Popular Blog Posts

The Ultimate Fidget Toy Matrix–Which is best for you?

Not sure which fidget toys are best for you and your group? See how each fidget toy measures up, based on these 10 criteria: [NOTE: due to the COVID-19, we’ve added an 11th criteria (ease of sterilizing] 11 Criteria to evaluate popular fidget toys WHO will use it? Kids? Adults? Personal use? &... Read More

ADHD Fidget Toys Finding the Right Fidget for any Sensory Diet

Fidgeting has gone mainstream over the past year with the rapid rise of Fidget Spinners and Cubes. However ADHD Fidget Toys have been and always will be a mainstay for folks with neurological challenges — Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), ADHD and others. With... Read More

Tackling Stress Management at Work

Life before stress looks like unadulterated happiness — laughter, dancing, and ear-to-ear smiles. Life after stress looks like the parents in the image above, who are watching the kids at play. To the extent that happiness and productivity are linked, we need to do more about having Stress Man... Read More

3 Tips to Ease Back-to-Work Transitions

Last week, my colleague George told me a story he’d heard recently. The set-up sounds like a joke, but I swear it’s true. A company president and marketing VP walk into an elevator at their high-rise office building. Neither had been to the office in over 15 months. The elevator doors cl... Read More

Popular Board Games used for Content Training

Making “Big Talk” Safe

Big Talk. I loved the expression as soon as I heard it. Enough with “small talk,” let’s shoot for more meaningful conversations. I had been developing probing conversation starters for over 20 years, when I came upon Kalina Silverman’s TED Talk. I was also excited to learn she’s a fell... Read More

It’s Impossible – cooperation activity

A colleague was looking for an interactive experience and cooperation activity for a large group. Having taught negotiation and conflict resolution, I was drawn to this suggestion posted on LinkedIN by Andrew Rea. The exercise presents itself as a team challenge, so participants go into it ready t... Read More

Playing music in training . . . legally

Many trainers love to play music during training events — to create a welcoming environment, relieve stress, energize participants and more. The big question always seems to be “What’s the best music to use?” However, the more important question, which is not being asked, is ... Read More

7 Tips for Formulating Great Questions

As a designer of conversation starter tools, which I’m proud to say have been wonderfully received, I have some strong feelings about what makes a good icebreaker question and what simply fails to inspire sharing. If you’re hoping to weed through the millions of discussion-starter questi... Read More

Learning from Mistakes – Bloopers, Oops, & Outtakes

I was cruising around some training and coaching websites and noticed Diana Frances’ link to UGLY PHOTOS. I really did “LOL” as I browsed her portraits laden with half-closed eyes and silly expressions—shots that normally get trashed, not posted. While most of us completely avoid showing our... Read More