Author: angelalussier

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 … Continue reading Podcast Episode 192 Are You Using the Language of Leadership? With Joel Schwartzberg

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 often times when we set out to … Continue reading Podcast Episode 191 You Don’t Have To Go It Alone with Molly Keehn Ed.D.

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 … Continue reading Podcast Episode 190 Are You Standing In Your Way? With Lisa Fabrega

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 … Continue reading Podcast Episode 189 Live Coaching: Dealing with Crippling Fear of Speaking, Maid of Honor Speech Jitters

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 … Continue reading Ep 188 How Sheetal Sheth Is Claiming Her Stage

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 … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 187 A Surprising Benefit I Discovered from Speaking Up

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 … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 186 Recreating Your Life & Summer Vacation

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 … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 185 Live Coaching: Using Your Voice in Business, Giving a Solid Keynote

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 … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 184 Live Coaching: Dealing with Anxiety When Speaking, Selling When Live on Social Media

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 … Continue reading Podcast Ep.183 Special Episode: Celebrating Five Years of Podcasting!

  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 … Continue reading Podcast Ep.182 Experience Growth Without Suffering with Sophie McLean

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 … Continue reading Podcast Ep.180 How to Start Before You’re Ready

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 … Continue reading Podcast Ep.179 Using Your Voice for Email Marketing with Jena Bagley

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 … Continue reading Podcast Ep.178 How to Actively Avoid Your Destiny

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 … Continue reading Podcast Ep.177 Lies about Permission, Pretending, and Pausing

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 … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 176 Manage the Anxiety of Speaking Up in Relationships with Paula Leech

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 … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 175 Simple Daily Habits for Wellness with Pam Victor

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 … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 174 Create a System to be Brave with Laura Khalil

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 … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 173 Live for Yourself with Naketa Ren Thigpen

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 … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 172 Sell Like a Boss with Nikki Rausch

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 … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 171 Letting Go of Your Inner Good Girl with Sarah Schneider

"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 … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 170 You Don’t Owe Anyone with Caroline Garnet McGraw

On today's show, Angela interviews her longtime mentor, Martha Johnson, to discuss aging. Angela is turning 40 today! Martha is a former consultant, business owner and coach who, at 81, enjoys a simpler life while staying engaged with what matters. On today's show, Angela asks: 1. If you could go back and give your 40 … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 169 Speaking of Aging: Angela Turns 40

  Hi Friends, Angela here. I have a new course coming out March 8th and this episode is dedicated to the topic I'm covering: How to present online like a pro! Joli and I discuss the topic along with some of our other favorites, like what's bringing us joy and what we're kicking to the … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 168 Online Presenting Reboot

Hi friends, Angela here. On today's episode, Joli and I explore a popular subject: Perfectionism. We address it from our two areas of expertise: relationships and speaking. How does perfectionism get in the way of having stronger, more fulfilling relationships? When going after your dream of stepping into the spotlight, how does perfectionism creep in … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 167 Speaking of Perfectionism

Race, sexuality, gender, disability....these are subjects that may make you nervous. How do you talk about them? What if you say the wrong thing? What if you offend someone? You may find yourself saying nothing at all in an effort to save yourself from the embarrassment of doing it incorrectly. On today's episode, our guest … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 166 Humanizing the Race Conversation with Bianca Laureano, PhD

Today's guest is Cindy Lee Alves (they/she), an award-winning sexologist and founder and head educator of Ascension Institute, a place to learn about pleasure, sexual shame, and sexological professional development. We discuss how to bring pleasure into your work, conversations and presentations, relationships, and life. Cindy Lee walks her talk and it shows in today's … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 165 Finding Pleasure Everywhere with Cindy Lee Alves

From Angela: If you haven't listened to last week's episode yet, that's a great place to start. On today's show, Joli and I continue exploring the topic of pleasure and Joli's Pleasure Experiment. We each tried a few of the experiments and talked about what we learned. If you're looking for simple and interesting new … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 164 The Pleasure Episode, Part 2

