Izolda Trakhtenberg, Storyteller

Playwright, Author, Director, Podcaster

about

Writer, speaker, singer, educator

Category: communication modes

  • “Hello! Can Anybody Hear Me?” and other voice issues

    I talked before about finding your voice in the written word and will explore that further in the future. Today, I want to speak about audio. Audio is ubiquitous with more and more people starting podcasts, posting live videos, and presenting live in meetings and during the course of their lives. As we develop our…

  • 3 Tips for Shy People Who Want To Shine in Groups

    When last we met, we talked about eye contact and I said I would address what shy or reserved people can do to facilitate interactions with others. In groups, people who are more reserved sometimes have issues. And if you have anxiety about groups, it can be even more challenging. Here are my top three…

  • You’d Better Look Me In The Eye When You Say That? Not Always.

    Welcome to today’s Physical Talks. Why do we sometimes look off into space during our conversations? Hint: It’s to improve those communication moments. See more below. Some people say that someone who won’t look you in the eye must be lying. That’s not necessarily true. There are a lot of other possibilities. Ever been caught…

  • Sending and Receiving – How We Move Through The World

    Are you a sender or a receiver? How can you tell? Do you find yourself getting “feelings” or hunches about situations and people? If you do, you might be a natural receiver? If you get those vibes, those belly clenching moments, listen to them. They are trying to give you information. Armed with that knowledge,…

  • On Touchstones – We need them in storytelling and in life

    Everything in my life has been coming back to relevance. As I develop this new phase of my life, I am trimming away anything that doesn’t serve me. I have modified my patterns of behavior, thought modes, and emotional triggers. My motto is: If it doesn’t serve me, it goes. That perspective makes things easier,…

  • The Mother of Communication? – lessons on writing, talking, and connection

    Yesterday, at Balticon, I had the honor of sitting on a panel that discussed how to adapt fiction to stage or screen. One of the questions the moderator asked was to define the nuts and bolts of doing that sort of adaptation. One of the other panel members said that you needed to only the…

  • My Faux Pas transformed into a Faux Pie: Say what you mean with the appropriate flavor

    I can no longer leave voicemails without adding in the Voice-to-Text commands that make words into sentences. I just left a voicemail that went like this: “Hi [period]. This is Izolda [period]. I had a couple of questions for you [period]. Can you give me a call when you get a chance [comma], please ?…