The Words We Use

In this episode, the TWWU team interviews a Master Gardener appropriately named Fern. She grew up in a family of gardeners. Her maternal grandfather was President of a garden club and her grandmother and mother were both avid gardeners active in garden clubs. She learned to grow, can and freeze vegetables and fruits from an early age. All her married life, she's had a garden, raising food for her family. When she lived in Ohio, she became a Master Gardener. Fern has been active in garden clubs everywhere she's lived and is currently the President of Sunflowers, a Richfield garden club and also serves on the Richfield Garden Club Council.

Have you ever wondered what a doula is? Have you ever heard of a doula? Birth doulas have been around for a while but death doulas? Actually, the preferred term is End Of Life doula and that will be our focus in this episode. Today, end of life doulas are bringing greater meaning to what happens at the end of our lives. Donna, a trained end of life doula, will explain how she uses the sounds and music of the harp in her doula position. She has a Masters of Theology, with an emphasis in Spiritual Direction. She is working on her certification as an End of Life Doula from INELDA which is the International End of Life Doula Association. Donna is a newly certified “Holistic Clinical Harpist”. Donna has many interests and talents. During this podcast we will focus on her end of life doula training, and experiences, as well as using her harp as an end of life doula.

In this episode, we interview Santa. He explained, in terms we could understand, how things work up nort dere, and on that magical night. We finally got the chance of a lifetime to actually talk to Santa and ask him all the questions we wished we could have asked back when we were little kids. Then, toward the end, we talk to Santa's alter ego Dave, who explains what it's like to portray the jolly old elf, Santa.

Brian Kaller is a Missouri-born journalist who has lived in Ireland for many years, researching traditional ways of life. He has written for the American Conservative, First Things, Mother Earth News and Irish newspapers, as well as on his web site oldschoolschool.org.

Between what we see or hear and our emotions about what we experienced there are stories. Stories create feelings and judgements. We can not change the loop we have created until we change the stories we tell ourselves. When you absolutely can't avoid having a serious discussion and the stakes are high, how can you recognize the dangers and avoid disaster? In this episode, we review some advice offered by the book Crucial Conversations in chapter 6 "Master My Stories."

In this episode, we discuss what is meant by being tolerant. For example, to be tolerant of others, do we have to give up what we value, what we think is right, our opinions, because it conflicts with others? Of course we don't have the answers but we have suggestions. Join us as we challenge each other on what it means to be tolerant.

You are a public speaker. How is your voice working for you? Is it helping, or is it hurting? Jim Emery, known as the Vocal Jim, will answer your questions about how to deliver your words with impact. You don't like the sound of your voice? Jim will show how to make it sound its best. You don't know how low pitched your voice should be? Jim's easy exercise will provide the optimal answer. You're not sure how to deliver your one big point so people will be talking about it afterwards? Jim will share vocal delivery techniques that will bring it home. Be ready to have your audiences hanging on every word with your new vocal delivery on steroids!

Renee is a lover of storytelling, cherishes friendships, and is passionate about having fun. These three characteristics flourish when she is working in the brewery her and her husband own. Lupine Brewing Company started as her husband's dream, and has grown into a playground for great friends who tell fantastic stories that will make you laugh for days on end. Not only does Renee have the great privilege of running a business with her husband, she is a life coach, a mother of two fabulous young men, and works full time in the offices of a national builder. Her secret to success? Treat people with respect, like they matter even if their opinions differ from your own.

Sarah is a high school teacher in the Minneapolis area in Minnesota. In this episode, she talks to the TWWU team about the challenges she faces teaching high school kids in general but also, the new challenges of teaching kids online. Yet, during the discussion, Sarah was surprisingly upbeat about the rewarding aspects of teaching. High school sure ain't what it used to be. Then again, I remember having a math teacher who inspired me the same way. Have a listen and imagine what it was like back then.

Hal Huggins discusses how the language of Reparations has changed throughout United States history and why it is important today. He as combined his passion for equality and bicycling to create the non-profit Ride4Reparations.

Mark Skipper is the owner of Speak Better Than Your CEO, a public speaking and coaching firm. For nearly half his life Mark was too petrified to stand and speak in front of people. He overcame that fear and is now helping others to conquer their fear of of public speaking. Mark believes that you can become a confident speaker, even a better speaker than your CEO.

Alice Chu returned home from Tanzania due to the Covid 19 pandemic where she served as a member of the Peace Corps. She shares her experiences teaching science in Tanzania, evacuating back to the United States and adjusting to social distancing.

Sue Ann Rawlins is a self-proclaimed Friendship Maven (expert). She has the unique hobby of making friends online and then traveling to meet them in person. Sue Ann will share her insights on building and maintaining friendships.

Charlie Kundinger is the author of the children's book, "Wyatt's Big Day", that deals with transformation. He discusses the power of transformation in our lives when we develop new skills and relationships.

For the past 17 years Deryl Glaze has been coaching people struggling with addictions. He discusses how words shape the reality of addiction and recovery. Deryl inspires recovering addicts and the families that love them, to live empowered lives free from addiction

Gary McKinsey is a Marketing, Business and Speech coach. He inspires individuals to have the courage to live their life according to their life vision. He explains how to step into the role of expert, increase your visibility, influence and income through public speaking. Gary is the owner of Entrepreneurial Business Consulting and servers on the National Federation of Independent Business

In this day and age of social media, the art of casual conversation may be suffering. Kids are spending more and more time playing video games and prefer to text rather than talk, even when sitting at the same table. Adults, too. Take a listen to this podcast to get an idea of how much fun and how educational it can be if we adults just take time to talk with, not to, kids.

Effective communication is a skill that involves more than words. In this episode we are going to explore how body language affects how our messages are received and perceived. We'll discuss the handshake, posture & stance, eye contact, smiling, how we talk with our hands, mirroring, and tight lips. Even though we'll be touching just the tip of the body language iceberg., hopefully we can pique your interest in this fascinating subject.

In this episode, we going to try to give you some insight on how it feels to be the person receiving complaints. I'm sure most people have been in that situation. If we keep the Golden Rule in mind, even when we feel we have a legitimate complaint, we'd have more success and a better experience. In short, having all been on the receiving end, it would be nice if everyone would just be nice.

In this podcast, we will scratch the surface on replacing negative phrasing with positive phrasing by stating what something is rather than what it isn't.

A leader is the one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way. They do this in the words they use. Organizations that clearly define and support their values are proven to outperform organizations that don't. According to the Foundation for a Better Life has the billboards entitled, “Pass it On” with each billboard high lighting an important value. These five values and words are integrity, confidence, commitment, giving back and communication in leaders. The words also should convey feelings of sincerity, trust, honesty, empathy, compassion, perseverance, shared sacrifice, competency.

Since 9-11 there has been an acceptance of increased surveillance to insure safety. It is now time to look at how surveillance shapes free speech. How free is our speech if everything is observed by our government?

Being able to effectively communicate with children is essential especially during difficult times such as the pandemic. Discover technique used by others use to speak about difficult issues.

The tools we give you will amplify your voice, so you discover greater vocal courage to “Roar like a lion even when you may feel like a mouse!”