Deborah Riegel

Consider applying the “2% true” rule. In other words, rather than rejecting the feedback completely, ask yourself “if just 2% of this criticism were true, what would that be?” Most of us can name a tiny piece that resonates — and use that as a starting point to consider how you may have inadvertently contributed to a dynamic, performance metric, or behavior you didn’t intend to.

Boundaries don’t have to be about what you will and won’t do. They can also be about WHERE you will and won’t do things. For example, you might set a boundary that you don’t do any work in the kitchen. Or you don’t answer work calls in the car when your kids are with you. Or you don’t get into bed with your computer. Consider setting location-specific boundaries and see what that changes for you.

Stop thinking about “networking” and start thinking about “relationship building”. Networking tends to have a connotation associated with a stressful, overwhelming event — or an activity you do to achieve a business goal. Relationship-building is a process, it assumes a give and take, it can go deeper and longer, and isn’t about a particular outcome. This makes it feel less like a “have to” and more like a “get to”.

I'm thrilled to share my self-paced online course, Smart Tips: Presentation Skills. These are short, standalone videos that let you learn new skills at your own pace. http://tinyurl.com/mpxpmacf And here’s what I know for sure: everyone can become a better public speaker (including you). This course will give you: Techniques for reducing presentation anxiety Shortcuts to make designing and developing your presentation fast and easy Tips for turning your data into a story Ideas for starting and ending your presentation with a bang Strategies to persuade any audience Ways to minimize filler words Tools for handling tricky Q&A Skills for delivering virtual and hybrid presentations successfully

For a growing subset of global business professionals—those who need to present in English when English isn’t their native language—the anxiety related to speaking in public is even more pronounced. Considering the language barriers to overcome, the cultural norms to learn, and the general challenges associated with public speaking, nonnative English speakers have it harder than most. This course makes it easier. http://tinyurl.com/58624wb8 Business Presentation Skills for Nonnative English Speakers is a practical, tactical, and supportive how-to course aimed at addressing the unique problems that nonnative English speakers experience when they speak in public - formally, informally, internally, externally, and in any setting.

Data insights can be excellent starting points for building a story. Author Gary Klein writes that an insight is “an unexpected shift in the way we understand things.”   Some examples include: 1. We thought all of our customers liked feature A, but they prefer feature B instead. 2. We believed this industry was a poor target market, but it is actually a good one. 3. We assumed our process was broken due to X, but it was really caused by Y. Those insights are the seeds of the story. The narrative blooms from answering "how did we come to that new understanding?"