The Power of Unplugging: Why “Me Time” Isn’t Selfish—It’s Necessary

  • Look at your calendar.
  • Not for your next meeting.
  • Not for your next deadline.
  • Look for you.

If you are ready to use speaking as a growth strategy for your consulting business, schedule a speaker coaching call today. Let’s turn your expertise into a message that connects, converts, and creates new opportunities.

Book Your Session

Ready to level up your leadership?
Visit CommunicateWithInfluence.org or connect with me on LinkedIn to learn how I help dental consultants grow.

#CommunicateWithInfluence #LeadershipDevelopment #SpeakerCoach #ConfidenceSpark


Preparation Doesn’t Prevent Problems—It Changes How You Respond

We spend so much of our lives making plans.

Business plans.

Travel plans.

Career plans.

Retirement plans.

Planning is important. It gives us direction and purpose. But life has a way of reminding us that not everything is within our control.

  • Sometimes the unexpected is inconvenient.
  • Sometimes it’s frightening.
  • Sometimes it’s life-changing.

When we hear the phrase unexpected event, our minds usually go to flat tires, medical diagnoses, canceled flights, lost jobs, or broken relationships.

But some of life’s greatest blessings begin unexpectedly, too.

  • An unexpected phone call.
  • An introduction that becomes a lifelong friendship.
  • A career opportunity you never saw coming.
  • Meeting your future spouse.
  • A client who changes your business.
  • A simple conversation that opens a door you never knew existed.

Looking back over my own life, many of my greatest opportunities arrived completely unplanned. If I had been too attached to my original plan, I might have missed them.

The unexpected isn’t always something to fear. Sometimes it’s exactly what we’ve been waiting for.

Although we can’t predict unexpected events, we can prepare for them. On that highway, I wasn’t prepared for a blown tire.

But I was prepared with resources.

  • I knew who to call.
  • I had roadside assistance.
  • I had AAA.
  • I had a husband who answered the phone immediately.

Preparation didn’t prevent the problem. It made the problem manageable.

The same principle applies in business and leadership.

You cannot prevent every challenge.

You can’t anticipate every difficult conversation, staffing change, economic shift, technology failure, or unexpected obstacle.

But you can build systems, relationships, and skills that help you navigate them with greater confidence.

Preparation doesn’t eliminate uncertainty. It reduces panic.

Pressure has a way of exposing our character.

When plans fall apart, we discover whether we lead with fear or focus. Whether we panic or problem-solve. Whether we freeze or move forward.

As a speaker coach, I often remind my clients that the presentation rarely unfolds exactly as they rehearsed.

  • A microphone stops working.
  • Slides won’t advance.
  • The projector fails.
  • A participant asks a challenging question.
  • The room responds differently than expected.

The audience doesn’t judge you by whether something goes wrong. They remember how you respond.

The same is true for leaders.

Your team isn’t looking for perfection. They’re looking for confidence, composure, and someone who can guide them through uncertainty.

Looking back, the flat tire wasn’t really the story.

The story was about preparation. It was about the people who showed up when I needed them most. It was about staying calm, thanks dad, when circumstances changed in an instant.

Unexpected events are inevitable. How we respond to them is a choice.

The same is true in business and leadership.

A presentation won’t always go as planned. Technology will fail. A key employee may resign. A client may ask a question you weren’t expecting. A meeting may take an entirely different direction.

The leaders who thrive aren’t the ones who avoid surprises.

They’re the ones who are prepared to navigate them with confidence, communicate clearly under pressure, and adapt without losing their composure Ready to strengthen your leadership presence before the next unexpected moment? Join me for my upcoming webinar, Leading With Presence: Ways to Influence Every Room You Enter, and discover practical strategies to lead with confidence, clarity, and influence—no matter what comes your way.

That evening reminded me of something I often tell my clients: Preparation doesn’t guarantee everything will go according to plan. It gives you the confidence to handle it when it doesn’t.

