#communications coaching

My guest this week, Bhawna Sharma Puri, is a successful Fintech industry marketing leader and a council board member of California State university. She's also a first generation immigrant, a Silicon Valley philanthropist, an investor, and a Mum to two wonderful little children.

I've brought Bhawna to the Sage Sayers to unpack how to share our  accomplishments in non-bragging, comfortable ways. This communication challenge feels tricky for those who've emerged from nations which value humility and now function as professionals elsewhere. As two women who came to the U.S. to pursue our dreams (Bhawna from India and me from New Zealand and Japan prior to the U.S.) we've quite a bit to say!

You can find Bhawna via her LinkedIn page here.

Connect with me, Coach Debbi McCullough, about your group's communication challenges via my LinkedIn profile and website. Look for my individual and group packaging offerings via the hashtag #bravecommunicators

Fielding Q&As from prospective clients, CEOS, or investors induces fear and stomach pain in the most confident presenters. For those working to build their courage, the fear of the unknown in these moments can paralyze. But in this week's podcast, we're offering phrases, come backs, and even tweaks to your mindset to help sail through that moment with ease.

We also tackle  this week on Medium, three of the more popular myths on Q&As which can induce panic  after we pitch or present our ideas. So, take a read and for anyone needing this vital help, please pass it on!

Connect with me, Coach Debbi McCullough, about your group's communication challenges by clicking here. Or, do visit my LinkedIn profile and website.  I'm currently seeking group coaching clients for new launches of new communications and mental fitness workshops and programs. Stay tuned for those releases with the hashtag #bravecommunicators. 

Around half of Americans, Brits, and Australians are on the hunt for new jobs. Figures are scant elsewhere; but if my coaching base stays reflective of communicators, I'd say those numbers feel about right. But if a job interview awaits us, what myths exist on how we show up as communicators?

In this week's podcast, I debunk the biggest myths I see plaguing communicators starting with this idea that researching about the company becomes the most important task or that researching ought to consume us. Not true. Getting grounded, peaceful, and taking time to truly celebrate our achievements becomes the most vital move. Of course research becomes vital; but keep a cap on things and stay strategic, too. 

If you want more tips and techniques on staying calm, centered, and sailing through your next job interview (for an internal or external role) then you may find my article on Medium offers some respite and insight, too.

Connect with me, Coach Debbi McCullough, about your group's communication challenges by clicking here. Or, do visit my LinkedIn profile and website.  Know a job seeker? Please forward this episode on to share the love and wisdom. 

With the Great Return underway--and 50% of businesses demanding workers return to the office--politics are running amok. What's the bigger cry for help? Staying calm, focused, and centered when leaders hijack our meetings or presentations (and especially when external parties watch on.)

Fret not. This week's podcast episode offers tried-and-tested tips and techniques which other communicators have found yield positive, uplifting results.

Connect with me, Coach Debbi McCullough, about your group's communication challenges by clicking here. Or, do visit my LinkedIn profile and website. Please share this podcast episode with anyone you know needing/wanting communications help. Let's help humanity by tackling communications, one challenge at a time. 

Last month marked my fifth year living in the U.S. midwestern state of Wisconsin, one of America's most frigidly cold states.  I’ve found surprising gifts from the long, drawn-out colder temps which can linger through to May. (Last week, we froze for days. Yesterday: snow!)

In this week’s episode, I’m celebrating Wisconsin and what I learned about myself and my situation from a cooler climate. By that, I’m applying the Sage perspective I bring to my life and coaching: finding gifts, opportunities, and even knowledge, within tricky situations.

A few resources enrich this week's podcast including my article on Medium, a documentary I produced on ice fishing for National Public Radio from Wisconsin.

Connect with me, Coach Debbi McCullough, about your group's communication challenges by clicking here. Or, do visit my LinkedIn profile and website. Please share this podcast episode with anyone you know needing/wanting communications help. Let's help humanity by tackling communications, one challenge at a time. 

As we transition back to the office, we bring with us our fears and discomfort with public speaking. Having overcome this fear myself, I've a few tips and techniques (which include mental fitness approaches) and ideas I've co-created with coachees/leaders from all over the globe. 

Have a listen to this week's podcast and see how differently you feel from taking baby steps each week to get out of your mind, into your body, and keep your audience front of mind.  My earlier podcast on not letting our Judge take over in these high-stakes moments might spark something as well.

Connect with me, Coach Debbi McCullough, about your group's communication challenges by clicking here. Or, do visit my LinkedIn profile and website. Please share this podcast episode with anyone you know needing/wanting communications help. Let's help humanity by tackling communications, one challenge at a time. 

In this week’s podcast, we unpack (with the help of my dear coachees) some helpful strategies for the world’s biggest, most looming business communication problems.

I gather (then share) recurring themes and patterns I've noticed from hundreds of individual coaching sessions and the recurring learning: Communication problems become personal problems, but also room for growing confidence — and courage, as you’ll hear today.

Connect with me, Coach Debbi McCullough, about your group's communication challenges by clicking here. Or, do visit my LinkedIn profile and website. And please share this podcast episode with anyone you know needing/wanting some communications help. Let's help humanity by tackling communications, one challenge at a time. 

