Speak With People

Marriage is amazing! But it is also extremely difficult. In the beginning, communicating with each other seems so easy. Then, time sets in and communication gets harder and harder. It seems like it should be easier. Some days the smallest phrase sets off your spouse and then that has the possibility of starting a fight. Then you just stop communicating. And the distance creeps in and you get farth...

Does anyone really like to talk about money? Some leaders do, but many love to ignore their finances and especially love to ignore talking about them. Why is that? What do we do when financial problems create tension in our relationships? When they do, how do we talk about them? What are the primary reasons why leaders don’t talk about their finances more often? As the leader of an organization, h...

Why is no one listening to me? Seriously, I’m frustrated! And if I’m being honest, I’m lost because I honestly don’t know and no one is telling me why they’re not listening. This is all too common in our interpersonal and work relationships. We start to pick up that people just aren’t listening to us. It starts with our spouse or kids or people closest to us just giving us the ‘uh huhs’ and then w...

Why is it so hard to communicate with certain people in my life? It seems like there are some coworkers that are just impossible for me to have any type of healthy communication with? How do I value someone with different values than me? How do I communicate with someone who has far different values? What skills or things do I need as a leader to be able to communicate with people who see things d...

How do you really connect with your audience? In this series on becoming really great at your craft, we are interviewing speakers who have been honing and developing their craft for years and years. Are there any secret skills that younger speakers can learn from more seasoned speakers to really connect deeply with the people they’re speaking to? What needs to change in your preparation to deeply...

Wisdom is one of the qualities that we know when we see it. We meet a revered leader and within minutes we’re drawn to them. There’s something about the way they listen, ask questions and then just give the most amazing advice, thoughts or feedback. Wisdom is also something that can provide so much growth for our leadership and our daily living. But, how do we get wisdom? Are some people given mor...

What if there were simple directions that would make becoming a more effective, empathetic and captivating communicator? Would you follow them? Would they be helpful for you? At some point, every leader is going to have to stand in front of a group and speak. Or, be asked to deliver a presentation or influence online. Speak with People has put together a simple but very effective public speaking p...

How in the world can I continue to grow in my public speaking skills? And, does it really even matter if I don’t spend all that much time speaking in front of people? What are some ways I can pursue becoming a more effective, empathetic and captivating communicator? In this week’s Speak with People podcast episode, Jason Raitz and Dennis Poulette continue their three week series on becoming a more...

Would you like to become a more effective, emphatic and captivating speaker? Why is it that some speakers make it look so simple when they speak? Can every leader level up their speaking skills? What are some of the practices and learnings that leaders need to know? Well, whether you communicate 1 on 1, on a team, from a stage or from a screen, every leader needs to learn how to inspire their audi...

Why does it seem that most people would rather talk about their dreams than actually doing something today to make them happen? Why is that the case and is it for you? Would you rather talk about your dreams and tell others what you’re doing to do someday or would you rather learn how to do it today? What holds us back from dreaming and proudly telling others what our dreams are? What’s the differ...

Why is collaboration so important to teams? How do you communicate across multiple teams? Is it possible to support someone’s idea if you don’t think it’s the right way to go? Should you or do you have to at times give up your position on decisions you disagree with or if you would make a different decision? When you bring on someone new to the team, how do you communicate fully and not leave them...

We all go through transitions. Whether it's moving or a new job or a new role. But, what is it like to replace the founder of an organization? Whether it’s a Church or Company, there is so much that goes into the succession of a leader. There is so much to communicate about the transition. And there is so much to learn as both the leader heading out and for the leader heading in. On this week’s Sp...

Does any of this sound familiar? Your boss asked you to deliver a presentation in front of your peers and just the thought has your stomach in knots. You’ve been asked to present a speech to your local Chamber and every time you think about it, your nerves go out of control. Or, you have a major proposal to give a potential client and the morning of your presentation, you can’t get your nerves in...

Generosity changes lives. It breathes life into people who have been on life support and clinging on for hope. As leaders, we all have a choice if we are going to live generous lives. Are we going to be generous with our encouragement? Are we going to be generous with our leadership and influence? Are we going to be personally generous with our resources? Are we going to lead our organizations to...

The world has changed. We have seen the most rapid increase in information and communication in history. With that, the population has changed and there are now more millennials than any other group. Not far behind them are Gen Z’ers and it’s left Gen X and Baby boomers working to figure out how to communicate with these new generations of people. Have you ever struggled communicating across the g...

More often than not, leaders do not get ahead, level up, learn something new or experience a new season of leadership because they didn’t ask. Nothing is just handed out for free. Leaders have to work, connect, communicate and very often they need to ask. But, asking sometimes is difficult. We come up with many excuses of why not to make the ask. On today’s Speak with People podcast episode we wel...

There are times in our lives when we need a friend, mentor or leader to challenge us. Now, not like in band class when you can challenge the first chair of your section. But, someone who can speak truth into your life and challenge you to take action. To become someone different, or to achieve more or try something new. There are those moments when we need that voice in our lives so we will take a...

Every single person is created differently and we all have different passions and gifts. That means we will each bring something new to our world. Some call it our niche, others our passion and purpose and others call it our brand. Since we each have something we’re passionate about, in today’s episode we dive into how we can communicate that to our world. We talk about how we can figure it out an...

Laughter is amazing medicine! There is so much pain and sadness in the world, we couldn’t need laughter more than ever! Comedian Mike Goodwin joins us as we dive into why laughter is so important in communication. We talk through how we can embrace laughter? If we’re stage communicators, how can we help people laugh? If we make or help people laugh. If we have friends and family who don’t like to...

2023 is here and it should be the year you invest in your leadership and communication skills. We live in a world where communication is a necessity and so often, it is sometimes low on our list to invest in. In this episode we talk about why investing in yourself and growth as a communicator is an incredible decision and how it will help propel your leadership and communication. Join us as we tak...

2023 is almost here! We are just days away! You have probably started thinking about your goals for the new year or resolutions. What if you take a different approach this year? On today’s episode we challenge you to add or elevate 7 phrases into your life in 2023. These are 7 phrases that we’re challenging you to speak into other people often. Yes, very often. You probably already say or speak a...

Every communicator needs to stay diligent to keep growing. If you rely on your gift long enough, it won’t sustain you for the long haul because your communication gift needs to grow and be developed. In this podcast episode, we talk with Ryan Leak about how he manages growing as a communicator. The habits and practices we discuss may surprise you. Ryan drops incredible insight and some great morse...

We all want it. We all need it. But, for some reason, many of us are running on fumes in our encouragement tanks. It’s just crazy that we all have the ability to encourage the people in our lives every day and for some of us, we don’t take full advantage of that. Even if your love language is not Words of Encouragement, everyone loves to be encouraged. Today on the Speak with People podcast we tal...

The reality is, we will accomplish and achieve so much more if we have a Coach in our lives. We can try and we will do our best on our own, but when we partner up with a Coach, we can grow and achieve so much more. In this episode we dive into the importance of having a Coach and why that decision will bring unparalleled growth to our lives. April Diaz joined us as we talked through the inner work...

If you’re a leader, at some point, you’re going to cast a vision for an idea or presentation or solution to a problem. You will use stories or data to show people where they could be or what they could experience if they decide to go with your plan. One of the very best skills you can learn is how to cast vision and ‘make the ask’. In today’s episode we go on a masterclass experience with an amazi...