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 […]
Pinch Hitting in Speaking
I was about to enter the meeting, when Jennifer walked up to me and said, “I can’t believe this, but I have to go home. My cat had a seizure and my boyfriend can’t handle it. I was supposed to give this educational presentation tonight.” Jennifer showed me her typed speech notes and extensive handouts […]
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) […]
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 […]
The Call-Back: A Comedy Technique for Speeches
Would you like a simple speech technique that will create a closer connection with your audience, help them remember your material, and possibly get a laugh? Try using the “call-back.” The call-back is a stand-up comedy term that means to refer to an earlier joke that got a laugh. For example, at a recent Humor […]
Golden Opportunities for Speech Material
I was minding my own business, reviewing my speech notes at a high top table on the ground floor of the RiverCentre Convention Center last week. In a few minutes, I would be heading upstairs to the ballroom to deliver the closing keynote for an association conference. A scruffy-looking man reeking of alcohol approached me. […]
Tailoring a Keynote: Making the Material Connect
People in your audiences want to feel special, to feel that you understand them and their needs. You can create a presentation that connects with a particular audience by tailoring your existing content to connect with them. Would you like to “look behind the curtain” and see my process? It may give you some ideas […]
The Secret Memory Booster in Public Speaking
Would you like to know one technique that can help you better: learn your presentation? remember your presentation? facilitate your audience’s learning and recall of your material? Yes? The powerful technique is to use body movement and gestures. Perhaps you may recall learning gestures to a song as a child, or helping children learn something […]