What to Say When Things Get Tough: Recent Episodes
S. Belvoir Boulevard
This podcast is dedicated to helping you communicate in difficult situations, both professional and personal.
Welcome to our 10th episode! This week, Dr. Alan Snyder, a physical therapist in New York City, talks about how he handles difficult communication challenges with his patients. I even manage to solicit a little free medical advice from Dr. Snyder that I think will be helpful to anyone who needs a doctor.
If you need a physical therapist and you live in the NYC area, you can find Dr. Snyder on his website at http://www.breakawayphysicaltherapy.com.
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for the original music and Rachel Greenberger for the original art.
Please email questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
Some of the most difficult conversations take place between medical professionals and their patients. In this first part of a two-part episode, patient advocate and long-time surgical nurse Antra Kathleen Boyd talks about how we can better manage those conversations and achieve the best possible outcome for everyone involved. And next week, physician Alan Snyder will join us to give us a health care provider's perspective.
To learn more about Antra and her work at Connected Care Patient Advocates, visit her website at www.connectedcarepatientadvocates.com.
Thanks as always to Jim Cirillo at www.jimiumgroup.com for our original music, and to Rachel Greenberger for our original podcast art.
Send questions and comments to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us at #wtswtgt!
If you’re like me, doctor appointments may fill you with dread – especially if you’re experiencing a serious medical condition. Those conversation are among the most difficult many of us will experience, for both patients and doctors.
But fear not! Our guest today is Dr. Toyosi Onwuemene, a hematologist and associate professor of medicine at Duke University. Toyosi explains how doctors approach those difficult conversations with patients and the skills and techniques they use to provide as much comfort and information as possible. She also offers tips on how patients can make the most out of the little time they have to interact with their doctors and ask questions.
You can learn more about Toyosi and her practice here. She also runs a website called Coag Coach devoted to educating patients about hematology and hematologic disorders.
A quick programming note: we’re going on summer hiatus next week, so this will be the last new episode of WTSWTGT until the fall. Please check back because I plan to share some “best of” episodes over the next few months.
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
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Our guest today is Izolda Trakhtenberg, and expert in communicating in difficult situations and a sought-after speaker, educator, and coach for businesses and organizations looking to thrive. And as you'll learn, while we just met last week, we've run in the same circles for many years.
You can learn more about Izolda on her website at www.izoldaspeaks.com. There you can read her blog, access her podcast, The Creative Solutions Podcast, and order one of her books, including the most recent, Speak from Within: How to Engage and Inspire Any Audience Whether You're Talking to One or One Thousand.
As always, thank you to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
Today we wrap up my conversation with Deborah Driggs, insurance agent, mother, former model and actress, and Playboy’s centerfold in March 1990.
We discuss the role that fear plays when communicating in difficult situations. Deborah also shares how she learned not to take no for an answer as a senior in high school when she convinced her high school government teacher to let her pass a class she had never attended by staying up all night to write a paper summarizing the class’s entire textbook.
She used that experience to develop her “No means maybe” philosophy that has helped drive her success as an actress, model, investor, and insurance agent. Enjoy!
As always, thank you to Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for our original music and my daughter Rachel Greenberger for our original podcast art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
Our guest today is Victoria Broehm, senior director of communications at the American Feed Industry Association. AFIA is the world's largest organization devoted exclusively to representing the U.S. animal food industry and its suppliers. That puts AFIA and Victoria right in the middle of a diverse array of ongoing issues and sudden crises.
Victoria shares a ton of practical advice on managing issues and responding to crises, including the role that third parties can play in effective response, the importance of a scenario-based approach to crisis communications planning, and the advantages of engaging your entire organization in crisis preparation and response.
And listen to the end for a fascinating fact about Victoria and her family to wash it all down.
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
I'm on vacation this week, so I thought I would bring you an encore presentation of my most popular episode to date. The guest is Jeffrey Dean, actor, speaker and transformational life coach. We'll be back in two weeks with an all-new episode. Enjoy!!
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
As always, send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
You're in for a real treat today because our guest is Tom Logue, my colleague at AKCG - Public Relations Counselors and the firm's director of crisis communications.
Tom spends his days - and sometimes his nights - helping our clients navigate crises of every imaginable flavor. In just 30 minutes, he shares a lot about how organizations can navigate crises successfully with careful planning, preparation and execution.
If you'd like to hear more about AKCG's approach to crisis communications, please email Tom at Tom@AKCG.com.
Thank you to Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
Welcome to the 60th original episode of What to Say When Things Get Tough! We're joined today by Simon Rinne, an Australian therapist who specializes in helping men work through mental health challenges like burnout, depression and substance abuse. We talk about how Simon decided to help others after struggling with his own mental health issues, and he walks us through the best way to approach someone if you think they may need help.
Simon is the host of a podcast called Mindful Men and can be found online at www.mindful-men.com.au. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
As always, thank you to Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
Our guest today is Lorraine Segal, a communication and conflict teacher, coach and consultant. Lorraine works with non-profits and corporations to help them resolve workplace conflicts.
