Use a Phone Tripod Mount for Better Video
For a speaking engagement in Houston that I’m speaking at today, the meeting planner asked for a short promo video, which I shot with my iPhone and sent to her. She was thrilled with it, but I was less so. I had just held the phone up and did a “selfie” video. Apparently I can’t […]
The App I Use in Almost Every Presentation
The app I use in almost every presentation is . . . a clock app. All it does is tell the time in really BIG digits. That’s all I want it to do. When you are presenting as a keynote speaker, or doing a breakout session or a workshop, the ending time of the presentation is what […]
Sample Professional Speaker Marketing Letter to Associations
Have you ever thought about sending out a mailing to associations to market your speaking? Yesterday, I sent a mailing out, marketing my speaking business to about 65 professional associations/association management companies in the state. I decided to go bold and included the “Easy Button” graphic in the cover letter (my mailing included a cover […]
Release Your Story with Right-Placed Details
How many triangles are there in the illustration below? Don’t read further until you answer that question. Two? Eight? More? Note that I didn’t ask, “How many triangles do you see in the illustration?” How many are there actually? The correct answer is “zero.” There are only V shapes and 3 Pac-Men type figures. At […]
How to Make a Boring Topic More Interesting
“You can talk about ‘Succession Planning’” said the person in charge of the conference. My first thought was Ugh! That sounds boring! Fortunately, the allotted time for the topic was only 5-7 minutes early in the morning and the audience was a couple hundred positive Toastmaster club officers. I challenged myself to deliver useful content, […]
The Best Self-Evaluation Tool in Speaking
You probably already have the best self-evaluation tool in speaking . . . your cell phone (or tablet), assuming you can use it to take videos.Last week, I held a presentation skills workshop for a small group, in which each of the six participants gave a 5-7 minute speech, which I video-recorded on my iPad. Immediately […]
Presentation Skills from a Tour Guide in Mexico
I just returned from a vacation to Cancun, Mexico, where I enjoyed fun, food and . . . learning presentation skills from unlikely sources: timeshare sellers, tour promoters, street vendors, restaurant servers and a tour guide! It was the tour guide at the Mayan ruins, Chichen Itza (the picture above, using an app called Waterlogue) […]
Have You Updated Your Head Shot?
Have you updated your professional head shot? If your head shot is more than two to three years old, I urge you to gift yourself some new business pictures! This is doubly true if you are the image of your business, such as is the case for professional speakers. Above I have the 4 main […]
Gift Books for Presenters
With the holidays fast approaching, you may want to gift yourself a book on public speaking skills. I’ve read many books on public speaking, but only a few more than once. Consider adding to your library (physical or ebook) one of the 5 books on public speaking that I own and have read more than […]
Create Content Experts in 20 Minutes
Workshops are designed to give people practical takeaways, but all too often, there is just too much content to cover. Of course, the easiest solution is to reduce the content, but sometimes the content to be covered is prescribed, such as training employees on new methods and procedures or, covering all the officer duties for […]