If you want to get back to basics and have a refresher course on the fundamentals of communication, speaking, and leadership, this episode is for you. My guest today is Joel Schwartzberg. You may remember him from one of our most popular episodes, How to Make a Point That Sticks. Joel is a leadership communications coach and author and today he brings his tips to help you create a "language of leadership." Joel's key message: "The most powerful tool you have as a leader—to inform, engage,...

How many times have you set a goal for yourself and then either abandoned it, came up with reasons not to do it, or lost motivation and forgot why it was important to begin with? Doing something new, something big, or something different comes along with challenges and oftentimes when we set out to do these things alone, we don't succeed. Why does this happen? My guest today is Molly Keehn Ed.D., an educator, co-founder of CoJourn and co-author of the book, “CoJourn: Harnessing the Power of...

Today's episode is a must-listen if you have been struggling to figure out what is stopping you from being where you want to be, having what you want to have, or doing what you say you want to do. Today's guest is Lisa Fabrega, a personal transformation advisor who supports ambitious women as they strive to create a deep and lasting impact on the world.  Her advice blew my mind as she broke down her Capacity Framework and the six capacities that could be contributing to keeping you stuck....

Here's a brand new live coaching episode! On today's show, we'll hear from a financial advisor who has no problem working one to one with clients and now wants to create workshops to promote her work, but feels crippling fear around speaking to groups. How to handle this?? My second guest has committed to giving a maid of honor speech at her sister's wedding and is looking for tips and tricks for regaining confidence, relieving anxiety, and finding the right timeframe for the speech. After...

Have you ever found yourself in an audience and looked up at the woman on stage and wondered, how? How does she do that? On today's episode, I asked a lot of "how" questions of my guest, Sheetal Sheth. Sheetal is an actress, author, producer, and activist. Sheetal’s breakout role came in Albert Brooks’ “Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World” and she is known for her performances in a wide range of memorable roles in film and on television. I asked Sheetal to share her experience as an Indian...

Welcome back! I hope you had a great couple of months. It’s good to be back. On today’s episode, I make an announcement about a couple changes to the show going forward, address how the questions I posed in the last episode impacted my life, and I share a HUGE surprising gift I gave myself by speaking up on a couple occasions. If you’re a people pleaser or don’t like to “rock the boat,” this episode will get you thinking differently about all you can gain by speaking up for yourself. If...

We all just went through a year of unexpected twists and turns. What can we learn from it? Anytime we go through something dark, difficult, or traumatic, it changes us. That means we may find that we have new reasons for doing what we’re doing, we may care about different things, and we might have to reprioritize. It’s a scary time and an exciting time because you get to destroy and then create. On today’s show, I go into some questions you can ask yourself to help you recreate your life with...

What do you do when you've been working a 9-5 job for years, and now you want to step out and build your own business but feel nervous about using your voice and drawing attention to yourself? Our first guest on today's live coaching episode asks this question. Hint: The process of figuring this out can actually be fun! Our second guest asks how to give an effective keynote when you're not sure what will best connect with your audience. This is our second live coaching episode and we'd love...

Welcome to our first live coaching episode! Today we take questions from listeners Dana Hahn and Becky Vesce. Dana asks: I want to provide training for teachers on the topic of how to support grieving children in the classroom. How can I eliminate the fear and anxiety of speaking to large groups of professionals? Becky asks: I go live on Facebook and Instagram regularly for my makeup business. I like to keep it educational and casual but I struggle with the ask. How can I get my sales pitch...

Friends! This is a special anniversary edition of Claim the Stage, solo hosted by me, Angela. Can you believe it's already been five years??! Me neither. On today's show, I discuss: what it’s like to do a project for five years how my views have changed on the podcast over the years how the podcast has helped my business succeed my initial fears around doing a podcast what I’ve learned from my guests what I’ve learned about being a great interviewer the show going forward what...

Is growth possible without suffering? Leveling up in life requires a ton of growth - both in confidence and in skills. How can we acquire both of these without suffering? Our guest today is Sophie McLean, a wisdom teacher who has spent decades leading transformational seminars to over 200,000 people around the world. She likes to explore the universal existential questions of “Who am I?” and “What is my life about?” while also focusing on the nature of what it means to be human. She is the...

A breakup can be more than a romantic relationship -- it can be the loss of a job, a business, a move to a new city, losing a cherished friendship, anything. It’s an ending that requires attention and care and on today's episode, our guest will show you how to process that time of life. Erin Davidson (pronouns: she/her), MA, RCC, is a writer and Registered Clinical Counselor in Vancouver B.C. specializing in sex and relationship therapy. We focus on her new book, Break Through the Breakup, to...

Guess what! Today we're talking about one of our favorite subjects: Doing it before you're ready. You might be asking...do what? Well, anything! Working towards a dream, writing that book, speaking on a bigger stage, asking that cute person out on a date...whatever. We can make excuses all day and blame things outside of our control, but what if we just took action instead? Joli and Angela talk about their own experiences with starting before they were ready and offer advice on how to do the...

