Speaking

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  Presentation Zen

• Using Kuler to create color themes

  Garr

  1 Nov 2009 | 5:21 am

  Although scores of good books on color theory have been written — many even for non-designers — most working professionals just do not have the time to delve deeply into a study of the complexities of using color. The good news is that there are online resources that can help you create harmonious color themes without requiring advance knowledge in color theory. There are a few really good online resources such as ColorSchemer and Colourlovers, but my personal favorite is Kuler. Kuler is a web-based color tool from Adobe that has thousands of community-generated color themes from which…

• Presentación Zen: Por fin! La versión en español ya está disponible

  Garr

  28 Oct 2009 | 10:04 pm

  I'm happy to announce that the Presentation Zen book is finally available in Spanish. The book follows the same design and layout as the original English version. Spanish was the most requested translation so we're delighted that it is finally on sale. I'm not sure exactly where you can get the book in your area, but here is info on the Pearson Educación website. Above: A photo of the front and back covers.The Presentation Zen DVD on Amazon and elsewhere also includes Spanish (and Japanese and English) subtitles. Thanks to everyone at Pearson for their hard work and to…

• The art of control without controlling, doing without doing

  Garr

  26 Oct 2009 | 3:01 am

  As a leader — in business, education, or design — how much control do you need? How much can you give up? Is control even the right word? Is it possible to lead without leading? Here is a great TED talk that will get you thinking that has applications for leaders of all types. Former conductor Itay Talgam today runs workshops to help people develop a musician's sense of collaboration, and a conductor's sense of leadership. In this excellent talk at TED Oxford, Itay touches on the art of creating perfect harmony without saying a word by showing the unique styles of six great…

• Tokonoma and the art of the focal point

  Garr

  20 Oct 2009 | 7:14 am

  Every good design needs a focal point. This goes for the design of interior living spaces as well. In many Western homes, the mantel place in the living room is often a focal point from which other interior design elements are added in a more or less symmetrical fashion. In traditional Japanese homes or modern homes containing a washitsu (Japanese-style room) it is the Tokonoma (床の間) that serves as the subtle focal point for the interior. The tokonoma (lit: floor/bed + space) is a raised alcove in which Japanese art such as a hanging scroll (Kakemono) or a flower arrangement is…

• Sumi-e, color, and the art of less

  Garr

  5 Oct 2009 | 11:00 pm

  A fundamental design and life lesson from the Zen arts is to never use more when less will do. This goes for the use of color as well. The problem with most slide presentations is not that visuals contain too few colors, it's that they contain too many. A common practice is to use several different vivid hues (colors) in presentation slides when even a single hue in various shades or tints would have been more effective. The ancient art of Japanese brush painting called Sumi-e (墨絵) provides a powerful lesson concerning the use of color, communication, and restraints. Sumi-e was…

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  Create Your Communication Experience

• If They’re Not Interested – Who Cares?

  Ben Decker

  20 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am

  Who cares what you have to say?  Does your audience?  While coaching an executive last week, this issue arose.  He felt that his audience didn’t care about the material he was presenting, which in turn impacted the way he was presenting it.  It’s a vicious cycle.  As communicators, we seek to engage our listeners.  But sometimes (or even often times) we perceive apathy or disinterest from our audience.  Herein lies the challenge for all communicators.  We look for attentive eyes, nodding heads, welcoming smiles, and undistracted behaviors to clue us in on whether or not…

• Warren Buffett knows about investing – in yourself

  Kelly Decker

  18 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am

  When you see clips like these, it’s easy to understand why Warren Buffett is the man. Now, of course, I LOVE the fact that he acknowledges communications as one of the #1 ways you can increase your human capital and value to your team, company, organization, and even family and friends, for that matter. (Of course, he should have  referenced Decker instead of the other guys.. Sorry, can’t help it.) The best part though is that he’s a great model for effective communicating. He doesn’t just tell others to “do as I say, not as I do.” Here’s what he…