She shares some of the best practices that sh's picked up along the way, including how she has learned to forgive herself and others -- and how that has helped to minimize the conflict she experiences in her own life.
To learn more about Lorraine and the services she provides, please visit her website at www.conflictremedy.com.
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to my daughter Rachel Greenberger, for our original art. And Happy Birthday, Boo-Boo!
Until next time, always be positive!
Alyssa Sullinger joins us today to talk about her work as a licensed therapist who specializes in helping high-achieving individuals remove toxic relationships, exhaustion and burnout from their lives so they can become more empowered, decisive and in control. You can learn more about Alyssa and the services she provides at www.alyssasullinger.com.
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo at www.jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Please send comments and questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
Until next time, always be positive!
We wrap up our encore in-depth look at the CODE for trust and credibility by exploring the role the dedication and expertise play in helping people determine whether you're a trustworthy and credible source of information.
And please look for a Best Of replay of the episode entitled The Credibility Gender Gap, which I think will be even more interesting now that we've completed our journey through the CODE.
Thanks as always to Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for our original music and Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Please subscribe to, rate, review and share this podcast, send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com, and follow us on Twitter @wtswtgt.
As promised, here is the encore episode where we discuss the "O" in the CODE for credibility.
The need to be open and honest may be obvious, but it can still trip you up in a difficult situation. In this episode, we discuss how to bolster this portion of your overall CODE score. Plus, I answer a question from a listener that I get all the time from family and friends: Is President Trump a trustworthy and credible person?
As always, thank you to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter @wtswtgt, and subscribe, rate, and review!
My apologies for not getting a new episode up last week. To make it up to you, I'm going to re- publish four episodes from way back at the beginning of What to Say When Things Get Tough on the four elements of the CODE for Credibility, beginning today with C Is for Caring. I'll re-publish the other three this week and next, leading up to an all-new episode on Thursday, October 27. Enjoy!
All the usual thanks and requests!
I’m very excited about this first original episode of our third season because our guest is my good friend and long-time colleague, Howard Menaker. Howard spent 18 years as a public relations and public affairs manager for Bechtel Corporation, the global engineering and construction giant.
While we start off talking about lessons that Howard learned over the course of his career about the most effective ways to communicate in difficult situations, we also delve into how those same lessons can be applied to – and drawn from – personal struggles as well. Enjoy!
Thank you to Jim Cirillio at jimiumgroup.com for our original podcast music and to Rachel Greenberger for our original podcast art.
Send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com.
Follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
Welcome to Season 3 of What to Say When Things Get Tough! We kick off this season with a re-broadcast of a podcast I joined as a guest over the summer.
Amy Stone, an expert in successfully navigating the often turbulent waters associated with blended families, held a back-to-school summit and, because I’m a member of a very large blended family, she invited me to discuss how my fiancé and I handle medical appointments, school meetings, practices and other activities.
You can learn more about Amy’s work at www.amysayso.com. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to my daughter Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at #wstwtgt, and rate and review us.
Our guest today is Jeffery Davis, actor, speaker and transformational life coach. Before I could even hit “record,” Jeffery got right to the heart of the matter when it comes to breaking through and connecting with people who may be angry, worried and suspicious of what you have to say. So, we jump right into our conversation without the usual pleasantries.
During the interview Jeffery mentions the book Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tool for Healthy Relationships.
One quick show note: This will be our last new episode before I take my summer break. I may post some re-runs and perhaps some brief, new content over the next couple of months, but looks for new episodes when we get back to normal business operations after Labor Day.
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo for our original podcast music and Rachel Greenberger for our original podcast art.
Send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter @wtswtgt.
And enjoy the summer!
Our guest today is Jeffery Davis, actor, speaker and transformational life coach. Before I could even hit “record,” Jeffery got right to the heart of the matter when it comes to breaking through and connecting with people who may be angry, worried and suspicious of what you have to say. So, we jump right into our conversation without the usual pleasantries.
During the interview Jeffery mentions the book Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tool for Healthy Relationships.
One quick show note: This will be our last new episode before I take my summer break. I may post some re-runs and perhaps some brief, new content over the next couple of months, but looks for new episodes when we get back to normal business operations after Labor Day.
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo for our original podcast music and Rachel Greenberger for our original podcast art.
Send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter @wtswtgt.
And enjoy the summer!
As a bonus for my listeners, I'm re-sharing my episode of Your Ultimate Life with Kellan Fluckiger. I published my recording of the episode back on May 5, but this version features all of Kellan's bells and whistles. Enjoy!
Covid caught up with me last week, and while it was a very mild case and I'm fully recovered, I didn't have a chance to record and edit a new episode.