My guest this week is Coach Deb Skarda, a former critical care nurse, turned corporate pharmaceutical leader, turned leadership consultant and coach.

Deb's successfully navigated three major career changes, most recently leaving a thriving career as a global pharmaceutical leader to launch her own business from Wisconsin as a leadership coach.

Our interview explores how we know when to change careers, how to navigate these times, communicate our narrative with ourselves (and others) and why Deb loves coaching so much. 

Reach out to Deb Skarda via her website or via LinkedIn. Connect with me, Coach Debbi McCullough, about your group's communication challenges by clicking here. Or, do visit my LinkedIn profile and website.

Meeting fatigue has leaders all over grappling with sadness, loss, and questions about life. Cognitive overload from staring at screens create other struggles. Communication challenges range from shutting down when faced with ad-hoc questions and fading executive presence. But there's ways to turn the ship around by managing your schedule with love vs. fear.

In this week's podcast, we're unpacking ways to challenge your fixed mindset around saying 'yes' to all meetings using a fun and loving hybrid of communications coaching and mental fitness techniques. You can find the article on Medium here.

Interested in group coaching and training with D G McCullough? Set up some time to share with me your communication challenges by clicking here. Or, do visit my LinkedIn profile and website.

The world never stands still when we lead. Life continues swirling around us and I notice this point when coaching and training leaders on written and oral communications.

They know: to lead well, they must address whatever obstacles prevent them from leading from a clear, compelling place. (I feel so happy and honored to help.) In this ongoing series, I’m sharing the most pressing and/or memorable problems leaders come to me with each month— and how we turn things around.

This episode tackles three big communication challenges: How do I ask about love? (And especially when someone doesn't say "I love you.") How do I manage meetings as a new manager? How do I stand up to a bullying boss? I've published an editorial version of this episode here via Medium.

Interested in group (or individual) coaching with D G McCullough? Set up some time to share with me your communication challenges by clicking here. Or, do visit my LinkedIn profile and website.

In this week's podcast, I take the interviewee vs. interviewer seat. Charles Jett, a Chicago, Il. based career coach, interviews me on PQ Podcast, a weekly podcast exploring the ways that mental fitness (our ability to rebound with a positive vs. negative mindset) helps us in life.

In this interview, Charles asks me how I apply this magical tool to my communications, my life, and my energizing work as a communications coach helping leaders all over the globe to manage their fears and find their own unique, authentic brew of executive presence. The web link for the PQ Podcast and this interview lives here, if you'd like to follow the delightful series after today. 

Interested in group (or individual) coaching with D G McCullough? Set up some time to share with me your communication challenges by clicking here. Or, do visit my LinkedIn profile and website.

If you're a reserved or introverted communicator, you may feel you must share your ideas only when (and if) it's fully hatched. Or perhaps you feel less compelled to disrupt or add any more noise because you feel little need to share yourself. Either way, when you know silence doesn't provide the best option, ways exist to speak up in meetings which feel authentic, aligned with your observant personality, and also add value. 

In this week's podcast we unpack tips and techniques to honor your excellent listening and observation skills and speak up in interesting and unique ways where you feel truly heard. 

Interested in group (or individual) coaching with D G McCullough? Set up some time to share with me your communication challenges by clicking here. Or, do visit my LinkedIn profile and website.

I've invited back this week Charles Cranston Jett, a certified coach specializing in career management, critical skill development, and career crises to help us answer a popular question with the communicators I coach: How do we tell our career story in clear, compelling ways, and especially when we undergo career change? And how do we find the right career path, anyway?

In this week's episode you'll learn of storytelling techniques to help frame your work,  the power of a mosaic (what I'd call a 'narrative thread'), and the role that knowing our joy has on defining our work.
 
You can find more about Charles and his services here and follow his podcast here.  His leadership books are featured on Amazon.

You can hire me as a group (or individual) coach and trainer to help tackle your biggest communication challenges by clicking here. Or, do visit my LinkedIn profile and website. 

My guest this week is Yug Varma. He’s a San Francisco, Calif-based trained microbiologist and synthetic biologist with a background in organic chemistry. He’s also Co-founder and CEO of a skin microbiome company, Phyla. All of Yug’s work leads towards an impressive goal: To develop the next generation of whole cell therapeutics to treat chronic microbial diseases. 

Yug’s kindly joined our show today to share his path as an entrepreneur, his early starts, but also arm us with tips and techniques on grant writing and requesting for funds, even patents. Yug knows this space well. He's successfully applied for three patents, an academic fellowship, and an industry grant, too. And he's negotiated (within the Pandemic) a deal with a leading skincare company to launch a first in-class acne product. 

With that, I’d consider him an expert on written persuasion and negotiations and from that, we can learn a lot, especially during these singular times when many are pondering their next move, even their first venture.  

Learn more about Phyla and its pain-free acne care brand here. Consider hiring me as a group (or individual) coach and trainer to help tackle your biggest communication challenges by clicking here. Or, do visit my LinkedIn profile and website.