Sarah M. KippSarah M. Kipp

writing

By

Express Yourself, Write!

My client has just landed an opportunity to present at a large conference in her field. She is ecstatic that she was chosen, but confides to me that presenting at this level is new for her. She wants to do everything she can to make a great impression.

We spend some of our session clarifying what she believes the characteristics of a successful speaker are and what concerns she has about her own abilities.

“How clear are you about who you want to be when you are in front of the room?” I ask my client. [Read more…] about Express Yourself, Write!

By

Which Do You Enjoy More?

The host of a recent event interviewed me in front of the audience after listening to the speech I gave. “Which do you enjoy more? Writing or speaking?”

I was perplexed by the question, and when I did answer, I heard an edge in my voice.  It was as if he had asked me which of my two daughters I love more. I have a profound, intense relationship with both acts of creation. I love each one equally, differently, and see them as inextricably linked.

For days after the event, I thought about that question. At first, I looked at history for my answer. Which one have I done longer? Which one came first? For a class assignment when I was seven years old, I had to write something to present in front of an audience. I remember sitting in front of my window at home writing my first song. I stood on the cafeteria stage, shaking in my shoes, and sang from my soul in front of a small audience of my peers and parents. [Read more…] about Which Do You Enjoy More?

By

The Three Bears Go to Work

Once upon a time, in a far off galaxy…wait a minute. Wrong story. Once upon a time, in woods near your home, Goldilocks spent a good deal of time with her friends, the three bears. Everyone had chosen to take the high road years ago. The bears had chosen to forgive the whole entering and breaking thing, and Goldilocks figured out that Papa Bear’s bite wasn’t as bad as his roar.

On this particular winter morning, Goldilocks was excited to share her newly finished Power Point with the Bear family. She had finished it in record time, and was proud of what she had completed.

The bears gathered in their repaired hard and soft rocking chairs and watched the slides projected onto the living room wall of their humble cabin. In the second slide, Mama Bear caught the first typo. She said nothing and let it go; after all, humans make mistakes. In the fourth slide, there were more egregious errors. “Oh my,” thought Mama Bear. “Did she not have anyone proof this?”  [Read more…] about The Three Bears Go to Work

By

How YOU Doin’?

I can still hear Joey’s voice from the sitcom Friends. “So how YOU doin’?” he would ask, and give a little smile as he checked out the gal.

If you read my recent post, “Olympic Geek,” then you know I have started this year with an increased commitment to my own writing as I continue to support others with their own writing goals.

What I am grateful for today is that before I began showing up, I put a tracking system into place with structures to monitor my progress. I did this mostly so that when someone asks, or when I begin to wonder how I AM doing, I have some quantifiable evidence that goes beyond my own internal yammering.

This week was a doozy. I attended two late night meetings, and finessed a major family-related interruption to my usual work schedule. In my tired state, I dumped junk food into my tired engine for more than one meal, as if that would help me feel better. It did not.

By Friday morning, I barely made it out of bed for my morning run. I did not show up for my early morning writing session. On Saturday, I made up excuses and did other ‘important’ things in the wee hours of the morn. You know, things that would make a difference in my life, like procrastinating on a proposal, watching Rachel Maddow interview Jon Stewart, and checking my email.

When I stumbled to my desk this morning, I imagined Joey showing up, winking at me, and asking, “So how YOU doin’?” No flipping idea, Joey. I haven’t shown up for two days. I don’t know what I was writing about when I left, nor what I’m supposed to be writing about today. I’m not even sure that this whole goal was really that good of an idea, you know? So go flirt with someone else.  [Read more…] about How YOU Doin’?