10 Ways to Make a “Boring” Workshop Topic Exciting
Have you ever wondered how to create engagement for a “dry” or “boring” topic? Recently, at the end of a 90-minute workshop I conducted on “Email Etiquette,” for a staff development day for an online public school (on-site meeting), the principal walked up to me with a big smile on his face, “I wondered how you could make […]
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 […]
A Winning Speech Structure: 1-3-1
“Life’s . . . a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” These are the despairing words uttered by Shakespeare’s Macbeth, after hearing of Lady Macbeth’s death. I’ve often thought they could apply to some speeches I’ve heard. Sitting in the audience, I’ve despaired over the loss of my time, […]
7 Tips on Using Speech Notes Effectively
One of the biggest fears that people have about public speaking is the fear of forgetting what they are going to say. Using notes can reduce that fear greatly, but at the same time create a barrier to audience engagement. Here are 7 tips on using speech notes more effectively so that you can engage and […]
Content vs. Delivery: Which is More Important?
Some people say, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it,” regarding the relative importance of content vs. delivery in a presentation. Is delivery more important than content? My most recent experience as a presenter at a conference at the University of Copenhagen on Virtual Communication (the conference title was “You Lost Me […]
7 Days, 42+ Speeches: Differentiate or Die
Differentiate or Die. With all the speakers out there, you need to be different to stand out and be remembered. Ideally, you would have a unique presentation on a unique topic. That’s the number one thing I learned last week when I listened to 42+ speeches in 7 days. Live. And, I analyzed and wrote […]
How to Write a Speech in 5 Minutes
You show up at an event and the organizer asks you to “say a few words” later in the program. That happened to me last month–in front of a few hundred people. You arrive at your Toastmaster meeting and a speaker didn’t show up, so the Toastmaster asks if you would like to take the […]
Never Forget Another Speech: Speech Memorization Techniques
I think the biggest reason that people fear public speaking is that they are afraid of opening their mouths and “blanking out” or sounding stupid. Some people even try to memorize their speeches. Right off, you should know that I’m not a big fan of speeches that are memorized word-for-word. I’ve tried it and found […]
The Eyes Have It: How to Improve Eye Contact When Giving a Speech
Eye contact is the number one way to increase your engagement with an audience. A few additional benefits include: Increased credibility (people who don’t make eye contact seem nervous and possibly dishonest) Reduction in crutch words (um, uh, er). I’ve noticed that people are more likely to use crutch words when they look up or […]
4 Easy Ways to Power Up Your Power Point
I have to admit it–I’m not a big fan of PowerPoint presentations. Not as they are usually done, anyway! A bunch of text or data thrown on a screen isn’t very engaging. Worse yet is when people read their slides. However, there are a few things you can do for your very next presentation that […]