Life’s greatest opportunities—and its greatest challenges—often arrive without warning. The question isn’t whether unexpected events will happen.

They will.

The question is: Will you be ready when they do?

Whether you’re preparing for a presentation, leading your team through change, or navigating an unexpected challenge, your ability to communicate with clarity and confidence will determine how others respond.

Preparation isn’t about expecting perfection. It’s about developing the confidence, presence, and resilience to lead when life takes an unexpected detour.

If you’re ready to strengthen your leadership presence, become a more confident speaker, or communicate with greater influence when it matters most, I’d love to partner with you.

Because the moments you prepare for are important—but it’s the moments you never see coming that define your leadership.


If you are ready to use speaking as a growth strategy for your consulting business, schedule a speaker coaching call today. Let’s turn your expertise into a message that connects, converts, and creates new opportunities.

Book Your Session

Ready to level up your leadership?
Visit CommunicateWithInfluence.org or connect with me on LinkedIn to learn how I help dental consultants grow.

#CommunicateWithInfluence #LeadershipDevelopment #SpeakerCoach #ConfidenceSpark


Speak, Connect, Convert:  The Revenue Power of Speaking

A few months ago, I watched a brilliant consultant stand in front of a room full of potential clients and completely disappear.

Not physically, of course. She was standing right there.

But her message disappeared.

She had the experience. She had the expertise. She had the stories, the strategy, and the kind of insight that could genuinely help the people in that room.

Speaking is not just about getting in front of more people. It is about making the right people want to take the next step with you.

Consultants are often told to network more, post more, email more, and “stay visible.”

That advice is not wrong. It is just incomplete.

If you are a consultant, one of the most powerful ways to reach a larger number of potential clients is to step onto a speaking platform. Whether that platform is a conference stage, webinar, podcast, panel discussion, lunch-and-learn, study club, association meeting, or team training, speaking allows people to experience how you think, how you communicate, and how you can help them solve a problem.

And when done well, speaking does more than build visibility. It builds trust, creates authority, and opens the door to revenue.

Many consultants make the mistake of treating speaking as a one-time presentation instead of a business development strategy. They prepare the slides. They deliver the content. They answer a few questions. Then they leave the room hoping someone follows up.

Hope is not a strategy. It is a very weak follow-up plan wearing comfortable shoes.

A strong speaking platform should be designed to move the audience from interest to action. That does not mean turning your presentation into a sales pitch. Nobody came to hear a 60-minute commercial dressed up as education.

It means your message should clearly position you as a trusted guide. Your audience should leave understanding the problem more clearly, seeing the cost of staying where they are, and recognizing that you have a process, perspective, or solution that can help them move forward.

Consultants usually have no shortage of knowledge. The challenge is not having enough information. The challenge is knowing what to leave out.

A common speaking mistake is trying to prove expertise by sharing everything you know. That leads to crowded slides, overloaded content, and an audience that may respect your knowledge but feel too overwhelmed to act.

Your audience does not need everything in your brain. They need the right message, in the right order, with the right level of clarity.

This is where speaker coaching can make a significant difference.

Strong speaking is not about sounding polished for the sake of sounding polished. It is about helping your audience follow your message, stay engaged, and know exactly what to do next.

People decide quickly whether they trust a speaker.

Before they ever hire you, refer you, or invite you back, they are asking themselves questions:

Do I believe this person understands my problem?
Can this person communicate clearly?
Would I want this person working with my team?
Do they seem confident without being arrogant?
Are they practical, credible, and relatable?

That is speaker presence.

Speaker presence is not about being theatrical or pretending to be someone you are not. It is about showing up with clarity, confidence, and connection. If you’d like to learn more about speaker presence, join this upcoming webinar:  Leading With Presence:  Ways to Influence Every Room you Enter.

For consultants, presence matters because your audience is not only evaluating your content. They are evaluating what it would feel like to work with you.

