Here is a brief excerpt from the first of several articles written by Nick Morgan and featured by PublicWords, a family-owned and operated company. It was founded in 1997 by Morgan, one of America’s top communication theorists and coaches. Nick is supported by his wife and business partner, Nikki Smith-Morgan who is a fellow communications coach and online marketing specialist.
To read the complete article, check out others, and learn more about PublicWords, please click here.
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The first step to brain mastery is to take inventory of how you inhabit space, how you stand, how you sit, how you move, and how you interact with others. When you’re sitting alone, do you slouch or sit straight? When you stand, are you taking up all of your space, or do you shrink into corners? When you move, do you move confidently, or do you slink — or do you careen?
And your interactions with others – what do they look like? Do you come alive when other people are in the room with you, or do you go on the defensive?
Try to catch yourself in unconscious behavior. You need to know how you’re behaving when you think no one’s watching – especially you. And try not to judge yourself. Choice and change can come later. For now, just be compassionate, non-judgmental, and try to get a picture of how you inhabit space.
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A passionate teacher, Nick Morgan is committed to helping people find clarity in their thinking and ideas—and then delivering them with panache. He has been commissioned by Fortune 50 companies to write for many CEOs and presidents. He has coached people to give Congressional testimony, to appear on the Today Show, and to take on the investment community. He has worked widely with political and educational leaders. And he has helped design conferences and prepare keynote speeches around the world. His methods, which are well-known for challenging conventional thinking, have been published worldwide. His latest book is Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma, published by Jossey-Bass. His acclaimed book on public speaking, Working the Room: How to Move People to Action through Audience-Centered Speaking, was published by Harvard Business Press and reprinted in paperback later as Give Your Speech, Change the World: How to Move Your Audience to Action.