Instead, I'm bringing back the most popular episode of the past year. The guest is Matt Stait, a Welsh national and martial arts expert who used his skills to overcome a difficult childhood and become a successful competitor, bodyguard, teacher and author. Among many other interesting topics, we talk about the crucial role that communication plays in the subtle art of protecting club goers, celebrities and Middle Eastern royalty, when the formula for success comprises one percent physicality and 99 percent quick thinking and negotiating skills.
Matt's books, including 20 easy ways to keep your child safe: Empower your kids with the tools to be confident, safe, and happy, are available on Amazon.com. You can also find and engage with him on TikTok. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and Rachel Greenberger - Happy Graduation! - for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
We'll be back next time with an all-new episode.
Our guest today is Geoff Seow, founder of MindAxis Life Coaching. Geoff joins us from Down
Under to talk about how he found meaning in life from working with his fellow millennials -- to
help them, as he describes it, bridge the present day to their dream reality. Along the way we talk
about Geoff’s twist on the golden rule: rather than treat people as you would want to be
treated, treat them as they want to be treated.
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter @wtswtgt.
Until next time, always be positive!
A quick show note: The episode today is coming to you a capella as I have not figured out how to transfer our original music over from my old laptop to my new one.
Our guest today is Monique Russell, an executive coach, leadership guru, communication expert, and the founder of Clear Communication Solutions. We cover a wide range of issues, including overcoming adversity, presenting to people who you may think are smarter than you, to the importance of being very intentional when communicating in difficult situations.
After going through a social media cleanse, she’s back online and the best place to find her is on LinkedIn – although she also has a website at clearcommunicationsolutions.com.
Thank you as always to Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter @wtswtgt.
Until next time, always be positive!
Welcome to the 50th episode of What to Say When Things Get Tough!! Very exciting.
Kellan Fluckiger, who we welcomed as a guest last time, was kind enough to ask me to appear as a guest on his podcast, Your Ultimate Life. And he was also kind enough to give me permission to feature our conversation here.
While we don't necessarily talk about communicating in difficult situations, I think listeners will find some pearls of wisdom in the story that I share about my own struggle to find my ultimate life.
I hope you enjoy our conversation.
As always, thank you to Jim Cirillo for our original music and to Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
Our guest today is Kellan Fluckiger. Before leaping off the corporate ladder and forging his new path as a transformational leadership mentor, Kellan spent many years working at the highest levels of the electric power industry.
For the past 15 years, Kellan has devoted himself to helping others, in his words, combine their thoughts, language and actions into an unstoppable success machine. His clients have included governors, senators, CEOs, and even a Super Bowl winner, and we discuss the techniques that Kellan uses - and the role that communication plays in making it all happen.
Kellan is the author of more than a dozen books, which you can find on Amazon.com : kellan fluckiger. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter @wtswtgt.
Today we have a very special episode for you. Last month I had the pleasure of attending the Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates' annual trade show in Fort Worth, Texas, where I appeared on a panel discussion about how to communicate in a crisis event.
One of my fellow panelists, Mark Henriques, a partner at the law firm Womble Bond Dickinson, invited me to be a guest on his own podcast and he was kind enough to share it with me so I can share it with you. Enjoy!
As always, thank you to Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter @wtswtgt.
We’re back this week with Part 2 of my interview with Amy Stone, a life coach – not a therapist as I incorrectly referred to her last time – who specializes in working with adults in blended families.
Last week we focused on my relationship with my fiancé Raquel’s younger children. This time we look at the relationships each of us has with the other’s older children as well as the relationship between the two of us.
You can learn more about Amy and the services that she provides on her website at amysaysso.com.
Thank you to Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
If you have any thoughts or ideas for topics you’d like us to cover, or questions you’d like to ask, please send an email to wtswtgt@gmail.com.
Follow us on Twitter @wtswtgt.
Today we have a real treat. Our guest is Amy Stone, a therapist who specializes in working with adults in blended families. And there’s no bigger blended family than mine.
We talked for so long that I’m breaking our conversation into two episodes. In this first part, we discuss the different roles that members of blended families play, the challenges of disciplining children who aren’t your own, and how to make sure everyone’s needs are met when it comes to food and mealtime.
You can learn more about Amy and the services that she provides on her website at amysaysso.com.
As always, thank you to Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Email us at wtswtgt@gmail.com.
Follow us on Twitter @wtswtgt.
Our guest today is P.J.Agness, an expert in self-defense and protective intelligence and author of numerous books, including his most recent, Street Level Spycraft, that are all available on Amazon.
P.J. and I talk about communicating in what may be the most difficult situation of all – when you find yourself in a confrontation in which your physical well-being is at risk. P.J. shares his advice for verbally de-escalating a dangerous encounter and controlling your fight or flight instinct. We also discuss how some of the techniques that spies use to motivate sources can be used to communicate more effectively at work.
This is the first of three episodes that I plan to publish over the next three weeks to make up for the lack of a new episode two weeks ago. Enjoy!