From Angela: When Joli and I first met to brainstorm topics for upcoming episodes, the subject of pleasure was at the top of her list. Being a sex educator, this topic comes up a lot for her. But the approach she wanted to take for our show was not one from the standpoint of sex, … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 163 The Pleasure Episode, Part 1

From Angela: When you're going through something difficult, do you ever think about how that situation is changing you for the better? What about the lessons and learnings that come from things being hard? On today's episode, I interview Elizabeth Lesser, author of Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow, a book I … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 162 Breaking Open and Speaking Up with Elizabeth Lesser

Hot topic alert!! For our first regular episode as a duo, Joli and I decided to tackle a subject that has made us both scratch our head for years. We start off the episode sharing our experiences with what femininity has meant to us, how it shows up for us today, and the role it … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 161 What does femininity have to do with it? With Serina Payan Hazelwood

Welcome to our first episode of 2021 and my first episode with a co-host! I'm excited to introduce Dr. Joli Hamilton to the show. You've heard her on past episodes like episode 150: How to Speak Up in Romantic Relationships, a bonus episode from February of 2020 called How to Gain Confidence to Speak Up, … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 160 Introducing My New Co-Host and Our Vision

  Greetings from the Glitter Closet! Today's episode is sort of a continuation of the branding series because I talk about the branding process I've been going through the last few months and what it means for Speaker Sisterhood.   I share: My "why" New offerings for 2021 Endings that I've had this year What … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 159 Beginnings and Endings

Today’s episode is a chance to go inside the writer’s process and also learn more about the experience of publishing a book about a personal experience. As many speakers are looking to share their personal stories and may want to publish them as well, I hope today’s episode inspires you to start writing. My guest … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 158 A Life Suspended with Nicole Hendrick Donovan

What is a voice brand? That's a good question! In part 4 of The Branding Series, I interview David Wolf, the creator of the "voice brand." He shares what it is, why it's important, what the different vehicles are for creating yours, and how to to know what approach to voice branding is best for … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 157 Developing Your “Voice Brand” with David Wolf, Part 4 of The Branding Series

Welcome to part 3 of The Branding Series! Speaker Assets...what are they? They're things like your website, your highlight reel, your social media profiles, etc. Basically they are the things event planners look at when trying to determine your credibility and brand. If you want to create some for yourself or improve the ones you … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 156 How to Create High Quality Speaker Assets with Suz Chadwick Part 3 of The Branding Series

Have you ever thought about creating your own podcast? Or maybe you would like to be a guest on someone else’s podcast. If you’d like to build your brand through the explosive power of podcasting, look no further. Today’s guest is Case Lane. Case is a global writer, podcaster, entrepreneur, traveler, and the founder of … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 155 Build Your Brand Through Podcasting with Case Lane, Part 2 of The Branding Series

Today’s episode kicks off our four-part branding series. Branding became a hot topic around 10 years ago when the concept of creating a “personal brand” became more important. My goal in creating the series is to get you thinking about how you are showing up in the world, what you are known for, and how … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 154 WTF Is Branding with Maggie Bergin, Part 1 of The Branding Series

Instead of trying to crush your fear (whatever that means), why not use it to build confidence? On today's episode, you'll learn how to do this using The Billie Shepard Presentation Method. Twenty years ago Billie founded Billie Shepard & Associates, leveraging her acting experience and unique training methods into the business arena; transforming corporate … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 153 The Four Steps to Transform Fear of Public Speaking Into Confidence with Billie Shepard

Today's episode was supposed to be focused on how to ask for what you're worth as a speaker, but we ended up talking about much more! Our conversation covers speaking, money, and what my guest has learned about both. Caleb Guilliams founded the company BetterWealth, authored the best-selling book "The AND Asset", hosts the Better … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 152 Asking for What You’re Worth: The Money Episode with Caleb Guilliams

Ever sat down at your computer to write a speech and then found yourself still sitting there an hour later with nothing written? You, my friend, are in need of a speech framework! My guest today is Mridu Parikh and she goes over the simple steps to create a speech that is simple to put … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 151 Simplify Speech Prep with a Speech Framework with Mridu Parikh

