Storytelling
A lot of ink and electrons have been spilled (if that's the word) on storytelling. Surprisingly little of it is ...
Closers — How to Finish a Speech
I’ve written before on how to open a speech. How do you close one? Think about whom you’re talking to: ...
In Public Speaking, Address the Audience’s Safety Issues
It's hard to get anyone's attention these days. We receive, what, a billion marketing messages a day, something like that. ...
How to Give a Bad Speech
The vast majority of presentations given throughout the business world are mediocre. The political world has a more interesting mix ...
Understanding your audience
At the heart of great public speaking is understanding your audience. If you don't know who you're talking to, you're ...
Passion in Public Speaking
Do you need anything besides passion to succeed as a speaker? Is passion enough? Unfortunately, no. If passion were enough, ...
The Speaker’s Focus Should be on the Audience; the Audience’s Focus on the Content
Consider the standard, garden-variety, dull-as-ditchwater business presentation. A business person shambles to the front of the room. People look up ...
The secret of great speechmaking
Why are some speeches and speakers great -- some few -- and so many are not? Ultimately, great speaking is ...
Why are the spouses so much more interesting than the candidates?
Michelle Obama takes to the hustings and all of us start to pay attention to the race again. Why? Because ...
What’s an elevator speech?
What's an elevator speech? Let's say you're about to speak at an important conference. You leave your hotel room, high ...