As always, thank you to Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
If you have any thoughts or ideas for topics you’d like us to cover, or questions you’d like to ask, please send an email to wtswtgt@gmail.com. And please follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
I'm willing to bet that no one has ever tied together veganism and effective communication, but our guest today, Philip Anthony Mangan, and I gave it our best. Philip is a New York City-based actor, model and dedicated vegan who also happens to be a fellow Floridian; in fact, we grew up about 20 minutes from each other outside Ft. Lauderdale.
We touch on everything from how to break through the stereotypes that many people hold regarding the vegan lifestyle to how to convince those who accept climate change but aren’t sure what they can do about it that they can make a difference. Along the way, we touch on a number of important principles related to communicating effectively in difficult situations.
I hope you enjoy our conversation.
As always, thank you to Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
If you have any thoughts or ideas for topics you’d like us to cover, or questions you’d like to ask, please send an email to wtswtgt@gmail.com. And please follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
Our guest today is Christi Scarrow, a woman who wears many hats. She’s a partner at the Canadian consulting firm Lighthouse Nine Group, she’s an expert in organizational accountability, and she’s the author of Truth Warriors: The battle to hear, be heard and make decisions that count.
Fortunately for us, the need to communicate effectively in difficult situation is a common thread across all of those aspects of Christi’s life, and she shares a huge amount of very practical advice on how to do that well with supervisors, employees and peers.
To learn more about Christi and to order her book, please visit www.truthwarriors.ca.
Thanks to Jim Cirillo and Rachel Greenberger for you know what. Send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt. And until next time ... always be positive!
Our guest today is Smitha Gunturi, a woman’s advocate and podcast host who has overcome just an incredible amount of adversity over the course of her life.
We don’t discuss communications specifically. Instead, Smitha shares a number of life lessons that can inform how we can communicate more effectively in difficult situations: the importance of empathy, or as Smitha puts it, “seeing things from someone else’s perspective.”
Along the way, Smitha shares a poignant moment when she learns a terrible truth from her son and explains that sometimes the most difficult conversations are the most important to have.
To learn more about Smitha and the services she provides, please visit her website at www.smithagunturi.com.
If you have any thoughts or ideas for topics you’d like us to cover, or questions you’d like to ask, please send an email to wtstwtgt@gmail.com. And please follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
Finally, as always, a big thank you as always to Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
We're back with an all-new episode to close out 2021.Our guest is Sean McBride, founder of DSM Strategic Communications (www.dsmstrategic.com) and a long-time senior executive in the fast-moving consumer goods and trade association sectors.
Sean has a particular expertise in the food industry and today we talk to him about how the McBrides and their forebearers came to settle in western Pennsylvania, how Sean himself migrated from there to Washington, D.C., and how he came to specialize in a field so near and dear to all of our hearts.
Along the way we learn how Sean has helped his clients rebuild trust and credibility and position themselves for success before, during and ultimately once the Covid-19 pandemic comes to an end. Sean also takes out his crystal ball and shares three trends that he thinks will define the food industry through the rest of the decade and beyond.
As always, thank you to Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Please subscribe to, rate and review us and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
Welcome to the 40th original episode of What to Say When Things Get Tough! And they said it would never last.
Our guest today is Bill Cramer, a Public Involvement Director at HNTB (www.htnb.com), a large civil engineering firm with offices across the United States and Canada. Among many other topics, Bill discusses his visit to the site of the Surfside condo collapse, which happened just 50 blocks from his home, and his assessment of the performances of the local and state officials who had to communicate about the disaster in its wake (hint: he gives them high marks). He also emphasizes the importance of communicating internally when a crisis strikes -- an aspect of crisis communications that I often think gets overlooked. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for our original music and Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Please rate, review and subscribe to WTSWTGT; send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com, and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
And finally, please join us in two weeks for a conversation with food industry expert Sean McBride.
I never thought I’d find myself speaking to a hypnotherapist, but after meeting J. Robert Parker in Facebook’s Podcast Guest Connection group I thought I’d give it a try.
And I’m very glad I did. I learned a lot about how hypnotherapy works, but perhaps even more importantly I learned what hypnotherapy and risk communication share: an emphasis on trust; the central role that caring and empathy play; and, something we haven’t spoken about enough, how each field can be used for both good and bad.
You can find J. Robert on his website at www.twinravens.org. I hope you enjoy this fascinating conversation.
And I hope you’ll join us next week when I interview Bill Cramer, an old friend and colleague who works as a Public Involvement Director at HNTB, a large civil engineering firm with dozens of offices in the United States and Canada.
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
And don’t forget to subscribe to, rate and review us!!!
Welcome back to What to Say When Things Get Tough. I hope you enjoyed a safe and healthy summer.
As our first guest back we’re joined by Andrea Mason, a personal accountability coach to whom I was draw because of the importance she places on forgiveness when it comes to communicating effectively in difficult situations.
After all, if we don’t learn to forgive as we employ the skills and techniques necessary to win people over when they’re angry, worried and suspicious of everything we say, chances are the old problems are just going to recur over and over again. Enjoy!
