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Happy Holidays to my friends and blog-readers! This has been quite a month with the Thomas Fire consuming our attention. But keep in mind the holidays that most women were attending to: Chanukah began Tuesday, December 12th and ended in the evening of Wednesday, December 20th. Friends who were evacuated stayed with us through this holiday and we found my menorah, lit the candles and said the prayer on the very last day. That’s the kind of week it was!

You might recall that Kwanzaa is a week-long holiday falling between December 26th and January 1st each year honoring African culture and traditions. Christmas falls on Monday, December 25th and we hope to see our daughter Tracy and her husband Randy. Hopefully we can all go on a hike together without relying on hospital masks! And soon – December 31st – we will turn another page and welcome 2018. There are so many opportunities to give thanks and celebrate our traditions, whatever they are.

This year has been challenging for me but I feel so happy that I was able to celebrate a full year of good health in November (I had a scary surgery back in 2016). Thank you to all the people whose love and affection kept me upbeat over the last year. Even as I recovered, the creative juices were unstoppable and through it all, I kept writing and consulting. As a coach, I work with people who have anxiety about public speaking. My clients often rely on PowerPoint slides that mask or muddy their unique and compelling stories. I help them move past their reticence to tell their stories.. In exchange, I learn from my clients how to be my most authentic self.

I appreciate those friends, colleagues, and clients who read my blog and Facebook posts about women speaking. Some of you have left comments or sent a personal message. Knowing how busy many of you are with competing priorities, it means a great deal to know you share my interests and want to understand the obstacles to women being heard (and taken seriously) when they speak up to present a big idea! I am working to turn WOMEN SEEN AND HEARD: LESSONS LEARNED FROM SUCCESSFUL SPEAKERS (written in collaboration with Dr. Anita Perez Ferguson in 2004, Luz Publications) into an E-book. Of the 4,000 copies originally printed, we only have 8 books left!

Let me know the topics you’d like me to cover in 2018. The January blog post will address the ways speakers use and abuse PowerPoint to manage anxiety. For your holiday reading, I suggest 6 books that might support your interest (or a friend or colleague’s interest). These books can help you become a more confident and self-assured speaker. Just click to order any of these for yourself or as a gift!

Lois Phillips, PhD. is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to www.loisphillips.com. 

About the Author:

Lois Phillips is a dynamic public speaker whose clients say she “practices what she teaches.” Her academic background combines with executive experience to inform her training and coaching. Using principles gained from interviews with successful speakers and outlined in “Women Seen and Heard: Lessons Learned from Successful Speakers”she provides coaching and training to spokespersons, managers and executives. Dr. Phillips has a special interest in executive and professional development, strategic planning, and Board leadership. She has produced conferences on women’s leadership, moderated two television programs about the changing roles of women and men, and has delivered numerous keynote conference presentations. For many years she presented workshops to corporations on the subject of PREVENTING SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE after providing climate surveys of the corporate culture.

4 Comments

  1. Marti Glenn says:

    Thank you, Dear Lois, for this inspiring and heart-felt post. I played a trick on myself when I read: “Speakers use and abuse PowerPoint to manage anxiety.” I read it as, “Speakers (and anyone with influence) use and abuse Power to manage anxiety.” An interesting topic for another day and one we deal with at our Ryzio retreats. In pondering what you said I thought about how much I speak and I have been looking at how my PowerPoints have become my outline and how often the PowerPoint can detract from helping my audience have a powerful experience. After all, it is the experience that is memorable, not the facts I am teaching. I look forward to seeing future posts. Really glad our air is mostly clear now. Wishing you a wonder-filled and de-light-full year!

    1. Lois Phillips says:

      Thanks Marti! So glad the blog post was useful! Best wishes, Lois

  2. Ann Lippincott says:

    Dear Lois, Thank you for the passion and positive energy you invest in your work – all with the goal of helping raise historically unheard voices, something that is so important in the current social-political world in which we are living. May 2018 bring you continued good health, much creative inspiration and at least a few fun adventures.
    In appreciation, Ann Lippincott

    1. lois@loisphillips.com says:

      Thanks so much for your wonderful comment! So appreciate you and all YOU do for our community! xo

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