If you appear scattered, rushed, overly scripted, or disconnected from the room, your expertise may not land. But when you speak with confidence and authority, your audience begins to see you as the person who can help them create change.

A speaking platform gives you access to a room full of potential clients, but engagement is what keeps them leaning in.

Engagement does not mean forcing awkward audience participation or adding gimmicks. It means creating moments where your audience sees themselves in the message.

Ask thoughtful questions. Use relevant stories. Include examples that reflect their real challenges. Build in reflection points. Give them language they can repeat later.

When the audience feels seen, they listen differently.

They are no longer thinking, “This is interesting.”
They are thinking, “This is exactly what we are dealing with.”

That is the moment your speaking begins to generate opportunity.

It is one thing for me to explain how speaker coaching helps consultants clarify their message, engage the audience, and create more opportunities.

It is even better to hear it from someone who experienced the process firsthand.

In this short video testimonial, you will hear how speaker coaching helped turn ideas into a clearer message, strengthen delivery, and build the kind of confidence that helps an audience lean in and take action.

One of the biggest missed revenue opportunities in speaking is a weak or missing call to action.

Consultants often end with, “Thank you,” and hope people come find them.

That is leaving money on the table.

Your call to action should tell the audience exactly how to continue learning from you. It may be to schedule a discovery call, download a resource, attend a workshop, scan a QR code, join your email list, book a team training, or connect for a strategy session.

The key is to make the next step simple, relevant, and aligned with the presentation.

A strong call to action is not pushy. It is helpful. It gives people who are ready to move forward a clear path.

When you learn how to structure your message, engage your audience, and deliver a clear call to action, speaking becomes more than a visibility tool. It becomes a revenue engine.

One strong presentation can lead to consulting contracts, coaching clients, referrals, podcast invitations, future speaking opportunities, and partnerships.

But it does not happen by accident.

It happens when your presentation is intentionally designed to connect, educate, and convert.

If you are a consultant, your next client may already be sitting in your audience.

But they need to do more than hear your information. They need to feel your confidence, understand your value, trust your message, and know exactly how to take the next step with you.

That is where speaker coaching changes everything.

Through speaker coaching, you will learn how to structure your message, simplify your content, strengthen your stage presence, engage your audience, and deliver a call to action that does not feel salesy — it feels natural, clear, and compelling.

Whether you are preparing for a conference presentation, webinar, podcast interview, panel discussion, workshop, or client-facing talk, coaching helps you speak with more clarity, confidence, and authority.

Do not leave future clients wondering what you do or how you can help them.

Give them a reason to lean in, listen, and move forward.


If you are ready to use speaking as a growth strategy for your consulting business, schedule a speaker coaching call today. Let’s turn your expertise into a message that connects, converts, and creates new opportunities.

Book Your Session

Ready to level up your leadership?
Visit CommunicateWithInfluence.org or connect with me on LinkedIn to learn how I help dental consultants grow.

#CommunicateWithInfluence #LeadershipDevelopment #SpeakerCoach #ConfidenceSpark


From Lambing to Leading: A Communication Wake-Up Call

It was a whirlwind—visits, walks, celebrations, pickleball matches… and then, plot twist: lambing season.

We stayed on my sister-in-law’s farm, where five ewes were ready to deliver. What unfolded felt like a live masterclass in instinct, resilience, and—surprisingly—communication.

The first ewe delivered twins.
The second? Twins.
The third? You guessed it—twins.

At this point, we were all standing around like, “Is this a buy-one-get-one-free situation?”

Two more are still on deck, but here’s what stopped me in my tracks:

Within minutes of being born, these lambs:

Follow their mother by sound and scent.

Stood up.

Walked.

Found food.

Vocalized their needs.

No seminar. No webinar. No slide deck. Just instinct.

The only “coaching” they received? The push into the world.

Watching those lambs made something crystal clear.