If you're interested in her services, the best way to reach Andrea is through her website at www.andreamasons.com (don't forget the extra "s" at the end of her name).
Thank you to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and Rachel Greenberger for our original podcast art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us at #wtswtgt.
And now that we're back from hiatus, it's a perfect time to rate, review and subscribe. And, to tell all your friends!
What to Say When Things Get Tough is going on hiatus until after Labor Day. We'll be back with new episodes on how to communicate more effectively in difficult situations, both personal and professional. Have a great summer and until then ... always be positive!
Today we’re joined by Sarah Ramsey, the host of the podcast Toxic Person Proof. Her podcast is about helping women remember how amazing they are after enduring pain at the hands of a toxic partner, parent, coworker or friend. But while her podcast may be aimed at women, I think the techniques she discusses for handling difficult people – and communicating with difficult people – are relevant for all genders.
We discuss how to identify toxic people, how to avoid them if you can, and how to deal with them when you must – even how to turn them into interesting, productive people.
Sarah is the author of “Becoming Toxic Person Proof: Clear the Confusion and Learn to Trust Yourself” which is available on Amazon or on her website, sarahkramsey.com. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us at #wtswtgt.
We have a very special guest this week to celebrate the one-year anniversary of What to Say When Things Get Tough: Chris Lukach, an expert in crisis communications, CEO of AKCG -- Public Relations Counselors in Glassboro, N.J. and Washington, D.C., and, perhaps most importantly, my boss. Chris and I talk about how the field of crisis communications has changed in an era of 24/7 media coverage and social media and how organizations have had to change too in order to protect their reputations and to build good will. Chris also shares his advice for young professionals who may be interested in a career in public relations generally and crisis communications specifically. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
As always, thank you to Jim Cirillo from jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to my daughter, Rachel Greenberger, for our original art.
Please subscribe to, rate and review this podcast; send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com; and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
Sue Priver is an “ecstasy expert,” which should indicate to you that this episode is going to be a little unusual.
Most of us intuitively understand that good communication is important to good, healthy sex, but we don’t really know what good communication means or how to achieve it. Sue shares her approach to telling your partner – or partners – what you want and learning what they want. She helps people get over the guilt, shame, fear and judgement and stand in the way of, as Sue puts it, mind-blowing sex.
We also discuss how what she’s learned about communicating well with her partner when it comes to sex has also helped her to become better at communicating with other people in her life – her co-workers, her family and her friends. Oh, and she also happens to be a world record-holding powerlifter.
I hope you enjoy our conversation.
During our conversation, Sue mentions the book Wild Feminine: Finding Power Spirit & Joy in the Female Body by Tami Lee Kent, which you can find on Amazon.com
As always, thank you to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
Our guest today is Matt Stait, a Welsh national and martial arts expert who used his skills to overcome a difficult childhood and become a successful competitor, bodyguard, teacher and author. Among many other interesting topics, we talk about the crucial role that communication plays in the subtle art of protecting club goers, celebrities and Middle Eastern royalty, when the formula for success comprises one percent physicality and 99 percent quick thinking and negotiating skills.
Matt's books, including 20 easy ways to keep your child safe: Empower your kids with the tools to be confident, safe, and happy, are available on Amazon.com. You can also find and engage with him on TikTok. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and Rachel Greenberger - Happy Graduation! - for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt. And please rate, review and subscribe!
Today we wrap up my conversation with Deborah Driggs, insurance agent, mother, former model and actress, and Playboy’s centerfold in March 1990.
We discuss the role that fear plays when communicating in difficult situations. Deborah also shares how she learned not to take no for an answer as a senior in high school when she convinced her high school government teacher to let her pass a class she had never attended by staying up all night to write a paper summarizing the class’s entire textbook.
She used that experience to develop her “No means maybe” philosophy that has helped drive her success as an actress, model, investor, and insurance agent. Enjoy!
As always, thank you to Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for our original music and my daughter Rachel Greenberger for our original podcast art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
When I met Deborah Driggs in a Facebook group for podcast hosts and guests, I admit that I set up an interview with her because after doing a little research on her background and experience I learned that as a young woman she had appeared as a Playboy centerfold.
Well, you’re not going to hear anything about that part of her life. Because during our conversation I discovered someone in whose life experience has made her a real expert in the art of communicating in difficult situations. So much so that I decided to split our conversation into a two-part episode.
In this part, we focus on Deborah’s experience as a both a child and parent of divorce and the lessons she learned about the vital role that communication plays in helping everyone involved – the parents themselves, their children, and even family and friends – grieve the loss of a relationship that was once at the center of their lives. I hope you enjoy our conversation and that you'll tune in to Part 2 in two weeks, when we talk about her career and how she has re-invented herself over and over again on her way to success in the insurance field.
As always, thank you to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to Rachel Greenberger for our original podcast art.
Please send any questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
I've met some great guests through the Facebook group Podcast Connections. In this encore episode that originally aired last September, I appear as a guest on a podcast hosted by Mumbai, India-based Aaditya Mehta, Aaditya was kind enough to grant me permission to broadcast our interview.
