yourself." ​ The dreaded open ended question. Do you start at your birth? Do you tell them about the time you met LeBron James in an ele

There is a restaurant in San Diego that I am unlikely to ever visit. It's not because it has bad reviews. (People really love this place!) And I never got food poisoning there. It's because… …of its name. It's called The Broken Yolk. I have never ever liked broken yolks! 🍳 EVER! I was about to launch into all of my negative feelings about runny yokes, but I am already starting to feel queasy and sick. Before you start to tell me how magnificent eggs benedict

The alphabet almost ends with Y. It's the penultimate letter! Yet author and speaker Simon Sinek famously thinks we should start with WHY. I'm in Sinek's camp (no hard feelings, alphabet). When it comes to public speaking, starting with WHY is a smart plan. Especially when you have been asked to speak on a topic that you don't really care about.😟 I'm not saying that if you're asked to talk about the history of popsicle sticks that you should go into existential a