The Presence Lab Podcast
Pressure changes the way capable people communicate.
The Presence Lab Podcast explores what happens underneath that change and gives leaders practical ways to stay clear, connected, and useful when the stakes rise.
Hosted by Dale Dixon, each episode examines a specific communication problem and gives you something practical to understand, try, or practice before the important moment arrives.
Latest episode
Picturing the big meeting going well can make it go worse. The night before a high-stakes meeting, the meeting shows up early. The CFO challenges the number, a board member asks the one question we hoped to dodge, and the scene stops right there, at the worst moment. Jaw tight,…
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Picturing the big meeting going well can make it go worse. The night before a high-stakes meeting, the meeting shows up early. The CFO challenges the number, a board member asks the one question we hoped to dodge, and the scene stops right there, at the worst moment. Jaw tight,…
ListenThe go-to answer to "Is AI taking my job?" is "embrace it and you'll be fine." The people using AI the most are the ones most worried about losing their jobs. It happens at the end of a one-on-one, the morning after a headline, in a joke that isn't really a joke. Someone asks the…
ListenInterrupting someone feels rude. Sometimes not interrupting is the bigger communication mistake. Dale Dixon learned that during about fifteen years in television news, where protecting the viewer sometimes meant cutting into an answer and bringing the conversation back to the…
ListenYou know the material. You’ve done the work. You may even be the most knowledgeable person in the room. So why do you suddenly get nervous when the stakes go up? Sometimes it isn’t a preparation problem. It’s because you quietly took on a second job. The real job is to…
ListenYou notice the folded arms. The silence. The lack of questions. The person looking down at the table. You read the room. Then you make the dangerous leap: you decide what all of it means. In this episode of The Presence Lab , Dale Dixon shares a university classroom experience…
ListenHow does a bad decision survive the idea, production, internal review and final approval before somebody finally says, “We shouldn’t do this”? That’s the leadership question behind the Good Good Golf and Callaway controversy. A co-branded ad drew widespread backlash after…
ListenYou can work hard on your communication and still leave the people around you experiencing the same behavior. That’s the uncomfortable problem with self-awareness: knowing what you want to change doesn’t prove that you changed it. In this episode of The Presence Lab, Dale Dixon…
ListenYou didn't lose your point. You watched yourself soften it. One skeptical look, and "we should do this" turns into "I think maybe we could look at this." For executives, founders, and senior leaders who already know their material, that reflex quietly costs you the room. So how…
ListenThe opening of a talk isn't a scripting problem. It's a state problem. Here's what happens in the first thirty seconds, and three moves that keep your best material in reach when the pressure hits. Most speakers treat the opening of a talk as a writing problem. But you can have…
ListenCommunication under pressure
What changes physiologically and behaviorally when the stakes rise.
How leaders organize and communicate complicated thinking without burying the point.
How to stay connected to the room, audience, and question instead of disappearing into performance.
How leaders prepare for difficult, skeptical, unexpected, or emotionally loaded questions.
Why strong communication starts with what the other person needs rather than what the speaker wants to say.
How deliberate rehearsal makes useful communication skills more available when they are actually needed.
Podcast + Community
Listening can make an idea understandable. Practice makes it available when pressure rises.
The Presence Lab Podcast gives you the ideas, frameworks, and tools.
The Presence Lab Community gives you a place to practice them, ask questions, learn with other leaders, and continue the work with Dale.
Podcast
Listen to ideas, frameworks, and practical tools for communication under pressure.
Community
Put the ideas to work, ask questions, and practice with Dale and other leaders.
About Dale
Dale spent 15 years in broadcast news, beginning in radio before quickly transitioning to television. That work was followed by more than 20 years in executive leadership, coaching, training, and speaking.
Journalism taught him to ask sharp questions, simplify complicated ideas, listen for the real question, communicate when time is short, and work effectively when the plan changes.
Today, The Presence Lab Podcast is where Dale examines the communication behaviors that become most interesting when the pressure rises.
When listening is not enough
If you're preparing for a board presentation, difficult Q&A, media interview, major announcement, on-camera appearance, or another high-stakes communication moment, individual preparation may make more sense than another podcast episode.
Keep practicing
Listen to The Presence Lab Podcast when you need an idea, framework, or practical tool.
Join The Presence Lab Community when you want to put those ideas to work with Dale and other leaders.