Episodes

Presentations can be effective yet are often lacking, too polished and impersonal. In this episode, I share some personal perspectives on an overlooked format that is ideal for disseminating knowledge, experience, insights and wisdom in a more personal and practical way, one that really gets people talking. The post Ep. 226 – Giving a good talk appeared first on Just Saying.

It’s easy to occupy an enormous amount of your day in mindless motion, running from one task to another. But have you stopped to think about how much thinking you do every day? In this episode, I plant a seed to get you to consider increasing the amount of time you spend thinking every day. The post Ep. 225 – How much thinking do you do? appeared first on Just Saying.

In the last episode, I encourage you to talk to lots of people along the way to your next job. People tend to focus all their energy on the interview and fail to gain valuable insights, encouragement and guidance in the scores of small conversations they have with family, friends, colleagues and contacts. The post Ep. 224 – Lessons in transition (part 3) appeared first on Just Saying.

In this second installment, I provide some recommendations on how to clarify your vision of yourself professionally down the road. For many of us, it is hard to describe what you want to do in the future and why. In this episode, I give a few practical bits of advice to make this less daunting. The post Ep. 223 – Lessons in transition (part 2) appeared first on Just Saying.

When you are ending a career and starting a new one, or simply changing jobs, you need to be able to succinctly explain your value. Defining what you had previously done in clear and concise terms (i.e., your value proposition, or elevator speech) will be the bridge for you to help people refer, connect and even hire you. The post Ep. 222 – Lessons in transition (part 1) appeared first on Just Saying.

For many of us, expressing emotions feels treacherous. In this episode, I share a few practical ways to make this feel easier and serve as a better way to start longer, clarifying conversations with someone else. The post Ep. 221 – How does that feel? appeared first on Just Saying.

Great courses are not only filled with wonderful and practical experiences, but they are also led by selfless and authentic instructors. In this second installment, I talk about the critical role of the instructor to serve as a facilitator of learning, not a self-absorbed lecturer. The post Ep. 220 – Breaking bad teaching (part 2) appeared first on Just Saying.

When you take a course, whether it be in person or online, it’s always an experience. In this episode, I talk about the critical role of course design to make it an exceptional, relevant and practical experience. Link: https://thebrieflab.com/belt/ The post Ep. 219 – Breaking bad teaching (part 1) appeared first on Just Saying.

Over the past year, we continue to witness substantial changes in our world, both broadly and personally. After spending some quiet time to reflect personally, I share a brief perspective on what’s transpired in the past 12 months and what lies ahead. The post Ep. 218 – Year in review appeared first on Just Saying.

In this episode, I talk about some important considerations if you need to come up with a name for a business, product, program or key initiative. If you get it mildly right, you can make the name serve as a force for clarity. The post Ep. 217 – What’s in a name? appeared first on Just Saying.

Over the years, I have succeeded and failed as an entrepreneur. The lessons I learned might help you either as you start a new business or lead a new program, venture or initiative within an existing organization. The post Ep. 216 – Entrepreneurial lessons appeared first on Just Saying.

Setting the right tone at the beginning of a meeting may require you to say nothing at all. In this episode, I share a different way to kick off meetings by giving participants quiet time to prepare. Links from this episode:Ep. 153 – Best of: Curbing a culture of meetings & meeting agenda design Ep. 165 – Creating momentum after a meeting Ep. 105 – Quiet Time: the sweetest sounds The post Ep. 215 – Silent meeting starts appeared first on Just Saying.

Call back episode #179 recorded March 04, 2019 Look around and see who’s going to jump up and take out the garbage. Who will take on this thankless job? The post Call Back Episode – Empty the trash appeared first on Just Saying.

Thanksgiving Day is a wonderful time to gather and celebrate with family and friends. This time of year (all the time, for that matter) is a great time to quietly contemplate – and take note of – all the things in our lives that we are grateful for, from the simple to the profound. The post Ep. 214 – Thanksgiving: notes of gratitude appeared first on Just Saying.

In this episode, I share with you a brief essay I wrote about how the workplace needs to change. We are all hoping for fundamental improvements that will help make where and how we work much more purposeful and fulfilling, not so noisy, mindless and tiring. Links from this episode: Download or share the essay: The Quiet Workplace The post Ep. 213 – The Quiet Workplace (an essay) appeared first on Just Saying.

Imagine being stuck in a meandering conversation with no end in sight. In this week’s podcast, I suggest practical ways to plan when and how to stop talking that will not only give people relief but also a simple way to respond. The post Ep. 212 – Wrap it up appeared first on Just Saying.

Many topics, tasks or even people are carelessly brushed aside because they are deemed dispensable, unimportant and trivial. While some things are considered “nice to know,” others are solidly seen as “need to know”? In this episode, I share ways to shift mindsets to help you and your ideas be taken more seriously. Links from this episode: BRIEF: MAKE A BIGGER IMPACT BY SAYING LESS NOISE: LIVING AND LEADING WHEN NOBODY CAN FOCUS Just Saying Ep. 210: Scattered Just Saying Ep. 50: The Uber talk...

When you drop a precious item, it breaks into tiny pieces. Similarly, as communicators, we risk to create noise and confusion to those around us. In this episode, I tackle the hard reality of us being all over the place and how we can find simple ways to manage being so scattered internally and externally. Links from this episode: BRIEF: MAKE A BIGGER IMPACT BY SAYING LESS NOISE: LIVING AND LEADING WHEN NOBODY CAN FOCUS Just Saying Ep. 208: Talk isn’t cheap The post Ep. 210 – Scattered appea...

When you are always on, that means you’re never off. Living in a 24/7 world of pervasive connectivity, we are challenged to find rewarding moments during the day to disconnect. The post Ep. 209 – Tech timeouts appeared first on Just Saying.

Do you frequently think of the cost of poor communication? As it is getting easier to spread the word, it also is getting more expensive in variety of areas. In this episode, I share some considerations of the range of real risks we face when we should have said nothing at all. The post Ep. 208 – Talk isn’t cheap appeared first on Just Saying.

E-mails can be incredibly beneficial or simply a brutal part of our day. In this multi-part series, I discuss the value of stepping away and editing with a more critical eye before hitting send. The post Ep. 207 – Writing a solid e-mail, part 2 appeared first on Just Saying.

Do you ever think why people hate getting e-mails and delete them so quickly? In this multi-part series, I get to the root of writing e-mails that are easy to open, read and respond to in a timely manner. The post Ep. 206 – Writing a solid e-mail, part 1 appeared first on Just Saying.

Why are people misunderstood? In the third installment of this series, I talk about what to do if the misunderstanding is really your fault and how to be open to that possibility and reflect honestly on what went wrong. The post Ep. 205 – Misunderstandings, pt. 3 appeared first on Just Saying.

Call Back Episode #167 recorded November 20, 2020 When writing chapter 14 of the book “Noise,” I was inspired to design a simple deck of cards to help manage scheduled times of silence so they wouldn’t become noisy appointments. So… pick a card, any card – you’re all set. Link: Thebrieflab.com/store The post Call Back EP – Take 5 Quiet Cards appeared first on Just Saying.