In dentistry, we pride ourselves on clinical excellence—and rightfully so. Years of training, repetition, and experience build strong instincts. You don’t have to think about how to hold an instrument or sequence a procedure. Your body knows.

But here’s the gap:

Clinical instincts are strong. Communication instincts? Not always.

And that’s where things start to wobble.

You can diagnose perfectly and present flawlessly in your head… and still lose the patient in the conversation.

Let’s call it what it is:
You are speaking all day long.

  • Case presentations
  • Team meetings
  • Patient education
  • Study clubs
  • Morning huddles
  • Difficult conversations

You don’t need a stage to be a speaker—you already are one.

But unlike those lambs, most clinicians were never coached on how to communicate effectively in these moments.
We were taught what to say clinically… not how to say it so it lands.

Here’s the truth—straight up:
If communication were purely instinctual, more patients would say yes.
More teams would be aligned.
More meetings would move things forward.

But they don’t. And it’s not because you’re not smart or capable.
It’s because communication is a skill, not a side effect.

Just like those lambs needed help getting into the world, clinicians need coaching to refine delivery:
• Structuring a clear message
• Eliminating filler and confusion
• Creating emotional connection
• Delivering with confidence and authority

When we improve communication, everything else accelerates—trust, case acceptance, team performance, leadership presence.

If you’re already speaking every day… why not get better at it?
Don’t leave your impact up to chance or “how it comes out in the moment.” Get intentional.

Whether it’s refining your case presentations, elevating your team meetings, or finally feeling confident speaking in front of a group, this is a skill you can build.

And once you do? Game over (in the best way).

Those lambs reminded me of something simple but powerful:

Instinct is enough to begin. It’s not enough to excel.

In dentistry, your clinical instincts are a gift.
But your communication? That’s your multiplier.

So yes—keep trusting your instincts.

But if you really want to elevate your influence, your results, and your leadership…It’s time to get coached.


Let’s iron out your communication in 2026.

Schedule a Communication Confidence Coaching Call today!

Book Your Session

Ready to level up your leadership?
Visit CommunicateWithInfluence.org or connect with me on LinkedIn to learn how I help dental consultants grow.

#CommunicateWithInfluence #LeadershipDevelopment #SpeakerCoach #ConfidenceSpark


From Elite to Rookie: Life Lessons from the Pickleball Court

I’ve spent most of my life being the strong one.
The fast one.
The disciplined one.

Elite athlete. Competitive swimmer. IRONMAN finisher. Snowboarder. Mountain biker.

I know what it feels like to train hard, to master form, to understand strategy, to push my body past comfort and into performance. I know how to be prepared. I know how to win.

And then I picked up a pickleball paddle.

Let me be honest. Pickleball humbled me.

Not physically. Not from an endurance standpoint. But technically? Strategically? Socially? Completely.

Open play is where it gets real. You rotate courts. Winners stay. And when there are more players than courts, someone waits.

Sometimes that someone is me.

I’ve stood there, paddle in hand, watching others get called onto the court while I wait for someone to say, “Lisa, you’re up.”

And occasionally… I’m the last one picked.

If you’ve always been competent, capable, and competitive, being the beginner is uncomfortable. Being visibly less skilled than others is humbling. Being chosen last? That hits deeper than we like to admit.

Here’s what I realized. It’s not the game that’s hard. It’s the ego.


My brain knows I’m athletic. My history proves I can master complex things. But in that moment—when someone else is chosen before me—it whispers, Lisa:
“Maybe you’re not good at this.”
“Maybe you don’t belong here.”
“Maybe this isn’t your sport.”

Sound familiar?

This is what growth feels like.

• It feels exposed.
• It feels uncertain.
• It feels like you’re operating without your usual armor.

What people don’t see is the internal recalibration happening.
I’m studying footwork.
Learning scoring and court positioning.
Understanding the soft game.
Practicing patience instead of power.

