Talk from Your Belly Button: Project Your Voice
“Your carefully chosen phrases will be meaningless,” I told my presentation client, “if no one hears you.” My soft-spoken client was preparing for an important presentation and we were doing a rehearsal in the large meeting room where it would be held. I sat near the front. I sat near the back. I tried to […]
Smile! Don’t be a Stiff Presenter!
Which person’s presentation would you rather attend? This person’s presentation? Or, this person’s presentation? In the top picture, I am displaying my neutral face. I am neither happy nor sad. But don’t I look a little sad, maybe even angry? I also look every one of my 51 years. Gravity is starting to give me […]
Speak with Confidence: Perfect Practice
“How many times a day should I practice my presentation?” my client asked me, after she and I had just spent nearly 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon rehearsing her presentation in a large meeting space at one of the big corporate campuses in the Twin Cities. Her presentation was the following Thursday. The CEO […]
Nuts to Notes?
Have you ever given a prepared speech without notes? I remember the first time I did–it was for a Toastmasters speech contest. I was nervous that I’d blank out, or that I wouldn’t say exactly what I had so carefully crafted on paper. It was only a 5-7 minute speech, and I didn’t win the contest, […]
Speak with Confidence: You’re An Expert
Have you ever felt like a fraud? An impostor? Many years ago, when I was a new engineer, I felt that way. I was assigned to work on a special project, part of a much larger effort. The other engineers all knew more than I did. So did the guys in the shop. Even the […]
Public Speaking 101: Top Online Resources
Masters in Communication has laid a feast of the top online public speaking tips before you! Click here for the top 101 online resources in public speaking! This blog is #28!
It’s Not All About You: Focus on the Audience
Kaylee’s fear of public speaking was so great that she would get migraine headaches just contemplating giving a prepared speech. Kaylee, a student in my homeschool speech class last year, managed to stumble through the impromptu speaking portion of class, and was able to offer oral evaluations of other students’ speeches. But, because her fear […]
10 Ways to Be a More Confident Speaker
“We met with someone before you . . . it didn’t go well,” said my prospective client, the president of a small digital marketing firm that was looking to hire me to do some presentation skills workshops for their employees. Our meeting had gone quite well. We had dates on the calendar for the workshops. […]
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 […]