Communicate Powerfully

Every conversation you have either builds connection or creates distance, even when you don’t mean it to.

This month’s blog explores the real difference between intent and impact, and why the way we communicate matters more than we think.

A powerful reminder that small moments can have lasting consequences and opportunities.

Every Conversation Is an Opportunity Or a Cost As we head back into work, here’s a question worth sitting with: What are you choosing, right now, today - in how you communicate?

January is that strange space between holidays and “back to it”.
Before we rush into doing more, this month’s blog invites a different starting point: how do you want to be?

A summer reflection on Be. Do. Have. Check it out here:

January in Aotearoa is a funny in-between. The world is shouting “New year, new goals!” But our minds and bodies are still in summer mode: sand, salt water, slower mornings, long lunches, and the occasional bevvy on the deck.

This month’s newsletter is a big ol’ love letter to… listening.

We live in a world where EVERYONE has something to say.
Meetings, group chats, family BBQs, opinions flying everywhere.

And as the old saying goes… opinions are like a-holes 🤪 everyone’s got one.

What the World Needs Now is Love, Sweet Love Scroll your feed, sit through a meeting, or wander into a family BBQ and you’ll find no shortage of opinions.

Love this from Brène Brown - Above and Below the Line. We use this simple (but not easy) concept in our work around communication. The power is in recognising where you're hanging out, because your communication will follow. Being Below the line is not bad, its human...just not very useful if you're wanting people to care and feel supported and motivated. Above the line communication is much more useful. Through awareness and practice you can choose where your words come from.

How do you move from Below the line to Above when you've noticed that's where you are? At work, or at home?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPmJw0pFc4E/?igsh=cGk4cnhqem8wb3N4

When you lead, are you a hero, a victim, or a villain? Brené Brown on how to not let fear control your leadership style.

"Carly, we need you to come work with our People. Our women are too emotional. Our men are not emotional enough."

😲 True story.

And it was a fascinating conversation that followed that show-stopper of a statement.

❓️So, what have you ever been told about emotions?
😳 They're weak and unprofessional?
🤐 They have no place in the workplace?
😬 Get a concrete pill and harden up?

Me too.

🌟 Here's the kick in the pants - Emotions are Information. That's it. What you do with those emotions, the behaviour that follows...well, that's going to be useful, or un-useful depending on what you're wanting to achieve.

🧠 I get asked this all the time - What does Emotional Intelligence have to do with Communicating Powerfully? Everything.

Love this by Dr Susan David.

The gift and power of emotional courage Psychologist Susan David shares how the way we deal with our emotions shapes everything that matters: our actions, careers, relationships, health and happiness. In this deeply moving, humorous and potentially life-changing talk, she challenges a culture that prizes positivity over emotional truth an...

What happens for you when you get put on the spot to introduce yourself?

Think the big cheese in the room doesn’t struggle too?
Errrrahhh (buzzer noise!) — nope. Most of us have that split second of “Oh my god, what do I say that sounds good?”

Five leaders from the kiwifruit industry came in to work on exactly that. Brilliant, experienced, respected — but the moment they had to speak about themselves? That first intro, total overthink mode.

One said, “I put a lot of pressure on myself to get it right, fast.”
Another confessed, “I look confident on the outside, but inside I’m way over thinking it.”

Their fear wasn’t lack of skill — it was looking less capable than they are, or worse, stuffing up in front of people they respect.

In a 4-hour Communicate Powerfully workshop, we ditched the pressure and went for structure + self-belief. Once they saw how to align their strengths with what their audience actually needed, it just… clicked.

One grinned and said, “I just needed a framework to lean on.”
From there, nervous intros turned into lively, funny, real conversations.

By the end, they weren’t “performing confidence” — they owned it.
“I love that I have a structure to fall back on but it still feels like me.”

If that sounds familiar, imagine what might shift for you when “getting it right” turns into “getting real.” Because that’s where conversations start to matter — even in those very first moments of an introduction.