When Did I Start To Appreciate My Authentic Queens’ “Voice”?

A few years ago, I started to think about my childhood in Queens and how living in that borough had impacted
my way of thinking and being.

The value of those lessons became apparent when I was asked to give a humorous keynote talk about the impact of digital technology on business communications. The keynote talk was to be given at a national conference for senior executives. My Type A audience was attending so they could embrace and sell all things technology.

I knew I was different than the typical conference attendee. So I needed a hook that would allow me to present business-communication challenges in a fresh, entertaining way.

While I didn’t care how much they liked their gadgets, I did want to present myself in an authentic manner that would bring the audience together no matter what their profession, industry, cultural background, or gender.

I held multiple meetings with myself asking questions like: “What the heck am I going to say to these people?” I must have held too many of these sessions because my inner voice started to respond with a full-on Queens’ irritated tone.

I started to realize that Queens had not only given me my authentic speaking voice, but it had also influenced my interpersonal style.

Somewhere in the process of coexisting with a multitude of characters and nationalities, and navigating my way around a borough that never made sense, I had actually learned something about communicating with people and developing authentic relationships.

I fashioned those insights into The Learned-It-In-Queens Communications Playbook, a book that teaches Winning
Against Digital Distraction. My simple goal was to keep it real to get results.

In this book, you will find a humorous explanation of life in Queens that will teach you how to be an insider.

Then I’ll share an overview of current communication-mutant challenges and their accompanying opportunities. And finally, we
will get to my eight practical plays that can help you be a bettah communicator—Queens style.

Here’s a link to my book’s press release.