She's back by popular demand! Dr Joli Hamilton is back on the podcast today to discuss how to speak up for what you want in your romantic relationship. Do you find you keep having the same argument over and over again? Are you feeling stagnant or stuck in your relationship? Maybe you know you want … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 150 How to Speak Up in Romantic Relationships with Dr Joli Hamilton

We're all navigating a world that is requiring us to communicate through screens more than ever before. That means public speakers who were once used to a stage are now having to present themselves through a camera. If you made money as a public speaker or used public speaking to sell your business, you've likely … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 149 Pivoting from In-Person Speaking Events to an Online Presence with Juju Hook

A very popular subject among public speakers is how to become an author.  But how do you turn your speaking topic into a book? Today's episode features my conversation with Honorée Corder, an executive and strategic book and publishing coach, TEDx speaker, and the author of more than 50 books including You Must Write a … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 148 How to Go from Speaker to Author with Honorée Corder

Our first installment of Four Minutes of Truth last month was such a success that it's continuing (as I hoped!). On today's episode, you'll hear from four women on the following topics: finding the right words, living with cancer, a relationship with an unexpected friend, and what living your truth actually feels like.     … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 147 Four Minutes of Truth, Part 2

Today's show is a fun, interactive episode that gives you a chance to play along with your voice and body! My guest is Kelly Vogel.   Kelly is the founder of Sound Passage, a practice that helps people embody the power of their own voice through gentle sound and movement. Most episodes don't come with … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 146 Ease Internal Chaos and Stress Using Your Voice and Body with Kelly Vogel

The hot topic right now is online presentations and how to do them so you feel good and your audience pays attention. The areas of interest range from feeling comfortable in front of the camera to how to use the tech and engage the audience throughout your meeting. Fear not! I have answers for you … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 145 Q&A Episode: Online Presentation Edition

Today's show is taking a rare turn into the world of mental health and trauma and how it influences our ability to use our voice. My guest is Dr. Omar Reda, a board-certified psychiatrist, Harvard-trained trauma expert, and Founder of Project Untangled, a model of care for trauma survivors. He has extensive experience and expertise … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 144 How Childhood Trauma Can Steal Your Voice as an Adult with Dr Omar Reda

I'm excited to bring you a new series I'm calling "Four Minutes of Truth." It features women who are sharing something that is true for them in a four minute recording. Today's episode features five women I asked to participate to kick off the series, but my hope is that future episodes will include submissions … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 143 Four Minutes of Truth Series, Episode 1

If you missed the last episode, listen to that first! Today's show shares responses from you, the listeners, and observations of apologizing from other women in the world. I also shared an insight I learned from the apologizing challenge. If you have ideas for upcoming episode topics or would like to suggest a guest, email … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 142 The Results: Being More Unreasonable and Apologizing Less

Today's episode is another one from the road. Pushing my son's carriage leads to many ideas and thoughts that need to be captured immediately! I smooshed two important topics together in hopes to inspire some thought around our behavior. The topics? Being unreasonable and apologizing. I put these two topics together because I think they … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 141 Being More Unreasonable and Apologizing Less

Here is the sequel to my most popular episode ever, Episode 108: Four Ways to Look and Feel Powerful, Confident and Relaxed While Speaking. On today's show, I share an update on what happened after recording "The Answers Episode" and offer the following four tips: 1. Perfect is boring. Don't aim for perfect, aim for … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 140 Four More Ways to Look and Feel Powerful, Confident and Relaxed While Speaking

The most frequently asked question I've heard in the last three months is something along the lines of, "How do I give an online presentation that doesn't suck?" First off, it's hard! Second, it requires a little more thought than just showing up and talking. Don't worry, help is on the way. Below is the … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 139 Seven Reasons You Suck at Online Presentations

I'm 5% ready for this episode to be out in the world, but waiting to release it won't solve anything. On today's episode, I share the "answers" to the questions I posed in the last episode. I get into invisible privilege, how learning about my addictions made me aware of my own complacency in other … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 138 The Answers Episode