Stay tuned for more interviews with interesting guests I've connected with through Facebook, including Deborah Driggs, a successful insurance agent who has constantly re-invented herself over the course of a fascinating career who will appear next week.
Until then, please enjoy this encore episode and always stay positive!
In our final discussion of traps that can trip you up in difficult situations, we tackle the money trap, the numbers trap, the risk comparison trap and the false-premise trap.
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for our original music and Rachel Greenberger for our original podcast art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
We continue our discussion of traps that can trip you up in difficult situations. This week, we tackle the hedges trap, the guarantee trap, the worst-case scenario trap and the dishonesty/deception trap. Enjoy!
If you're a loyal listener, please rate, review and subscribe to this podcast. Send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
An old African proverb holds that when an elephant steps in a trap, no more trap. Since we're not elephants, we need to prepare for traps that we may fall into inadvertently -- or that someone may deliberately place in our paths -- when we're communicating in difficult situations,
In this first episode of a multi-part series, we talk about the preparation trap, the humor trap, and the negatives trap. Enjoy!
As always, thank to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to my daughter Rachel Greenberger for our new podcast art. And Happy Birthday Boo-Boo!
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us at #wtswtgt on Twitter.
Back in the spring of 1988, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published a short pamphlet entitled Seven Cardinal Rules of Risk Communication. It quickly became, and remains to this day, one of the seminal works in the field of risk communication. Although the field has changed and evolved over the last 33 years, these basic fundamental rules on which effective risk communication is built continue to hold true.
In this episode, I read and comment on the pamphlet and the impact it has had on the theory and practice of risk communication in the United States and around the world. If you'd like a copy of your own, you can find it here: Seven Cardinal Rules of Risk Communication | US EPA ARCHIVE DOCUMENT.
Thank you Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for our original music and Rachel Greenberger for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
Making sure our kids don't fall behind in their studies has been a challenge for millions of parents in the age of coronavirus, and many have turned to tutors for help. Our guest today is Gabrielle Crichlow, founder and owner of A Step Ahead Tutoring Services in New York. We talk about how she’s weathered the storm and the role that communication plays in removing the stigma that sometimes comes with tutoring and in serving her clients well. You can learn more about Gabrielle and the services she provides at www.astepaheadtutoringservices.com.
One show note: As things have heated up at work and at home, I find myself with less time to devote to this podcast. So I’ve decided to start posting new episodes every other week. I figure this way I can continue to provide high-quality content and minimize my own stress. I hope you’ll understand and continue to listen.
As always, thank you to Jim Cirillo (www.jimiumgroup.com) for our original music and to my daughter, Rachel Greenberger, for our original art.
Please: send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com; follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt; and rate, review and subscribe!
Our guest today is Daniel Bruce Levin, who describes himself as a fifth dimension personality. Over the course of a very eventful life, Daniel has hitchhiked around the world, come within one day of being ordained as a Jewish rabbi, walked away from the opportunity to run a multi-billion company, and advised companies, non-profits and government agencies on how to replace siloed thinking with innovation.
Daniel brings a unique perspective on the role that communication plays in forming and building relationships. You can learn more about his philosophy on his website at danielbrucelevin.com. There you'll also find a link to his book, The Mosaic, as well as to his fascinating audio series, Conversations with Strangers.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
To start off the New Year, we welcome back Sheri Singer, president of Singer Communications (www.singercomm.com). Together we offer a retrospective on 2020 and what it meant for communications professionals, both professionally and personally.
Thank you to my daughter, Rachel Greenberger, for our new podcast art.
Thank you to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our old podcast music.
Please send questions to wtstwtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
Back in September I appeared as a guest on Aaditya Mehta's Mumbai-based podcast, Personality Development. Please enjoy this encore presentation.
What to Say When Things Get Tough will be back with all-new episodes on Wednesday, January 6. Until then, Happy Holidays and ... always be positive!
Most people are perplexed by big numbers. We're just not good at comprehending millions, billions and trillions, and that can trip us up when we need to communicate effectively in difficult situations. In this episode, we discuss why we have such trouble with big numbers (which does help to explain why we continue to play the lottery even though we'll never win), how they influence our perception of risk, and some techniques for the proper use of big numbers in difficult communication situations.
We'll be back with new episodes in the new year. I hope everyone enjoys a happy and healthy holiday season.
Thank you to Jim Cirillo at jimiungroup.com for our original music.
Thank you to CC Snetsinger for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
I think I made a mistake releasing a new episode during Thanksgiving week. Listenership was way down. So, I decided to re-post last week's interview with Sheri Singer of Singer Communications (www.singercomm.com). It's really good and I hope more people will hear it this way.
Original music by Jim Cirillo (www.jimiumgroup.com).
Original art by CC Snetsinger.
Send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com.
Follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
And please rate, review and subscribe!
