When you’re confident and capable in your everyday communications, life is just easier.  Relationships are healthier, work is more productive and satisfying, involvement in church, volunteer work, and other community activities is more fun and less drama.  Communication Skills for Everyday Life is a series of monthly learning sessions to help you develop and hone the skills you need to be an authentic, effective communicator in all the different conversations of your life.  Each month we’ll use real world scenarios submitted by participants as a framework to unpack a common communication goal. 

know-how: you’ll learn user-friendly communication tools and strategies that work in every conversation

live demo: we’ll use role plays and other exercises to show how all the tools and strategies come together and work in real world conversations, exploring not just what to say but also how to respond

coaching: I’ll help you identity and move through the stumbling blocks that are keeping you from being the communicator you want to be

practice: you’ll have the opportunity to try out what you’re learning, moving from theory to practical application (you’ll never be required to practice, you decide if and how much you want to participate)

self-reflection: I’ll provide short prompts before and after each session to help you become more mindful and focused on self-discovery and growth

support: through our facebook discussion group and Volley space you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions, brainstorm ideas, walk through insights, and practice scripting

This series is a perfect match for you if want to become a better communicator in situations that are challenging for you.  That challenge may come from a limiting or self-sabotaging mindset, a difficult situation or person you’re engaging with, a long-standing pattern of thinking, speaking, and reacting, or simply the lack of the right tools and techniques to communicate clearly, honestly, and respectfully. 

Its unique format means its valuable to you whether you’re just starting to build your communication toolbox or you’re a skilled communicator who wants to explore the nuances of successful conversations around common challenges. 

It’s perfect for you if want to have clearer, more honest, less stressful conversations with your partner, spouse, children, friends, family, employer, employees, co-workers, clients, fellow church-goers, volunteers, board members, softball team members…you get the idea.  This series will help you be the kind of communicator you want to be in all aspects of your life. 

In this series, we’ll tackle the most common communication goals people have around one-to-one conversations.  As we unpack each goal, we’ll look at the mental and emotional barriers that keep you stuck in ineffective communication patterns, strategies for moving forward into a space that supports clear, authentic communication, and tried and true tools and techniques that act as a blueprint for successful conversations.

Once the series is over, you’ll have lifetime access to the recordings and notes.

• Creating Healthy Boundaries That Protect Your Time, Energy, and Mental Health
• Asking for What You Want and Need Without Feeling Greedy or Guilty
• Expressing Yourself So Others Hear and Understand You
• Staying Sane When Engaging with Difficult Personalities
• Breaking Free from the Chronic Stress of Unhad Conversations
• Delivering a Difficult Message with Clarity and Compassion
• Responding to a Difficult Message: Managing Your Emotions When You Feel Attacked, Angry, or Ashamed
• Holding Space for Others: Allowing the Feelings and Experiences of Others Even When You Don’t Understand or Agree
• Disagreeing Without Falling Victim to Your Fight, Flight, or Freeze Response
• Managing Difficult Relationships Over Time

Growing into an effective communicator isn’t just about changing what you say and the way you say it.  It’s also about changing how you think, feel, and react in conversations.  Each month you’ll have the opportunity for reflection around a communication goal and the insights you gain will change, often in surprising ways…

the voice inside your head, moving from negative, fearful, defeating messages to positive, kind, empowering ones. 

how you feel about yourself, your worth, your right to be happy, successful, joyful, peaceful, to simply be enough. 

how you see yourself in relationship with others, how you deserve to be treated, not because of what you do but because of your inherent value as a person.

your voice, standing strong in your beliefs, your ideas, your space and letting go of guilt, shame, and the need to be less than you really are to keep others comfortable.

loving the whole you, celebrating who you are now while working to grow into the person you want to become, and more and more aligning your inner self with your outer words and actions.

Facebook Discussion Group
You’ll have access to a private discussion group. Here you can connect with other students to ask questions, brainstorm scripting, and get support as you put to work the many things you’re learning. Bring whatever communication questions and challenges you’re facing; this is where you’ll find the support and solutions you need.

Short answer – communication is my thing.  I believe that communication is our outward expression of our inner landscape, of ourselves in relationship, of our beliefs about the world. Communication is connection.  Because I was lacking in communication skills as a young adult, I’ve spent the years since on a personal journey of discovery and growth around the myriad of elements that contribute to “effective communication” and it’s transformed the way I think, feel, and react.  As I gained knowledge, insight, and practical experience, I became a communications trainer focusing on interpersonal relationships and a certified mediator and conflict coach focusing on high conflict people and situations.  My commitment is to not just tell clients what they need to do, it’s to give them the skills they need to actually do it.  I’m proud to say that over the years, I’ve earned a reputation for providing a unique blend of common-sense strategies, intuitive guidance, and user-friendly tools to those I work with. 

Communication is my thing and I continue to learn and grow as I teach.  I’d love to have you as part of this next learning experience. 

I hired Lora to help me with a situation that I honestly thought was hopeless. My mom boss and I were fighting over just about everything and I had one foot out the door but it is such a great job and I love the kids to death so I decided to try one more thing. Lora helped me figure out what the real problem was and coached me on how to say what I really needed to say. She also helped me be prepared for different reactions and how to handle them. I was scared to death but I had the conversation and it turned out better than I could have imagined. Without Lora’s help, I’d be looking for a new job right now and would have lost the relationship with the family I’ve been with for years. ~ Connie, nanny in Boston, MA

Lora was recommended to me by a friend who had used her as a mediator in his divorce. The communication between my co-parent and I was getting worse every week so we decided to see her together and get some tips for talking to each other civilly. We focused on our shared goals and a plan of action for moving forward. She gave us scripts to use and helped us set appropriate boundaries with each other that have really made a difference. We’re not friends but we can co-parent together and that’s what our kids needed. Mark, parent in Seattle, WA

This is a self-paced course you can start whenever it’s convenient for you and take as long as you want to complete it. You have lifetime access to all the recorded sessions and the discussion group.