Hiiii!! It's me again. It's been two months and I'm excited to get back to the show with a big episode of questions. These questions are designed to help you do some self-discovery during this time of change. They are also there to help you see things about yourself you may not want to look … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 137 Who Are You Today? The Questions Episode

Do you speak about a topic that most people would rather avoid than have to deal with? Topics that make your target audience uncomfortable can be hard to market because they may not want to face that discomfort. On today’s episode, I interview Rachel Richards, a former financial advisor who has made a name for … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 135 How to Make an Emotionally-Charged Topic Approachable and Fun with Rachel Richards

Welcome to a special bonus episode! Today we're talking all about gaining confidence to speak up. My guest is Dr Joli Hamilton (you heard her on our last episode, #134) and we're sharing our experiences with speaking up, advice on how to do it, and what to do when speaking up goes wrong. This is … Continue reading Podcast Bonus Episode: How to Gain Confidence to Speak Up with Dr Joli Hamilton

I'm baaaaack! I mean, the show has been running, but I haven't really felt like I'm "back" until now. 2019 brought all kinds of challenges and every time I thought I got up, I was kicked down again. On today's episode, I invite my friend Dr. Joli Hamilton to join me to talk about a … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 134 An Announcement and an Offering (and How We Got There)

Selling. It's one of those necessary elements of making your business grow, but how do you do it in a way that feels satisfying and not slimy, especially when on stage? On today's episode, I interview Nikki Rausch, a sales coach, author, speaker and founder of Sales Maven. After 25 years of experience selling to … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 133 The Misunderstood Process of Selling with Nikki Rausch

If you're someone with a big message to share, you may find yourself wondering if your message is too much -- too controversial, too "out there" or too bold for your audience. What if you upset someone? What if you're misunderstood? If you're going against the norm or presenting a topic that will get a … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 132 How to Stand Behind a Bold Message with Rachel Braun Scherl

Jennifer Brown is an LGBTQ bestselling author and CEO of a multimillion dollar inclusion and diversity consultancy who has spoken at places like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the NBA and Google. She also just released her second book How to Be an Inclusive Leader: Your Role in Creating Cultures of Belonging Where Everyone … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 131 Build a Multimillion Dollar Consultancy Through Speaking with Jennifer Brown

Putting your ideas and advice into the world can be a scary move. How do you protect yourself and your content so you don't have to worry about your work being stolen or used by others? On today's show, I interview Jamie Lieberman, an attorney, podcaster and entrepreneur dedicated to making legal accessible and sharing … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 130 Protecting Your Content with Jamie Lieberman

Today’s episode is the final installment of our four-part series that showcases Speaker Sisterhood members and their speeches that will appear in our new book coming out November 29th, “Secrets of the Sisterhood.” This is a compilation-style book that features 45 speeches about love, truth, and power. This episode features speeches and interviews with Kathryn … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 129 Secrets of the Sisterhood Part 4 with Kathryn Pettrucelli and Carolyn Johnson

Today’s episode is part three of a four-part series that showcases Speaker Sisterhood members and their speeches that will appear in our new book coming out November 29th, “Secrets of the Sisterhood.” This is a compilation-style book that features 45 speeches about love, truth, and power. This episode features Shauna Gullbrand, club leader of our … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 128 Secrets of the Sisterhood Part 3 with Shauna Gullbrand and Kim Meninger

Today’s episode is part two of a four-part series that showcases Speaker Sisterhood members and their speeches that will appear in our new book coming out November 29th, “Secrets of the Sisterhood.” This is a compilation-style book that features 45 speeches about love, truth, and power. On today’s episode, I interview Sandra Costello and Stacy … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 127 Secrets of the Sisterhood Part 2 with Sandra Costello and Stacy Every

Wow! It's so good to be back. Today's episode is part one of a four-part series that will showcase Speaker Sisterhood members and the speeches that will appear in our new book coming out November 29th, "Secrets of the Sisterhood." This is a compilation-style book that features 45 speeches about love, truth, and power. On … Continue reading Podcast Ep. 126 Secrets of the Sisterhood Part 1 with Lauren Simonds