Free ebook for Summer Reading: 12 Ways to Be a Confident Speaker
Learn some public speaking skills this summer! This week your free ebook is 12 Ways to Be a Confident Speaker. Get your free Kindle version (US link, Canadian link, UK link) It’s free on Kindle through Saturday, June 21, 2014. You will learn how to: –Speak with Passion –Focus on the Audience –Know Your Material –Use Notes Sparingly –Speak Conversationally […]
Free ebook for Summer Reading: Public Speaking Lessons from TED Talks
Learn some public speaking skills this summer! This week and next, I am giving you free ebooks on public speaking (next week is “12 Ways to Be a Confident Speaker”). Get your free Kindle version (US link, Canadian link, UK link) of the short e-book, Public Speaking Lessons from TED Talks: The Good and the Bad from the 10 Most-Viewed […]
The Pause that Refreshes
Don’tyouhateitwhenspeakersneverpause? Pausing is to speaking as punctuation is to writing. Both enhance comprehension. Pausing is perhaps even more important because a live audience can’t go back and re-listen the same way a reader can go back and re-read. Pausing increases comprehension in several ways. Pausing: Reduces the overall rate of speaking Gives the audience time […]
My Purse Stand Up Comedy
Can you find humor in your everyday possessions? Last week I shared my Stand-Up comedy routine about my iPhone. This week, it’s my purse. This stand up routine was performed in January at Humor Mill Toastmasters‘ Annual Stand Up Comedy Night. Below are the video (4:58) and a rough transcript. I wrote it out and then […]
iPhone Stand-Up Comedy
It’s summer, so let’s have some fun this week and next with Stand Up Comedy (If I can do it, so can you!). This week and next, I will share my stand up comedy routines that I did at the last two Annual Humor Mill Toastmasters Stand Up Comedy Nights (11/2011 and 01/2013). Below is the video […]
Humor Lessons from Stand Up Comedy
Do you want to add some punch to your presentations? Do you want to leave your audience laughing?Or at least keep them awake? Add some humor! People are more receptive when they are laughing. I know what some of you are thinking. “But I’m not funny! I can’t even tell a joke!” Forget about trying to […]
Opening and Closing your Speech with Jokes
Wouldn’t you love to get your audience laughing at the start of your speech or leave them laughing at the end? Jokes can do the job, but use them with caution! If you are using someone else’s material, you need to give credit. The joke needs to be relevant to your presentation (I hate it […]
How to Develop Your Own Humorous Material
Have you ever tried to think of something funny to say and drawn a blank? Have you ever wanted to incorporate humor into a presentation, but didn’t know how? There is a simple tool: Self-deprecating humor. Put yourself down to bring the laughter up! In addition to being funny, self-deprecating humor makes you seem: more […]