Pickleball isn’t about brute strength. It’s about touch. Timing. Strategy. Discipline in small movements.
And that requires me to become a student again.

There’s something deeply refining about being new. You don’t have shortcuts. You don’t have a reputation. You don’t have past wins to lean on.
You only have effort.

One of the biggest surprises? Athletic success doesn’t automatically translate.

Fitness helps. Competitive drive helps. But technical mastery is earned in every sport, every profession, every discipline.
You don’t get to skip the awkward phase.
You don’t get to bypass the learning curve.
You don’t get preferred treatment because you’ve succeeded somewhere else.

And honestly? That’s healthy.

It strips away entitlement and leaves you with something far more powerful: humility.

There’s something fascinating about standing on the sidelines.
You watch body language.
You observe team dynamics.
You see who communicates well and who doesn’t.
You notice who stays composed under pressure.
You learn more from waiting than you do from winning.

Being the last one picked forces you to decide:
Will you shrink?
Will you get defensive?
Will you quit?

Or will you stay?
Watch?
Learn?
Adjust?

Trying something new in sport is uncomfortable. Trying something new in your profession can feel even riskier.
• Launching a new service.
• Shifting business models.
• Speaking for the first time.
• Changing systems.
• Walking away from something that once defined you.

In those moments, you are the beginner again.
You may feel behind.
You may feel exposed.
You may feel like everyone else knows the game better than you do.

But here’s what I’m learning on the pickleball court:

Being new does not mean being incapable.
Being last does not mean being lesser.
Being uncomfortable does not mean you’re in the wrong place.

It usually means you’re stretching.

Elite athletes understand something important: mastery is earned in repetition.

So I keep showing up.

I practice my dinks and serves.
I refine my resets.
I focus on positioning and accuracy.
I ask better players for coaching.

And slowly—very slowly—I’m not the automatic last pick anymore.

When was the last time you tried something for the first time in your profession?

When was the last time you felt unsure?
Outpaced?
Behind?
Chosen after others?

How do you cope when you are the beginner again?

Do you lean into the discomfort—or retreat from it?

Growth rarely feels glamorous. It feels awkward. It feels humbling. It feels like waiting your turn.

But sometimes being the last one picked is exactly what builds the resilience you need for your next level.

And maybe the real win isn’t being picked first.

Maybe it’s having the courage to keep showing up until you don’t need to be picked at all.

Here’s what pickleball is teaching me.

Mastery in one arena does not exempt you from humility in another.
Confidence built over decades can feel shaky when you’re learning something new. And that’s not failure—that’s expansion.

Being the last one picked didn’t diminish who I am as an athlete. It revealed who I am as a learner.

It reminded me that growth requires vulnerability.
That progress requires repetition.
And that ego must sometimes step aside so development can step in.

The truth is, I don’t want to only do the things I’m already good at. I want to stretch, refine, and stay teachable.
Because comfort doesn’t build capacity.

And if I’m honest? There’s something powerful about earning your way back to confidence instead of assuming it.

Let me ask you a question:
Where are you the beginner right now?

Where are you avoiding growth because you don’t want to look inexperienced?
Where are you waiting to be “ready” instead of stepping onto the court?

Trying something new in your profession might feel just as humbling as open play on a pickleball court.

But that discomfort?
That’s the doorway.

Lean into it.
Stay in the rotation.
Let yourself be coached.
Show up again.

Because the goal isn’t to always be picked first.
The goal is to become so steady, so skilled, and so self-assured that you don’t wait to be chosen.
You choose yourself.

Now tell me—what are you learning for the first time right now?
How can I help?


Ready to iron out your communication for 2026? Let’s start the year off right. Schedule a Communication Confidence Coaching!


Book Your Session

Ready to level up your leadership?
Visit CommunicateWithInfluence.org or connect with me on LinkedIn to learn how I help dental consultants grow.

#CommunicateWithInfluence #LeadershipDevelopment #SpeakerCoach #ConfidenceSpark