We spend a lot of time talking about how to use your authentic voice for speaking, but when you want to sit down and write a compelling email that really connects to your audience, what is the best way to share your voice? Email is an incredibly effective method of marketing, yet it can be so hard to craft a message and hit send when you know it's being broadcasted to hundreds or thousands of people. Learning what to say, how to say it, and when to send an email to get the most out of it is...

Have you ever had a grand vision for your life and then immediately discarded it because you thought it could never work?  Or, have you had that grand vision, rolled it around in your mind for years, and then finally decided to let it go because it was too risky, wasn't something you thought you could really do, or seemed too grand for you? If so, today's episode is for you! We talk about things we've done to avoid our destiny and also share tools and mindset tips to help you move from the...

Have you ever felt like you needed permission from your friends and family to take a risk? Maybe you weren't waiting for their validation consciously, but were you delaying taking action because you didn't know what others would think of your idea? Does that sound familiar? What about pretending? Ever show up in relationships acting one way, but thinking another? Have you ever felt you had to put on a show in order to be accepted or loved? And when it comes to pausing, have you ever felt...

Speaking up about your needs, desires, fears, and upsets in relationships can be an anxiety-inducing experience. If you struggle with speaking up, you are likely familiar with the symptoms of anxiety - the "what if" thoughts, the nausea, the fears of everything unraveling. On today's show, we interview Paula Leech, a sex and relationship therapist who specializes in helping women and couples learn how to speak up. We discuss how to take more risks with your words, how to separate your anxious...

Did you know that in 30 seconds to one minute per day you could improve your wellness and well-being? It's true! In fact, today's guest says the smaller the changes are that you make to your life, the better results you will have. Quit trying to incorporate every healing modality under the sun only to feel frustrated and disappointed with yourself. Taking a few minutes a day can be transformative for your overall wellness and today's guest will show you how.  Pam Victor is a happiness coach,...

Calling all Claim the Stage fans who have been on the fence about checking out Speaker Sisterhood and are looking for a personal invitation! This is for you. :) It's been over a year since we launched a new public speaking club due to covid, but we're back at it and we'd like to invite you to our newest club in Westfield, Massachusetts. This club will be meeting online for the foreseeable future and can be joined by anyone, anywhere. Your first meeting is free while you check out what we're...

Here's an episode for the super fans! This bonus episode is brought to you from a beach house on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. We went on a short vacation and decided to record an unplanned episode. On the show, we do Joli's performance review and read listener feedback from our recent survey. Joli also gives Angela feedback and they discuss her current adventures in online dating. There are many laughs and tangents and you'll find out more about the names Zazzle and Butterfinger as the show goes...

Have you ever looked at someone who is seemingly doing it all and wondered, how do they do so much? The answer may be that they have a system to keep them moving forward. On today’s episode, Laura Khalil, a communications expert, skilled interviewer and host of the Top 125 Apple Podcast, Brave by Design, teaches us how to create a system to be brave and do the work that scares us or typically stops us from moving forward. She shares the process she takes her clients through to help them avoid...

How often have you been called “selfish” in your life? How often have you gone out of your way to avoid being seen that way? On today’s show, we interview Naketa Ren Thigpen, LCSW, the #1 Balance & Relationship Advisor in the World. She is also the author of the book Selfish: Permission to Pause, Live, Love and Laugh Your Way to Joy. On today’s episode, we explore what the word selfish really means and how Naketa has redefined it. She discusses the work she does with her clients to help...

Even if you're not in sales for your profession, you're always selling. Perhaps you're selling your friend on an idea for a trip you'd like to take, or selling your child on the benefits of vegetables. You likely even have a component of your job that requires you sell your ideas to your team, your boss, or your clients. Selling is an essential tool and yet it is often looked at as a high stress activity to avoid if we can. It's also viewed as a skill that requires a lot of extroversion and...

Do you remember being called a "Good Girl" as a child and beaming in delight over the praise and reinforcement for a job well done? If you're now wondering why you find it difficult to say or do something that may not be seen as "nice" or "polite," it may be because of your good girl conditioning. On today's show, we talk to Sarah Schneider, a Good Girl Dismantler, executive coach, leadership trainer, and CEO of the leadership coaching company SarahSchneider & Co. We discuss the inner...

"Perfectionism, people-pleasing, codependency, and constant striving to measure up— all of these patterns are rooted in fear and angst, which are emotion-level issues. The challenge for us is to bring love to the parts of ourselves that are hurting and terrified. Our work is to bridge the gap between the head and the heart.” - Caroline Garnet McGraw If that quote means anything to you, you will love today's show. Our guest is Caroline Garnet McGraw, an author, speaker, and coach for...