Scott C. Jones - comedian, TV host, writer - and now a speaker! - has joined me on the show as a budding speaker with a wide performance background. Scott's story is powerful. He's been in front of the TV camera for years; and after a health setback, he's found himself recreating his presence, and his story. We talk about risk, our stories, saying yes, learning from our work, the craft of expressing ourselves - and the wonderful ways we find ourselves in this arena.

Scott, I'm a fan! Thanks for reaching out - and for sharing your story with us!

Aside from "Starting with an A" and "Leggo-ing Your Ego" and "Investing in the Relationship" - you need to be sure that feedback is both honest AND helpful. It's a simple filter, that asks just a little more of both the feedback give and the feedback receiver. 

John Zimmer - lawyer, Toastmasters master, speaker, improviser and communications coach - joined me for a conversation about how we can bring the art of communication to ANY opportunity you have. Whether you're in a courtroom, or giving a TED talk, doing improv, sitting in an interview, or standing in front of your coworkers for a meeting - these skills are essential to moving your audience.

I love John's breadth of experience - and how he brings these skills to so many arenas. As he says, "The more ways you can speak, the better the speaker you can become."

(Check out John's amazing website with tons of speech analysis - and, his wonderful TEDx talk!)

In May, I participated in a Listen To Your Mother event. Have you heard of Listen To Your Mother? You may have heard my interview with LTYM founder Ann Imig from last fall, or perhaps you've been in the audience of one of the 41 shows that takes place throughout the country. Or, maybe you've run across the LTYM YouTube channel, with their hundreds of talks from the last 7 years! Or the book.

And even with all that, if you haven't heard of LTYM, now you know. And now you've gotta get yourself to one of these events!

in this episode I talk with three people who took part in this spring's Twin Cities show - Junita Flowers, Vikki Reich and Liz Sjaastad. Enjoy!

Vanessa Van Edwards - scientist and speaker - joined me for a conversation about how to present yourself... or, as I almost titled this episode: How Not to Be Awkward. Why is Vanessa the expert on this topic? As a "recovering awkward person" herself, she approached the soft skills of presenting, love, and influence - studying it like she studies science. And through that she has been able to bring to light some key lessons for all of us on the science of influence, charisma and presenting ourselves with confidence and credibility.

On Feedback, Part 1: Start with an A

Happy Season 3!
This is big, friends. I had the huge honor of having a 45-minute conversation with the amazing Rob Bell. In fact, I call him that so often I think he should just change his name to "the amazing Rob Bell."

Here's the technicalities of his impressive bio:

Rob Bell is The New York Times bestselling author of Love Wins, What We Talk About When We Talk about God, The Zimzum of Love and his most recent book How To Be Here. iTunes named his podcast, The RobCast, Best of 2015. He’s been profiled in The New Yorker, he’s toured with Oprah on her Life You Want Tour, and in 2011 Time Magazine named him one of the 100 Most Influential People In The World. He has a regular show at Largo, the legendary music and comedy club in West Hollywood and is currently touring his How To Be Here Experience around the world. He and his wife Kristen have three children and live in Los Angeles.

[Holy crap, people. Oprah. Time Magazine. Books. And!, he's besties with, like, all my favorite people. I'm sorry, I can't stop gushing.]

But here's what I've learned by watching his talks (inspiring, and a masterclass in the craft of speaking) and listening to his podcast (love it, one of my faves) and reading his books (smarty and awesome): Rob Bell is the real deal, and he is led by an internal compass and a sincere quest to follow his curiosity and soak up the life that is in front of him. He is smart. He is funny. He is grounded. He is not afraid to change his life and challenge others, and speak up. And after a brief 45-minute conversation, I felt like we were friends. I hope that's true, because he is a good person to have in this world. I have benefitted from him just being here.

So what I'm saying, movers, is that it's not just a really impressive and long list of accolades; it could be infinitely longer if you named all the people he's impacted, inspired, and changed.