I cannot remember a time before my utter fascination with all things communication began. Before I made it through the grade school doors, I found myself on stage with a microphone, the consequence of having musicians who performed regularly as parents. I loved being on stage and enjoyed singing, but it was the ability to connect with an audience and communicate a message that I fell in love with.
It was the spoken word for me.
As early as I remember, I would repeat a sentence with as many inflections as possible to see how the meaning might change. What about tone? Could I drop my voice? What about the rest of your body, what in the world to do with that?! I entered my first poetry performance contest in the 2nd grade. By 5th grade, I was giving my first talk and knew what I wanted to do forever. I had no idea what career or field that would mean, but I was captivated.
During my teen years, I developed other interests. I became a gifted athlete, a voracious reader of nonfiction (especially the daily paper), a curious questioner, and deeply thoughtful and reflective about the world around me. My focus turned to high school theatre, speech, and debate, where three important things happened. I learned to stand in front of an audience and go blank, say the opposite of what I meant to say, or ramble aimlessly in lostness and work my way out of it, participating in extemporaneous speaking. I learned how to work on one talk for months with edits upon edits, listening to feedback, and determining what feedback was helpful through original oratory. The discipline of an athlete in training translated well for me as I tried, failed, and tried again. Lastly, I learned how much more valuable the experience was when I shared what I learned with those just beginning their journey.
My undergraduate years were full of coaching high school speech and debate between classes for my communication theory degree with a minor in political science. I founded a rural program while directing one-act plays and cutting scripts during graduate school. I studied preaching in my graduate program. The joy of communicating an idea, whether directly in a speech or a talk or creatively on stage, never stopped forming me.
Today, I am a TEDx speaker, award-winning author, speaker coach, and producer. As the co-founder of Kardia House Consulting, I lead efforts to reframe conversations through the lens of Generous Communication, offering services in writing and publishing, speaking, and communication consulting to support clients as catalysts for change. I continue to coach and mentor speakers individually and as an event producer, including the Belief & Belonging Festival, an annual one-day event in Waco, TX, with a global livestream audience showcasing speakers from around the country, as well as a SPEAK event producer.
My goal, whether the speaker, coach, or producer, is to communicate in a way that is thought-provoking, compassionate and brings us all to a place of examining our interconnectedness as humanity.
