Passing on the Torch

Passing on the Torch shows you how to give your children an inimitable gift: a tangible, written legacy of what you believe in to pass on to them.

Sometimes called an ethical will, this values statement leaves behind for progeny what you believed in–what was important to you. It is a place to share your hopes, your advice, your opinions, your philosophies, and even your favorite recipes.

Passing on the Torch: The Presentation gives you an opportunity to reflect on the people and events that have made a difference in your own life, the rituals and religious observances that have meaning to you, the teachings and ideals that you hope your children will embrace.

Passing on the Torch guides you in writing your own ethical will, leading you step-by-step through six key areas of examination:

  • Organize what you want to say
  • Add anecdotes, favorite sayings, special words
  • Describe people and events that had impact
  • Consider religious observations or rituals that have meaning
  • Share your ideals, suggestions, your philosophy
  • Convey your ethical will to those you love

Hearing what others have included will trigger ideas in you of what you want to include–everything from exercise tips and “take care of your teeth” to moral injunctions: “let your word be your bond.” Writing an ethical will is a growth experience and you can do it at any age.

People take an inventory of their house for insurance purposes. An ethical will is an inventory of your life.

Breaking into Print

Whether it is for the joy of seeing your name in print, or because you have a message inside you that you are burning to share with others, getting published is a thrill. When you can sit in your corner of the world, and have your thoughts and ideas travel to places you have never visited, you know the power of publication.

Having a book or articles to your credit also boosts your authority (the word author comes from the Latin auctoritas, one who has expertise in a particular field). A published book is your calling card for promotion or when you are seeking a new position. When you have written a book, you have national prominence, sometimes international. It can take your work to the next level, or bring you to a place you never expected.

Article Writing

You will learn:

  • How to research your market to find the best place to submit your piece
  • How to angle a story to get an editor’s attention
  • How to write a Query Letter to an editor
  • What to expect after you get a “go-ahead”

Books

I will take you step-by-step through the submission process:

  • The five points every proposal needs to include
  • How to determine demographics of your audience
  • How to assess your competition
  • How to develop a marketing plan

I will help you explore the right answer for you to the questions:

  • Do you need an agent?
  • If so, how do you go about getting the best one for your type of book?

Note:
Breaking into Print, for articles and for books, is also offered in one-on-one consultation. Please see the Consultant/Editor Section for more information.

Put Your Heart on Paper: The Workshop™

Put Your Heart on Paper: The Workshop™ teaches you how to use the power of the written word to:

  • Build relationships
  • Create lifelong bonds
  • Heal emotional wounds
  • Give an incomparable gift to the people you love

If you sometimes feel disconnected in this fast-paced world of ours, getting reconnected is as simple as a piece of paper and as near as your pen.

This is a hands-on presentation. Participants get to put the principles to immediate use. Put Your Heart on Paper: The Workshop™ is particularly effective as a team-builder at conferences and retreats. In Greece, at the Skyros Center, hiding notes of compliments created a buzz that made people smile, and permeated the entire two-week session, not just in my workshop group, but spread throughout the entire holistic center.

With Pen in Hand: The Workshop™

With Pen in Hand: The Workshop™ is a healing workshop, especially for those who are dealing with trauma or emotional loss, or comforting or counseling those who are.

You will learn to:

  • Record your thoughts in Real-Time in order to get grounded when your head is spinning
  • Write an imaginary conversation and see where your pen takes you
  • Use Rapidwriting and Twilight Journaling in order to break through emotional roadblocks
  • Gain perspective and integrate painful experiences into your life, whether the events you need to heal are recent, or wounds from long ago

    As an hour presentation or full-day workshop With Pen in Hand is both inspirational and practical.

    With Pen in Hand is particularly useful for anyone going through a transition in his or her life–from losing a job, to living with a serious illness, to a death of someone close.

    With Pen in Hand is appropriate for Veterans’ Groups, Compassionate Friends, Domestic Violence Groups, Divorce and Beyond.

    It includes a special section on Discernment, the five-step ancient tool for decision-making, because sometimes it is difficult to make decisions when you are in crisis.

Write It Down, Make It Happen: The Workshop™

Who are you not to be great? What is holding you back from living your dream?

Write It Down, Make It Happen: The Workshop™ is a dynamic, life-changing presentation about;

  • Taking command of your life
  • Providing purpose and adventure
  • Getting the rest of the world to cooperate to make your goals come true

Whatever your ambition, from grandiose career plans or major moves, to having the relationship of your dreams: it’s yours for the asking. Write It Down, Make It Happen: The Workshop™ is an invigorating and inspiring workshop and a powerful keynote address, including a six-month follow-up.

