1 Stage Media

12/03/2024

https://www.1stagemedia.com/store/p/jsajan25

I am super excited to announce that we will be hosting the Junior Speakers of America public speaking workshop!
At this point, we are keeping max attendance at 35 students for the event, so sign up asap because class is filling up quickly!

11/18/2024

11/15/2024

Your words have weight. Use them to inspire, uplift, and encourage.

Words are powerful. They have the ability to move mountains, spark change, and make a lasting impact on those who hear or read them. Whether you’re a writer, a speaker, a coach, or simply someone who cares about the stories you share, it’s important to remember the weight your words carry. They have the power to lift someone up on their darkest days, to offer a new perspective, or to give hope when it’s needed most.

It’s easy to underestimate the influence of a kind word or an encouraging message, but those small moments of connection can make all the difference. A thoughtful story or a few inspiring lines can stay with someone long after they’ve read them, helping them feel seen, understood, or motivated to take a step forward.

So, choose your words with intention. Use them to build up, to inspire growth, and to spread positivity. In a world that can sometimes feel overwhelming, your voice can be a source of light, a reminder that hope, compassion, and courage are always within reach. Don’t underestimate the power of your words—they have the potential to create change, one conversation at a time.

10/26/2024

The publishing industry can be intimidating, but there’s room for everyone’s story.

Stepping into the world of publishing can feel daunting. It’s easy to look at the bestsellers, the established authors, and the big publishing houses and wonder if there’s a place for your story in all of it. The submission process, the competition, and the industry standards can seem overwhelming. But here’s the truth: there’s room for everyone’s story.

Publishing isn’t about fitting into a mold or matching a formula. It’s about bringing new voices and fresh perspectives into the world. Readers are constantly looking for stories that resonate with them—stories that reflect their experiences, challenge their thinking, or transport them to new worlds. Your story might be exactly what someone needs, offering comfort, understanding, or inspiration at just the right moment.

Whether you’re looking to go the traditional route, try indie publishing, or even self-publish, there’s a path for you. The industry is evolving, making space for diverse voices, unique tales, and new ways of storytelling. Don’t let the fear of the unknown hold you back. Trust in your voice and your story, and take that leap. Because the world is big enough for all our stories—and yours deserves to be heard.

10/22/2024

Often times musicians/performers/public speakers focus so much on the art itself that they forget that their own personal style is as much a part of connecting to an audience as everything else. If you’ve spent all of this time working on the gift that’s inside of you, make sure to present it with some nice shiny wrapping paper.

10/14/2024

As a writer, your words can open hearts. As a speaker, your voice can change minds. As a coach, your guidance can transform lives.

It’s easy to forget just how powerful our words and actions can be. But as a writer, speaker, and coach, you’re in a unique position to make a lasting impact on the world around you. Your words have the potential to reach across barriers, touch emotions, and make people feel seen and understood in ways they never have before.

As a writer, you have the incredible ability to paint with words, to bring characters and ideas to life, and to create worlds where readers can lose themselves. You can challenge beliefs, spark empathy, and make readers see themselves in a new light. Your stories can heal, inspire, and open hearts in ways that linger long after the last page is turned.

As a speaker, you have the gift of voice—the ability to speak directly into someone’s life, to share a message that can shift perspectives, inspire action, or simply remind people that they’re not alone in their struggles. A well-timed story or a powerful message delivered with passion can change the way people see the world—and even themselves.

And as a coach, your guidance can be the catalyst that helps someone unlock their potential. It’s about helping them see what’s possible, challenging them to step outside of their comfort zone, and being there to cheer them on every step of the way. You have the privilege of watching people transform, not because you gave them the answers, but because you helped them find their own.

This work isn’t always easy. It requires vulnerability, courage, and a deep belief in the power of what you’re sharing. But the impact you can have is immeasurable. It’s in the stories people carry with them, the moments they’ll never forget, and the lives that change because of a single conversation, a single page, a single insight.

Remember that your work matters. The words you write, the messages you share, the guidance you provide—it all has the power to create a ripple effect that can change lives, one person at a time. 🌟

07/26/2024

“The most precious things in speech are the... pauses.”�– Sir Ralph Richardson

I remember a video where Wynton Marsalis was giving a music lesson and illustrating the importance of this. Whether you are a professional speaker, or if you are just talking to your friend, this advice is golden. When you tell someone something that is important to you, give it time to sit with them before you go on with your next sentence. Phrasing is an art in itself. The listener needs time to have the message fall deeper within them for a moment. That moment allows them to relate to it on a more personal level. If you just keep quickly moving on to the next sentence which you think supports your point, they are only getting the surface of each sentence and they all start to blur together. Try to consolidate your passionate thoughts into dense arrows of communiation. Think of each sentence and phrase as its own cake. You want to leave it in the oven long enough to bake. If you rush it through it and take it our too early, your batter will not solidify and you’ll have a floppy cake…or a floppy message so to speak. Sure if you leave it in too long, it can burn, but play with the timing and watch how much more tasty your message can be.
A good steak is cooked a perfect medium rare, but a great message should be more medium/medium well.

07/16/2024

Our newest release just hit #1 Bestseller in SEVEN categories! Get it while it's free today only!

Life in the Deep South has always had its unique rhythms, marked by the sweltering heat, close-knit communities, and the timeless traditions passed down through generations. For Raymond Griffin, growing up in this environment meant navigating a world of opportunities and pitfalls, where every dec...

