My Weblog

Gratitude for Service

Hello, Everyone! I'm back after being away for quite some time. I've been travelling and writing about places, things and people to whom I wish to give thanks. The following will show my liberal political leanings, as well as my respect for certain individuals who are "stepping up" to serve. The first person I wish to thank is our President-Elect, Barach Obama---for his willingness to serve during these very difficult and tricky times. The second group of people I wish to thank is all of you who supported him...especially Hillary Clinton. I thought she was superbly generous at the Democratic Convention when she endorsed him, and afterward when actively supporting him through over 75 events. I am amazed at how she was able to shift away from personal disappointment, into fully supporting her party's candidate. That takes immense size and self management. And so if Typepad can handle the downloading of a small ebook I've written that thanks all of you who helped elect our new president-to-be (and himself), I would like to give you this gift now. It is a 28 pg. inspirational ebook book that emphasizes gratitude for service. I think you will like it...perhaps even if you weren't an Obama supporter. It has my coaching voice and encouragement for each of us to actively use our gifts and talents to help make the future brighter for everyone. It's entitled, Reach Higher. If it doesn't download correctly, simply write me at findyourvoice@earthlink.net for your pdf copy. ...and thank you for all your constructive energy that you bring to the world!

Energy and Change

How have you been using your energy? What kind of change are you longing to make in your life? Do you know the difference between constructive energy and energy that serves no one? It's time for you to consciously select using powerful, positive energy to create the kind of change your Soul dearly wants...including the way you express your soul through your voice. Where I've been using my energy: 1. I've been busy finishing my life and spiritual coach training at the International Coach Academy, soon to be Lobii. What a magnificent adventure this has been! Adding these coaching niches to my voice coaching niche rounds out the coaching spectrum I love to offer to clients. Some big things are coming in 2010! 2. I've been writing! Two new books are finished! If you are truly interested in understanding more about Energy and Change, you will want my new E-book, Reach Higher II, Energy and Change. This is a beautifully designed book filled with 49 pages of photography and prose that compliment one another---discussing various perspectives about energy and change. If you are interested in procuring your copy, send $12.95 through PayPal to findyourvoice@earthlink.net. Send me a note at that same address, and I'll forward your copy to you immediately. We'll soon have a link up to simplify the process. In the meantime, think about this: a) every word you utter has an impact on you and the people to whom you speak. b) your attitude about them, the world and your Self will convey energy that either inspires and encourages, or energy that drains and saps the spirit. c) when you find the truest voice of your soul, you will want to evaluate your energetic contributions to the world on a daily basis. Want more? Please send for your copy of Reach Higher II, Energy and Change. Print it out (or not) and become inspired to increase your energy, creating powerful, positive change in your world! Warmest regards, Nicki

Great folks on Teleseminar with wonderful Andrea

What a bunch of bright, receptive Teleseminar attendees, plus having the brilliance of Andrea Lee as host!
It was a joyous success! Now I can serve a broader world that longs to speak in compelling, authentic ways.

Great Teleseminar with Head Coach, Andrea Lee, and Voice Coach, Nicki McClusky

On Thursday, Feb. 28th, from 1-2 p.m. EST, join Andrea Lee and me for a fascinating Teleseminar on
"What Do Their Voices Really Reveal abou the U. S. presidential Candidates?" from a voice coaching perspective.

To register for this free call, go to: http://andreajlee.com and click on her BLOG. Once there, scroll down below the mind mapping article, and you'll see the short blurb she wrote about what's coming tomorrow.
Click where it says to do so, and it takes you to the registration page. Sign up, attend, or listen to the recording later if you register (48 hrs. later or so).

This will be a lively call on a fascinating topic. Most listerners will be able to relate to their own speaking strenghts and/or areas needing growth as they listen to what I, Nicki, have to say.

Come join us! There's a very meaty gift for you, once you register.

Unrealistic American Idol Contestants

Many of you have, no doubt, seen "American Idol" tryouts and then all the subsequent phases of competition. Perhaps many of you have also scratched your head or found your jaw dropping open when you see and hear some of the contestants. I am a very positive and supportive voice coach and life coach, and yet I am astonished and chagrined to see/hear so many young people misjudging their own abilities--even humiliating themselves in front of millions of viewers. Where has realistic self-esteem and self appraisal gone?

"Ya-no." "You Know." Who knows?

I promised I'd discuss this frequently used phrase, "Ya-no," or "You know." Here we go.

"Ummm..." is not a word.

How many times do you hear someone speaking away, and then something happens inside the speaker, and before you know it, you hear the non-word, "Ummm...." uttered between actual words? Do you start counting the "Ummms"? Or do you wonder what is causing the "Ummm-ing"? Perhaps you've noticed that it is you who uses "Ummm," and you wonder what to do instead. Read on, dear reader, for help is just a few sentences away.