Today I’m pleased to bring you the conclusion of my interview with Sheri Singer, president of Singer Communications. In this installment, Sheri and I discuss a few silver linings for trade associations and professional societies amidst all the bad news that’s come our way in 2020, and what they mean for communicators and consultants who work for these organizations.
Thank you to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and to CC Snetsinger for our original podcast art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
I’ll be back next week to discuss big numbers and how they affect our assessment and perception of risk, in an episode entitled Why We Play the Lottery.
Until then, have a safe and healthy Thanksgiving holiday.
During our broader interview on association communications, Sheri Singer, president of Singer Communications (www.singercomm.com), shared her thoughts on how non-verbal cues have changed in the age of Covid. I decided to break it out as a bonus holiday season minisode for your listening pleasure.
Check back next Wednesday for the conclusion of our interview.
We're joined today by Sheri Singer, president of Singer Communications. Sheri and I go way back and we've spent many years providing communications services to trade associations and professional society of all shapes and sizes. Our conversation went on so long that I decided to break it up into three parts. Today we talk (mostly) about the challenges that covid poses to associations and societies. Please enjoy!
You can find Sheri on her website at singercomm.com.
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and CC Snetsinger for our original art.
And follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt and send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com.
Please enjoy this encore presentation of my interview with Keturah. She's lived an incredible, inspired life and shares the role that communication has played in her journey.
It's never too late to subscribe to, rate and review this podcast. Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
And tune in next week for an all-new episode featuring Part 1 of my interview with Sheri Singer, a long-time friend and colleague and president of Singer Communications.
When we really think about it, it's amazing how much information we take in -- and how strongly we judge and assess the world around us -- based on non-verbal cues. In this episode, I share a short story about my girlfriend's two younger sons which I think illustrates the point.
Thank you to Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for the original music.
Thank you to CC Snetsinger, one of the sons I talk about today, for the original podcast art -- which I don't think I've ever mentioned is an abstract impression of the cover of my book, What to Say When Things Get Tough.
Send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt,
Finally, since the story I share involves bullying, if you or anyone you know is either bullying others or being bullied, please visit www.stopbullying.gov for some advice on to handle it.
We continue our discussion about nonverbal messaging, and specifically how the "mucous membrane syndrome" can trip us up in difficult situations. The first episode proved to be so popular that we'll return to this topic a third time in the our next episode.
During the episode, I refer to the third edition of David Eckman, Emotional in the Human Face, published by the Oxford University Press in 2007.
Thank you to Jim Cirillo of jimiumgroup.com for our original music and CC Snetsinger for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
And if you like this podcast please subscribe, rate and review!
In difficult situations, the non-verbal cues you send can overwhelm your verbal messages. Research shows that we subconsciously judge dozens of non-verbal cues to decide whether we find someone to be trustworthy and credible. Today we'll talk about three: eyes, hands and dress.
Thanks as always to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and CC Snetsinger for our original art.
Please subscribe, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com, and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
Now that we've made our way through the entire CODE for trust and credibility, this episode on how people judge the trustworthiness and credibility of men and women differently should be even more interesting than the first time around. Enjoy!
We wrap up our in-depth look at the CODE for trust and credibility by exploring the role the dedication and expertise play in helping people determine whether you're a trustworthy and credible source of information.
And please look for a Best Of replay of the episode entitled The Credibility Gender Gap, which I think will be even more interesting now that we've completed our journey through the CODE.
Please subscribe to, rate, review and share this podcast, send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com, and follow us on Twitter @wtswtgt.
Please enjoy this encore presentation of my interview with my good friend and colleague Sherrie Rosenblatt from back in July. We talk about the communications challenges she's faced during her long career helping food-related organizations navigate difficult communication situations.
If you haven't already, please subscribe to, rate and review this podcast.
You can send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
And I'll be back next week with an all-new episode on the "D" in the CODE for trust and credibility: dedication and commitment.
The need to be open and honest may be obvious, but it can still trip you up in a difficult situation. In this episode, we discuss how to bolster this portion of your overall CODE score. Plus, I answer a question from a listener that I get all the time from family and friends: Is President Trump a trustworthy and credible person?
As always, thank you to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for our original music and CC Snetsinger for our original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter @wtswtgt, and subscribe, rate, and review!
One of the great things about podcasting is that you get to join a worldwide community of fellow podcasters. I met Aaditya Mehta through the Facebook group called Podcast Guest Connection. Aaditya lives in Mumbai, India, where he hosts a podcast called Personality Development.
Last week, I appeared on Aaditya’s show. He was kind enough to give me permission to record our conversation and make it available – unedited – to my listeners.
I hope you enjoy it.
When it comes to judging whether a source of information is trustworthy and credible, caring and empathy are the most important criteria in the CODE. In this episode, we take a closer look at what caring and empathy means and how we can show audiences that we're caring and empathetic in difficult situations.
