Speak Up With Laura Camacho

Listen to this episode is you hate getting caught up in boring conversations. Learn how to tactfully change the subject and have Conversation Exit Plan. Also covers what to do with nonstop talkers. Enjoy more at www.mixonian.com.

Listen to this episode if you have been avoiding or putting off some conversations because you're nervous about them. Learn how to prepare so you feel less awkward and more empowered. For more communication savvy like this please visit www.mixonian.com

Listen to this episode if you feel awkward explaining what you do or have trouble being concise. This episode spells out how to put together a short "brand-you story" that tells what you do, what problem you solve and what makes you different. For more details see www.mixonian.com

Listen to this episode to learn 5 books that help you communicate more effectively. I selected 5 books in these categories: persuasion, public speaking, keynote speaking, non-verbal communication and self-talk. For more articles on similar topics see www.mixonian.com

Listen to this episode is you want to feel more at ease at sparking interesting conversations with people you don't know. It's the beginning of the art of conversation. For more communication savvy see www.mixonian.com

Listen to this if you want help on discerning what feedback you get is actually something you should listen to and how to give quality feedback. I also talk about the right attitude to have concerning feedback. See more at www.mixonian.com

Listen to this episode if you want to build your network, connect more effectively with others and win over others to your idea or project. Learn specific tips to connect more deeply in a shorter period of time, even with people "out of your league". See more at www.mixonian.com/blog

Listen to this if life has been challenging this week. It's about changing your self-talk to get different results. Did you know that according to scientific research, 95% of our thoughts are the same thoughts from the day before? Your self-talk offers a great opportunity to move yourself forward. Check out the website at www.mixonian.com

Listen to this episode if you want to know how to really involve your audience in your next presentation, so they connect to you more closely. Learn how people engage mentally, emotionally and physically in a group presentation. This is an indispensable skill for being a thought leader. See more at www.mixonian.com

Listen to this if you want to be a stronger thought leader or beef up an upcoming presentation. Few people realize it takes massive creativity to be persuasive these days. Traditionally, to win people over, the common wisdom has been to tie in the speaker's goals with the interests of the audience. This is still necessary, but not sufficient. Listen to learn more or visit www.mixonian.com

Listen to this if you want ideas on how to strengthen relationships and build your network. This episode is about the one thing that doesn't change in building career success: all professional success is built on strong personal relationships. Learn why this is true, what is social capital, some tips for maintaining and strengthening current relationships. See more at www.mixonian.com

Listen to this if you want encouragement and tips for asking other people to help you. Raise your hand if you love asking people to help you [when you could just google it.] Sometimes we forget to make things easier on ourselves by asking for help. Here's A Pro Asking Tip: People actually like helping you.  When you ask someone to help you, you're actually growing your social capital with that person. Not to get all transactional about it but it was Ben Franklin who documented that asking someone for help was a great way to build relationships. See more at www.mixonian.com

Listen to this if you want some ideas about how to communicate in a crisis, or lose-lose situation. Have you ever been in a major lose-lose situation: where your options ranged from really bad to catastrophic? (= Crisis Communication) Early May, 1940, that is precisely where Mr. Churchill found himself as newly-selected Prime Minister of the UK. Yes, he was Prime Minister. Essentially Churchill was selected to be the Bearer of Unacceptably Bad News in a country still reeling from the massive death toll of World War I. One option was to cut a deal with Adolf Hitler, as the French had done. See more at www.mixonian.com

Listen to this if you want to raise the level of positivity and energy on your team. Dr. Marci shared solid research on multitasking. When switching one's attention between tasks - aka multitasking - the brain: 1) slows down its processing speed and 2) provides lower-quality processing and 3) consumes more energy leaving the person tired, and with the illusion that one has been productive. Work demands more and more energy -- meaning personal energy, (not the kind that produces electricity.) Your team needs energy to keep up with the work from "any place, any time" expectation, the need to innovate and deal with new competitors/disruption. See more at www.mixonian.com.

Listen to this if you want to learn how growth mindset fuels tenacity and helps you not to give up. The basic reason people don't achieve their goals is because they give up too soon. Growth mindset promotes tenacity by seeking a different approach or acknowledging any form of progress. Growth Mindset = Tenacity. Fortunately I discovered growth mindset in 2008, before opening Mixonian Institute in 2009. This mindset is why the business is here to celebrate its 9th year. A person with growth mindset sees change as a challenge instead of a threat. See more at www.mixonian.com.

Listen to this if you want to learn some tips on mastering perceptions from luxury brand marketing. Luxury brands are those where the product is worth FAR more to clients  than what it costs to make it. I hope that is also how you see yourself: your contribution is worth FAR more than mere years of service + education + skills. Am I right? First, let's review luxury brand basics. Brand equity is defined as the commercial value that derives from consumer perception of the brand name of a particular product or service, rather than from the product or service itself. Luxury brands master perceptions. Perceptions drive prices. For more see www.mixonian.com

Listen to this if you want to feel more comfortable in networking situations and have more interesting conversations. Own the Room...even when you don't know what to say. I have learned to enjoy networking events.  Even though (they take a lot of energy, - it's totally worth it The thing is to spark INTERESTING conversations, not endure boring ones. (For boring monologues you sometimes run into, develop a Conversation Exit Plan or CEP.) Interesting friendships comes from interesting conversations. Interesting conversations start with an imaginative question. For more visit www.mixonian.com/blog

Listen to this if you feel jealousy and want to know why and what that feeling is telling you. Emotional intelligence is about using your head to manage your own emotions and those of others. Emotions can be positive or negative, high intensity or low, but today's competitive market demands emotionally intelligent leaders. Here's some intel about the feeling of jealousy....a cousin to feeling inadequate. You might be triggered to think you're never going to make it happen. You might even think the system is rigged against you. You may be tempted to assume you simply don't have what it takes. It's not a BAD thing, even if though it feels bad. A visit from the green-eyed monster simply means you have work to do. The thing that's making you feel envy is where you need to direct your focus and energy. For more see www.mixonian.com/blog

Listen to this if you feel like you don't have enough resources to achieve your goals. Learn how your constraints actually help you. Officially defined, conversation imagination is a process, sparked by launch pad, or propelling questions, that drives actions to achieve something previously unconsidered, or thought to be impossible. It's accessible to anyone, any project, any organization. The path that led to your current level of success is not sufficient to take you farther. See www.mixonian.com/blog for more.

Listen to this if you are interested in keeping your energy high and sometimes other people's negativity affects you. To be a high performer you must protect your precious energy for the valuable life force that it is. It's tough. But you actually can build a force field around you where it's like you're Teflon coated and not susceptible to negative Nathaniels. Speaker Jim Rohn (and other thought leaders) often say that we are the average of the 5 people with whom we spend the most time. The idea of being careful about the company you keep is not new. Similar advice is found in ancient writings from most cultures. What isn't really spelled out, is how to drop negative people from your life without feeling like a jerk. Or how not to let them bring you down. For more see www.mixonian.com/blog