Gail

A personal message from Gail…

Many of you have written to ask where I’ve been, am I okay, why haven’t I been in touch, and even to say you miss my occasional newsletters.  Thank you!  It has been a fallow time in my creative life as my outer life has been taking my full energy.  But the seeds of new experience have been planted that I trust will bring a rich harvest.

The irony is not lost on me that my attempt to upgrade my website and become social media savvy to communicate more regularly was a big part of what shut me down! The process was agonizing and I haven’t written since the new site went live last spring.  At the same time, 2011 was full of “firsts” including an amazing trip to Peru, where I was able to connect more directly with the indigenous wisdom that informs my work. Lynne Twist and I developed a new workshop Fundraising from the Heart: The Soul of Money, the Soul of Story, which we presented at Stillheart Institute in the California redwoods (coming soon on video).  My two-day introductory workshop in Vancouver for 25 people sold out in a week, so I returned for a second one.  I also had the honor of coaching the seven Social Venture Network  innovation award winners for the award ceremony at the Philadelphia conference in October. Their world-changing stories, all so different, reminded me once again that when we know our medicine and our message and answer the call of our hearts, we get out of our own way and serve the needs of our changing times. Continue reading

The Four Bones of a Transformational Speech

Cultural anthropologist Angeles Arrien, author of The Four-Fold Way, teaches there are four bones to which we must pay attention if we are to remain fully present in our lives. As in life, so it is in speaking! Here are the four bones:

1. First, the wishbone. That is where our vision resides, the place of dreaming and re-dreaming so that we live the life we came to live. When you’re developing your presentation, what is the vision you hold of what is possible because you choose to show up? A transformational speech begins with knowing the new story you want people to embrace and act upon. So exercise your wishbone as your very first step to a transformational speech. What is the outcome you wish for that makes all the energy of preparing and delivering a presentation worthwhile? Continue reading

Personal Reflections on We the People

We the People

We the People

The U.S. mid-term election results were a reminder that once a constituency is “won,” it is only the beginning of a relationship. Just as motivational fervor is quick to die after the speaker sells a bunch of product, a politician’s success is not sustainable without continued attention to those who voted. Last week’s Transformational Speaking class said it well: Love Your Audience! As evidence of the disengagement of Obama’s base, only 9 million young people voted this week compared to 23 million in 2008. At the same time, the zeal of the Tea Party ignited a movement. It seems the rigor of getting elected pales in comparison to that of governing. Continue reading

The Three Faces: Staying Alive to Your Life and Your Speaking

This month I am experimenting with You Tube and not just writing but also talking to you about the three faces, an African teaching I learned from Angeles Arrien. It is said we stay alive to our lives if each day we express the three faces. The first is the face of the child, the face of wonder and curiosity, imagination and awe. The second is the face of the young lad or young maiden seized by passion and creative fire. The third is the face of rude magnificence, the face of the elder with its wisdom, and yes, often its fierceness. ( I tell a favorite story about the face of rude magnificence as it showed up in me in Switzerland in my book Transformational Speaking.) Continue reading

Calling All Voices: Four Questions to Reveal the Message Written in Your Soul

We are entering a time of shocking transformation. Life as we are living it is not sustainable and many are looking for a better story. The story that is pushing to emerge cannot be for the benefit of a few who have–so far– managed to insulate themselves from the harshness and apprehension that so many live with each day. The new story must be for the good of all life. We need only to look at the devastation in the Gulf of Mexico to recognize our inextricable connectedness with the natural world and to bring home the truth of Chief Seattle’s legendary words: “We did not weave the web of life. We are only a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web we do to ourselves.” Continue reading

The Transformative Power of Place: See the Change!

John Muir

John Muir

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul alike.” – John Muir

Once a man I loved wondered why I didn’t want to move into his ratty little house. He felt that love should prevail even if I didn’t like the place. When I told my sister about it, she commented, “You should tell him you grew up in a family that would spend two hours picking out a campsite.” Continue reading

Your Soul is Rooting for You

Danielle LaPorte writes a blog www.WhiteHotTruth.com I wouldn’t miss. On this day of Thanksgiving in the U.S., she reminds us “Your Soul is Rooting for You.”

I love this! Because today I am packing my car for a 4-day journey to Santa Fe and an unknown adventure which I am taking at the urging of my soul. My soul wants winter sunshine and a place of belonging . . . where my body feels good to live in, my heart expands, and my spirit soars. (My mind simply wants a rest.) Continue reading

The TED Commandments

TED

TED

Who has not been inspired by a TED Talk? TED is a small nonprofit devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. While attending the conference is by application and costs $5,000, the 18-minute talks travel the internet and are available to all at www.TED.com.

Listen to some of the talks to behold the richness and wisdom that can be communicated in just 18-minutes. A few of my favorites are Jill Bolte Taylor’s Stroke of Insight, novelist Isabel Allende on creativity, and Elizabeth Gilbert on recognizing the muse. Check them out! Continue reading

Responsibility for Your Impact

What Happens When Women Wake Up?

What Happens When Women Wake Up?

Years ago in my intensive studies with cultural anthropologist Angeles Arrien, she spoke of “responsibility for our impact.” That teaching has stayed with me as I’ve observed how easy is it for others to perceive us in ways that can be contrary to how we see ourselves. Being responsible for our impact requires that we remain vigilant to the expectations we create. For example, when we are given the speaking platform, the invitation confers a level of authority that gives our words great power. And on a personal level, when engaged in a glorious “what if . . . ?” co-creative surge that comes and goes like a hot flash, others may be making plans while we are moving on.

It is time to recognize the power we hold. It is time to clear those sabotaging voices that tell us we’re not enough. We would be wise to heed the advice quoted by a recent client: “Don’t compare your insides with everybody else’s outsides.” Continue reading

Has Your Message Chosen You?

 

Sense of Wonder

Sense of Wonder

This week I saw the inspiring film A Sense of Wonder made from interviews with Rachel Carson in the final year of her life, in 1964. As the government marine biologist spoke of the critical acclaim she received for her book Silent Spring, she said, “In some ways, the subject chooses the writer.”

Carson had made a seven-month commitment to write a book for which she received a publishing advance from Houghton Mifflin in 1958. It became the culmination of her life’s work when, two and a half years into her research, she realized she was just scratching the surface. When Silent Spring was published in 1962, the critics in the chemical industry were louder than the initial acclaim. (She noted there were few dissidents but they had a lot of money.) Her book catalyzed investigation into the destruction of life that comes from synthetic pesticides and catapulted environmental concerns to the forefront of public discourse, where they have remained ever since. Continue reading

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Description: Hear from Danielle LaPorte, Michael Hart, Jennifer Louden, Susan Hyatt, Dr. Diane Chung, Julie Daley and Dyana Valentine.

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"I went to Transformational Speaking feeling there was a deeper, more important voice within me that had not yet found expression. I’ve found a vital piece of my jigsaw puzzle and now I know what I have to say and how to say it! Gail is a master."
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