You can order a copy of Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most on Amazon by following this link: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=difficult+conversations+how+to+discuss+what+matters+most&crid=3RTPB6ZHULBQ8&sprefix=difficult+%2Caps%2C164&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-apa-p_4_10.
Thanks as always to Jim Cirillo for the original music and CC Snetsinger for the original art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wstwtgt.
Several weeks ago I was lucky enough to join Greg Bornstein as a guest on his podcast, Open Looks: Conversations That Bend. It features topics that range from the human mind to the supernatural. I highly recommend it. And I hope you enjoy my first outing as a podcast guest.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton elevated trade issues on the 2016 campaign trail. They’ve remained high on the nation’s collective agenda ever since. Most people outside the agricultural sector probably don’t know it, but we export more agricultural products than any other country on Earth. (The Netherlands ranks second.)
We’re joined today by a long-time friend and client, Melissa Kessler. Melissa is the Director of Strategic Relations at the U.S Grains Council. We sat down to discuss what this unprecedented focus on trade over the last three-plus years means in terms of communications challenges and opportunities.
Thanks as always to Jim Cirillo at www.jimiumgroup.com for the original music and CC Snetsinger for the original podcast art.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com.
And follow us on Twitter @wtswtgt.
Welcome to our 10th episode! This week, Dr. Alan Snyder, a physical therapist in New York City, talks about how he handles difficult communication challenges with his patients. I even manage to solicit a little free medical advice from Dr. Snyder that I think will be helpful to anyone who needs a doctor.
If you need a physical therapist and you live in the NYC area, you can find Dr. Snyder on his website at http://www.breakawayphysicaltherapy.com.
Thank you as always to Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com for the original music and CC Snetsinger for the original art.
Please email questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at #wtswtgt.
Next week, we begin to breakdown the CODE for trust and credibility, letter by letter.
Some of the most difficult conversations take place between medical professionals and their patients. In this first part of a two-part episode, patient advocate and long-time surgical nurse Antra Kathleen Boyd talks about how we can better manage those conversations and achieve the best possible outcome for everyone involved. And next week, physician Alan Snyder will join us to give us a health care provider's perspective.
To learn more about Antra and her work at Connected Care Patient Advocates, visit her website at www.connectedcarepatientadvocates.com.
Thanks as always to Jim Cirillo at www.jimiumgroup.com for the original music, and to CC Snetsinger for the original podcast art.
Send questions and comments to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us at #wtswtgt!
Please enjoy this interview with David Ropeik, author, consultant and expert in the field of risk communication.
Original music by Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com.
Original art by CC Snetsinger.
Please send questions to wtswtgt@gmail.com and follow us at #wtswtgt.
People hold many biases when it comes to judging trust and credibility. Research shows that one of the most powerful is gender. Perceptions of the roles that men and women play in society have been instilled in us by thousands of years of cultural traditions and beliefs, and effective communicators need to take these perceptions into account.
Candy Tymson's book is Gender Games: Doing Business with the Opposite Sex, published by Tymson Communications, 1998.
Original music by Jim Cirillo at jimiumgroup.com.
Original art by CC Snetsinger.
Email us at wtstwtgt@gmail.com.
Follow us at #wtswtgt.
Keturah Rosato, a mental health practitioner, women’s empowerment mindset coach, faith-based motivational speaker, and host of The Social Recharge podcast, joins us to share what she learned about communicating effectively during two difficult personal journeys – her ongoing effort to repair her relationship with her once-estranged father, and her experience as a black, but not African American, woman living in the United States.
After discussing the theory of trust and credibility in Episode 4, we move on to the practice of trust and credibility: How do we build and maintain these two crucial communication qualities in difficult situations?
The CODE for trust and credibility was developed by Dr. Vincent Covello, director of the Center for Risk Communication at Columbia University. The Center can be found at centerforriskcommunication.com.
Find Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most at amazon.com.
Jim Cirillo created the original music for WTSWTGT. Find him at jimiumgroup.com.
CC Snetsinger created the original art.
To be effective in difficult situations, communicators must establish and maintain trust and credibility. In this episode, we'll discuss why this is true.
Today my guest is a long-time friend and colleague, Sherrie Rosenblatt. Sherrie is the vice president for marketing and communications at the Can Manufacturers Institute. We discuss lessons that Sherrie has learned from her many years helping food-related organizations navigate difficult communications situations, as well as some of the specific challenges and opportunities related to Covid-19. And Sherrie provides a clinic in message discipline as she artfully describes the many benefits of canned foods and beverages.
Risk communications expert David Ropeik joins us to discuss the "perception gap" and how it influences our assessment of risk, how that assessment can lead us to act in ways not necessarily in our best interests, and communicating effectively in the age of COVID-19. David is the author of How risky is it, really? Why our fears don't always match the facts. It's available on amazon.com.
This episode discusses the role that fear plays when communicating in difficult situations, and how risk perceptions and assessments influence what makes us afraid.
This introductory episode explains what you'll learn from this new podcast on how to communicate in difficult situations, both professional and personal.