About

It’s hard to define myself because I’ve wandered a little bit lately in my career path. At my core, I’m a writer, but to broaden that further to define what I do, I have a passion for and commitment to interpersonal communications. I worked for 20 years in corporate public relations, evenly divided between the banking and high tech (software) industries. During that time, I held positions that included internal communication (editing and publishing internal newsletters and videos), community relations (coordination with nonprofit organizations and sponsorships), media relations (spokesperson, executive preparation to talk with media, press relations), marketing communication (keeping customers informed), and managing teams to do all of the above.

Most recently, I’ve turned into an educator and trainer. Near the end of my career in high tech public relations, I started teaching public relations courses as an adjunct professor at Brigham Young University. Timing worked out such that I left one employer and stepped into a full-time, temporary position as a professor in the Communications Department at BYU. I taught Introduction to PR, Public Relations Writing & Production, Media Management, and Introduction to News Writing. I still teach the two PR courses as an adjunct, carrying one course per semester.

I spend most of my time now marketing and training two fabulous programs: Crucial Conversations and Crucial Confrontations. Both teach vital skills that help individuals and organizations get measurably better results by holding the right conversations in the right way and holding people accountable. For more information on these programs, check us out on the Web at www.peoplesmarts.net. We’ve trained thousands of people at organizations across the United States, and I never get tired of seeing the lights come on as people understand how these skills can make a difference in their lives. I also love to hear their personal experiences of how their lives changed for good by using the skills.

This blog is designed as a way to keep in touch with former students, friends and colleagues as we scatter around the country — and in some cases around the globe. I welcome your comments and contributions in hope that we can continue to improve interpersonal communication for all of us.