Waiting for drawings and a first copy edit of my 13 Near Misses. To pass the time, I opened a new blog for the Misses.

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Apart from that: work. Full stop.

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The first round of (very successfull) exams this term included topics that ranged from stuttering to ergonomics and back to language development in children.

The all women rhetoric weekend seminar consisted mainly of social workers and ergo-, logo- and physiotherapists plus an engineer and two students from our Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage department. Interesting mix.

Same fears, different approaches. In the beginning, all 13 Near Misses were very present: from Miss Muffler to Miss What’s-the-Point. I am glad to see all of them have found a way around their very personal presenting demons.

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Loved a recent post by Lisa Braithwaite on being more humble as a speaker (lecturer/teacher/you name it).

Without our audiences, we are nothing.

After 20 years of teaching and coaching, I have begun working on a small book about public speaking and presenting. Quite different, I hope, from the usual business manuals. It does not plan to streamline you; it’ll just take you by the hand and say: Have you tried this before?

That is pretty much the way I work in my coachings. Dimming down communicative noise, emphasizing your strengths. Finding you help your real voice. Considering your audience’s needs. Making both sides comfortable.

With lovely illustrations by a young female Munich artist, plus a wise cracking hell of a cat. This is too much Alice in Wonderland to go without a cat.

A public speaking primer for girls who want to be heard.

By, and for, women. And very much not for the all glamorous or pin striped at heart.

I’ll be keeping you posted.