"Like"

We hear this all the time..."It's, like, well, we went to, like, the mall." Did you or did you not go to the mall", is the question. Was it a real experience or "like" a real experience?

I don't know about you, but as a voice coach and a promoter of excellent speaking (in everyday conversation and in one's professional world), it drives me a little batty to hear "like" twice or more in one sentence when that word is not being used to point out a simile. As a voice therapist and psychotherapist, I hear something else going on other than a popular speech pattern being used; at least I think something else is going on, and I usually inquire at some appropriate point. The inquiry is about what in reality is painful or being moved away from, for some reason. "Like" is a step removed from "what is." When something is "like" something else, it is similar...not the same, not quite the real thing.

One day I sat with a young client who was describing a difficult interraction with her family. "Like" was front and center, all over the description. I could barely concentrate on what was being said, for "like" appeared about every fifth word. After she'd had a chance to 'download' the experience, I asked her if she thought she'd become aware of or expressed her deepest feelings about what had happened. She was quiet and then said, "No...because if I did, I think I'd explode!" She was absolutely furious with them. She was angry with herself that she hadn't found a way to take care of herself more than she had amidst the relating. And, under the anger, we discovered, was enormous pain. "Like" signaled me to listen for what was not being said about her deeper inner reality; I thought that it must be quite painful, also, since "like" was so predominant, telling us she'd moved away and away and away from what was most real for her.

She later asked me how I knew she had other deep feelings that remained unexpressed during the description of the interraction; I told her that I thought her frequent use of the word, "like" told me she was several steps away from what was most real and difficult for her to feel and name...her real anger and her real and deep pain. My client then said shethought she was using "that word" a lot and didn't know why. She felt embarrassed to use it so much, even though she felt compelled to do so.

We talked about "like" as something she could now utilize---it could become a noticing tool for her: if she could hear herself saying "like" more than once in a conversation, then at some point in the near future, she'd know to go inside herself and see what she might be truly feeling, truly thinking, truly experiencing. "Like," seen in this light, could be utilized as a beacon to illuminate the reality of her inner world. It was an important clue.

For many of us, hearing "like" used a lot in a sentence, interrupts the flow of conversation and is very distracting. The real meaning of what needs to be said seems hidden. If you find yourself in this spot, listening to "like" a lot, you might simply inquire in a respectful way, as to what is truly meant or felt. Some young folks do not realize that more is being expressed than simply a repeated and popular "speech pattern"---they are hiding truth. It is a powerful communicator. Perhaps we can encourage them or anyone who uses "like" a lot, to speak their truth and tell us what they really mean. The truth (as we know), can actually "set us free."

Taking "Exquisite Care" of Your Self

How well do you really take care of your Self? I mean, really, really take care of your Self?
No, I'm not just refering to bathing and flossing. :-)

I am inviting you into a conversation that is essentially spiritual...one in which you and I look inward to see what our souls truly need and how we might take much better care of ourselves through our responses.

Exquisite care-taking emanates from being in touch with the depths of you/me and responding in a super-sized way from the heart; our own care-giving becomes evident to the rest of the world through our actions.

Devotion to Strength-Based Living...even in Crisis!

Dear Readers,
I have been away for quite some time, healing from a serious fall I took while protecting my grandchild; I broke both arms. Now you can imagine what life is like with no arms, can you not? Certainly you can: just put both of your thumbs in your waistband and keep them there for 3-4 weeks. :-) Now do life. With both arms in slings, I was not able to write until recently. I'm glad to be back!

The thing I wish to say clearly and profoundly, is that even in the midst of a challenge such as this, it is possible to live from amazing inner strength and positive foresight. I was actually quite astonished to experience feeling a profound strength from the very beginning---each step of the way, continuing now. And I attribute this inner strength and positiveness to the magnificent world of coaching! When a person shifts his/her inner life and convictions toward "I can do this...what do I need to learn first?"...everything is different. Everything! (And I also credit the profound world of life-changing therapy that prepared me so well for the coaching world...)

Your Biggest Marketing Tool: Your Voice!

Short and Sweet: Your Voice is your Biggest and most Important Marketing tool, ever!
I just watched a gazillionaire presenter give a workshop on a new, high-fangled, big whoop product that will "sky-rocket" your business to the moon and back. Well, guess what! I couldn't bear watching him pace on the stage AND I couldn't really follow the content of what he had to say because he was speaking in a manner that was VERY DISTRACTING. Here he is, teaching away, trying to convice his workshop attendees to consider his point of view and his new "big Whoop" product for internet marketing, while he was shooting himself in the foot (without realizing it). I wanted to call him up and coach him (for one of his gaillions, of course).