The Sage Sayers

Apr 18 2024 6
The Sage Sayers Podcast artwork

A weekly podcast on ways to stay calm and compel others as you communicate. Along with executive communications tips and strategies, we interview intriguing individuals who've found the "Sage approach" by finding gifts, opportunities, and knowledge within trying situations. New Zealander show host, Debbi Gardiner McCullough, has written on social and business trends and struggles for the Economist, the Guardian, and Financial Times of London. She's a self-retired college professor of writing, an executive communications and narrative coach. Visit her at: www.hangingrockcoaching.com

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“A great communicator really understands their audience.” Product leader Nupur Thakur on demystifying tech

Apr 18 2024 20 mins  
My guest this week is product, strategy, and operations leader Nupur Thakur who has spent a greater part of her career ensuring that leaders and customers understand her technology well. In a lovely conversation from her Bay Area, SF base, she unpacks what’s helped her understand her audience and how she breaks down and demystifies technical topics in ways where even the most imp

“I’m married to my violin” John Chang on the gifts from music and managing audition jitters

Apr 05 2024 22 mins  
John Chang moved to the U.S. from a balmy part of China with one core goal: To perform violin for orchestras. His practicing’s intense and rigorous as are his auditions. We spoke a few days after auditioning for Chicago’s opera where he and other players must perform their excerpts to faceless judges separated from the musician by a black curtain. Chang tells us of his early ye

“My dad’s my first coach.” Abhijeet Patil on heritage, leadership, and writing

Mar 21 2024 30 mins  
North Carolina-based executive architect Abhijeet Patil has long led complex hybrid cloud initiatives for Fortune 500s and loved the challenge. A recent self-generated challenge to write in the public space—his “writing spree”— has helped him discover the joy, clarity, and courage that comes from expressing ourselves in the written word. He’s also learned that writing abo

“I find joy in improving people’s health” Jill Staudacher on pharma, alternative medicine, and sisterhood

Mar 08 2024 26 mins  
Jill Staudacher has spent the best part of her career in pharmaceutical sales; but since COVID she’s felt drawn additionally to alternative ways to heal—both herself, her family, and friends as well. In this timely interview, from my Muskego, Wisconsin base, Jill shares her journey into a powerful career selling excellent medicines to finding a growing interest in healing natur

How to make the important words fit. 10 cruel but powerful résumé edits

Feb 22 2024 14 mins  
If you’ve reworked your resume recently via Resume IO, Canva, or (my favorite platform: My Perfect Resume.com) you’ll see the creative challenge in describing our work efforts, skills, and triumphs within a few words. The summary section on Resume IO rations a cruel 200 characters. The work experience for each role? Three bullets, each worth 200 characters each. (That’s about

“You know when it’s time for career change. Listen for it. You know.” Rebecca Perreault on changing our work, outlook, and life

Feb 08 2024 19 mins  
My guest this week has reinvented herself multiple times through multiple life stages—even focuses of her study, career, and the way she chooses to live her life. Her name’s Rebecca, and after several decades in the corporate world—most recently in a high-powered supply chain role—she’s decided to step down, change her focus, and move away from the U.S. to Casablanca, to

How (and why) to hook and compel your audience in a minute—or less

Jan 25 2024 15 mins  
As we rise closer to the top-tier audiences of the companies where we serve, hooking and compelling our audience in our opening sentences feels vital. I know, because I’ve needed to cut to the chase when interviewing experts and executives for articles I’ve written — or anyone with power and visibility. I find this audience more rushed than rude and often switching from one m

How Do We Share Our Successes When Data is Scant?

Jan 11 2024 12 mins  
Job seekers and those on the rise within their org need data. Numbers and trends within those numbers quantify how we excel at our craft and trade, become proof, and help paint a story — a vision — of success we can bring our future employer or team.But at least 50% of the coachees I coach struggle here because not enough time has passed to show the results, the project or prod

Want to Boost Clarity and Confidence? Travel. An Interview with Azra Bandali

Dec 15 2023 25 mins  
I often get asked how to boost our confidence—a tough question, because so many ways exist! My guest in this week’s Sage Sayer’s podcast shares a passion with me for travel. Her name’s Azra Bandali and she’s ventured to 32 countries, an almost annual practice she started as a girl. Azra feels convinced travel has molded her into the woman she is today. In our interview, A

Why Cold Calls Nor Outreach Bother Me (Some Reporter Tips)

Nov 30 2023 14 mins  
Many of us dread cold calling and following up with folks, especially when we want or need something from them. Why? Because we can feel (in these delicate moments) that we’re a bother or demanding or even desperate, when none of the above’s normally true. I’m convinced that our Inner Judge plays a role. Our critical inner voice wants to protect us overall from humiliation, r