For businesses or organizations, there are several aspects of Write It Down, Make It Happen: The Workshop™ that are attractive. In this workshop or talk, your team will learn how to:

  • Polish coconuts: do the activity that brings business to your door
  • Increase your sales figures
  • Influence your bottom line
  • Expand your business
  • Get publicity, get your name out there
  • Say thanks, not just to your clients, but your vendors, the people who invoice you

For individuals or associations, teach yourself and your members to:

  • Dream big
  • Organize a Goal Squad
  • Focus on the Outcome
  • Push on–don’t stop three feet from the Gold

Writing on Both Sides of the Brain: The Workshop™

If your employees procrastinate and stall about getting work in on time, messing up the schedules of the rest of the team, this workshop gets at the root of the problem (hint: it’s not what you think).

Writing on Both Sides of the Brain: The Workshop™, teaches you to:

  • Separate your writing from your editing
  • Create and capture moments of inspiration through the 3B’s
  • Write with flow and without stress following the 5R’s
  • Talk back to the internal Critic reining you in
  • Discover the Meaning behind your Resistance
  • Produce more powerful documents

The bonus is that when people find out what is holding them back in writing, it often spreads over into other areas of their life as well.

This workshop will revolutionize the way you think and the way you write. After taking it, you will save time, avoid frustration, and overcome procrastination. You will learn to write clearly and concisely so that your writing is easier and more productive, and create a more professional and friendly tone in all your work.

In addition, there is a whole section on effective e-mail writing and when not to send an e-mail.

Three weeks ahead of Writing on Both Sides of the Brain: The Workshop™, I collect writing samples from the group attending, as well as examples of the best work of the company. This gives me a good idea of the kind of writing the company is doing, and the major strengths and weakness: what’s working, and what’s not working. All class exercises are based on your own writing. You will return to work with tools you can put into practice immediately.

“After taking your WBSB workshop, I not only wrote a ten-page paper I had been putting off, I managed to use the principles you taught to get my storm windows up in time before the winter winds.”

Harmony in the Workplace

Harmony in the Workplace teaches you how to:

  • Capitalize on your own and others’ strengths
  • Work together as a team
  • Get the most from the group

A Brain Strength Inventory will help you discover your own best thinking style and recognize brain bias in yourself and others.

Through entertaining yet educational group exercises, some used by NASA scientists to promote teamwork and group thinking, you will learn how to:

  • Shift between brain strengths
  • “Influence with integrity,” that is, approach others according to their own way of seeing the world and taking in information
  • Integrate consensus thinking
  • Distinguish between listening and hearing
  • Facilitate new member interaction
  • Turn problems into opportunities

Harmony in the Workplace is particularly appropriate for companies or divisions where there has been a turnover in personnel.

Planning and Problem Solving

Part I: Opens the pathways to creative ideas and solutions by teaching you to “look where the light is.”

This workshop lets you:

  • Assess your own best thinking style through a Brain Strength Inventory
  • Recognize brain bias in yourself and others
  • Shift between brain strengths
  • Notice patterns that guide you in decision-making

Includes The Three B’s for Creative Breakthroughs.

Part II: Takes you from ideas to action, showing you how to get the most results from yourself and others.

You will learn:

  • A method of strategic planning
  • How to deal with procrastination
  • How to turn blocks into breakthroughs
  • How to turn problems into opportunities

Group work is part of the package, including a Team Exercise of Brainstorm Branching.

Meetings: Taking Notes and Writing Minutes

Meetings are a fact of life at every agency and business. Here’s how to get the most out of them before, during, and after the get-together.

In the Meetings workshop, you will learn how to:

  • Come up with an agenda that makes people pay attention and involves all members
  • Take notes that concentrate on what’s important and applicable
  • Write minutes that condense the key points, use headlines and indexes effectively, and lead to an action plan.

All courses include a pre-seminar evaluation of actual documents from your agency or organization’s written communications. Handouts and presentation are custom-tailored to your needs.

Editing and Proofreading

Whether you are polishing your own work or someone else’s, revision is an art that can make the difference between a communication that confounds or one that leads to action and understanding. You will learn:

  • The three levels of editing, and the difference between editing and proofreading
  • When to re-write (Stephen King knows)
  • “Reverse branching” as a way to provide logical progression and organize something that seems to be a complete mess
  • Tricks of the pros for endings that get the reader involved
  • The one most important question you need to ask before editing

The Editing and Proofreading workshop shows you how to:

  • Substitute simple, straightforward language that has impact for convoluted phrases that weigh your message down
  • Create a tone that is persuasive–polite, courteous and informational
  • Apply the ancient principle of “ducle et utile” as a test of your finished piece
  • Judge how the audience will respond
  • Test readability, especially when presenting technical material to non-technical readers

Would you rather have someone else experienced do the editing for you? Editing and Proofreading are available as one-to-one consultation or as a service, where I will outright edit or proof your work for you. See the Services section of this website for details.