07/09/2024

“Love isn't a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.”
― Fred Rogers, The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember

I am finding that so many of the public speakers I meet have the some complex that Ive seen in the music world. They are often apologizing before and/or after they go on stage. This apology is basically a sign of inner struggle and self criticism pouring out of them. Artists often feel that they are never good enough and that somehow eventually maybe one day that they will be good enough to do what they do. This attitude is detrimental to not only the personal experience of the performer, but to the work itself. It puts the artist on one side as the never good enough student and the art on another as the never satisfied teacher. This is not a healthy connection to one’s craft. Instead, art (whether it be music, speaking, or anything else) can be utilized and nourished as a mutually beneficial, loving, and rewarding discovery of oneself. When you truly love something, you love all of it. You accept it for its faults and it accepts you for yours. This is why I tell my students/collegues that if you truly love performing, you shouldn’t speak negatively about it because it’ll find out and you’ll have hurt your relationship with it. Sometimes we all get frustrated and maybe need a pause to gather ourself so we don’t say something we don’t really mean, but we can choose to take that pause and then come back with a healthy and loving attitude. Much like people, when you treat your art the way you truly not only want to be treated, but need to be, you’ll feel it return the love you show it in more beautiful ways than you could have ever imagined. Love yourself, love the journey, and you’ll improve not your relationship with art, but also with life itself.

06/27/2024

More than 20 years ago while taking a piano lesson with Peter Cho, I remember an important conversation that stuck with me. We were discussing practicing versus performing. If I remember correctly, he described our music self as the hard drive. We are the system that runs everything we put it in it. All the music that we listen to and all the practicing that we do can be considered the software. He went on to say that there is a time period that needs to go by for all the software to download and be available for us to use. As musicians we listen to a specific player over and over and over and then try to immediately go and play what we heard. The problem is that when you force something that you heard naturally coming out of another musician, it isn’t the same. It will feel and sound obviously forced and out of place. You have to install the software, allow it time to download, and then a couple of weeks later when you have moved on to new software, the phrase you worked on two or so weeks ago will “randomly” come out. It’ll happen on its own and flow of itself in just the right time in just the right place …effortlessly and naturally. As I would listen to the same John Coltrane album every single day, I began to feel less pressure about how exactly I would incorporate these lines into my playing. I began to have faith that they would be there when the time was right….and they always would.

This exact same wisdom was also shared with me by one of the top freestyle footbaggers in history..Anssi Sundberg. He had instructed me to do very specific and mindful 4 trick Footbag drills. He told me that the more you drill these specific combos on both sides, the freer you will be. He also described the 2-3 week period that It takes for any of those drills to begin to naturally show themself in one’s game. He was right as well. The body needed time to download the information and effortlessly run the combos on its own. When those combos happened in the middle of my run, it was as though I wasn’t even doing them…they were happening on their own.

So how does this connect to public speaking? One way to connect this specific wisdom to public speaking is to remember that much like music is a language, public speaking can be thought of as story telling. The more stories you hear, the better you become at knowing how to tell a story. Take one speaker…it could be David Attenborough, or it could be Barack Obama or whomever you choose. My advice is to listen to someone who moves you…not just in what they say, but HOW they say it. Devote 20 min a day to listening to this speaker alone for the entire week (two weeks even better). Then pick a new speaker the second two weeks. By month two you will most likely understand, from a very personal level, the benefits of this approach. You will feel your phrasing, your choice of words, and the natural arc of your conversations change. There are many more discoveries to be found in doing this…but since there is a playful fun in self discovery, those are for you to find on your own. Have faith because they’ll show up for you if you show up for them!

06/26/2024

Louis Prima once said that his instrument was the audeince. He talked about playing them.
Once main similarity between public speaking and musical performance is ENTERTAINMENT! If you have fun and they have fun, people will want more…and so will you. Don’t get lost in each individual point, sentence, or phrase. Thinking about creating an arc of a solo or a speech. It’s very much like taking a group of people on a ride. You want them to arrive in time, unharmed, and with a smile. So many speakers get up and regurgitate a speech without even considering the listener. So many musicians practice their preset phrases and then just go and vomit them all over the stage. Practice in the practice room, but when the time comes to make music… give yourself bullet points and focus not only on the message, but also on how the audience receives your message. They are as much a part of the moment as you are. Remember…it takes a listener for there to be music. 🎶

06/25/2024

So many parallels between being a great public speaker and a great soloist. Wynton Marsalis once spoke about the pause…the space in between phrases. It’s important to make a statement, then pause. It’s in the pause that the statement has a place to sit and make an impact on the listener. No matter how much value your statements have, if the listener isn’t allowed a space to let each one settle, then it all gets lost in mix.
Try this in your own personal conversation and watch what a difference it can make. Instead of rapid firing all your thoughts on a subject, make a clear definite statement and then pause. It’s in the pause where you get to see how that statement sits with the listener. It’s in that pause where a true conversation is built.

01/25/2024

Our newest release just hit #1 bestseller in FOUR categories! Congratulations to Mitch Grace!

Growing Up With Asperger's provides advice, stories, and anecdotes for autistic readers both young and old, and parents of autistic children. Funny and down-to-earth with an honest look at life from an autistic perspective.

01/09/2024

We are so excited to announce the 2024 Writing Planner! It's been ranked #1 bestseller in 4 categories for two days so far and is still climbing! Thank you to everyone for all of the support!

2024 Writing Planner: Plan Your Writing Year and Get Things Done!

09/19/2023

How long will you wait to prioritize your book? How long have you been waiting?

You keep saying that you can do it on your own – once you have the time. You already have the time, you just don't know it yet.

I can get you there with just 30 minutes of writing a day.

If you're serious about getting your book finished, join our group accountability course. It starts tomorrow, so you're just in time! For more information, go to:

https://www.1stagemedia.com/coaching

09/12/2023

Sometimes it makes sense to indulge in some non-sense!

09/08/2023

Who are your favorite authors and speakers ? WHY?!