• Video Blog: Carrie Prejean on the Today Show

  Ben Decker

  12 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

  Here’s my first attempt at a video blog! This is hopefully one of many quick videos where I’ll give feedback for communication in the news. I also want to give you feedback! Send me a video of you giving a presentation, doing Q&A, or rehearsing a speech (less than 10 mins please) and I’ll choose one to post about each week or so. Don’t worry – I’ll be very nice, but also honest so that my feedback can help. In the video below, I’m giving some off-the-cuff 1×1 feedback for Carrie Prejean’s recent (and somewhat hostile) interview on the…

• You don’t take a wrecking ball…

  Bert Decker

  10 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am

  Here’s a great example of a metaphor from the halls of Congress, no less. A few weeks ago Kelly posted on Obama’s “Grab a mop!” Here’s an example of the other side exemplifying skills with metaphors, analogies, and other good stickiness to make a point. Congressman Jack Kingston of Georgia gets prime time coverage here (not just C-SPAN) for visually using the 2,000 page Health Care bill and his phrase, “If your kitchen sink is leaking, you fix the sink. You don’t take a wrecking ball to the entire kitchen. This bill is a wrecking ball to the entire…

• Are you in the weeds?

  Ben Decker

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:30 am

  We’ve all been there – caught up in the shrinking world of tunnel vision.  But when communicating with others, being in the weeds can lose your audience. Last week I coached two executives, neither of whom had used video feedback before.  In both of these sessions, we addressed the need to “get out of the weeds.”  Most often, when we’re in the weeds, we don’t realize it.  Having an outside perspective (such as coaching and video feedback) is important for this very reason.  When we are passionate and invested in a message, it’s our natural tendency to share as much…

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  The Ethos3 Blog

• Presentation Wisdom – We All Need a Mr. Miyagi

  Scott Schwertly

  18 Nov 2009 | 8:40 am

  Sometimes we all feel like a losers. Whether you are the new kid in school, the new girl on the job, the single person at the movie or single person at the wedding, we all feel out of place and overwhelmed from time to time. In the classic film Karate Kid, Daniel moves to a new community in California that seems to be a world away from his rough-around-the-edges, East Coast childhood. No sooner does Daniel fall for the class babe than he is confronted by a group of teen thugs who specialize in bullying – Karate-style. Daniel realizes he’ll have to beat the bullies at their own…

• A Presentation They Can’t Refuse

  Scott Schwertly

  12 Nov 2009 | 12:44 pm

  Sure a cold-blooded Mafia kingpin like The Godfather trilogy’s Michael Corleone might seem like an unlikely hero for a presentation geek, but we at Ethos3 would beg to differ. As honest-to-goodness presentation geeks we can assure you that one could do far worse than turning to the shark-like, youngest son of the Corleone clan for advice on knockin’ ‘em dead at your next presentation. Although he is better known for his persuasive powers behind-the-scenes, no one can deny the man’s overwhelming charisma. How many times does Michael get whole rooms of grown men to jump…

• Presentation Food – What to Eat on the Road

  Scott Schwertly

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:58 am

  What are three things that rock stars, over-the-road truckers, hippies and presenters have in common? Give up? Breakfast, lunch and dinner. All of these folks have a tough time finding anything that resembles such simple categories when they are out on the open road. You may love the wind in your hair and the sun on your face. You may have a thing for map reading and finding out-of-the-way treasures. You may have read Jack Kerouac’s On the Road when you were in college and never quite got over it. Whether you were born to be wild or acquired your wanderlust as a blessing or a curse,…

• Experience Presenting: 3XPERIENCE

  Scott Schwertly

  29 Oct 2009 | 11:48 am

  Long before De La Soul informed us that 3 was a magic number, savvy presenters understood the power of breaking a pitch down into three distinct, compelling, powerful points, creating an overall message that inspires and engages. However, even the most well-crafted presentation can’t knockout the room simply by relying on this fundamental organization. All too often a really well-crafted pitch suffers from a hum-drum, unimaginative delivery that simply shows-and-tells but never really connects with and moves the audience. Welcome to your 3XPERIENCE… it’s a new style we are…

• Reading Your Presentation – When, Why & How

  Scott Schwertly

  28 Oct 2009 | 9:02 am

  Month after month we fill this blog with updated content, every bit of it designed to make you the most engaging, dynamic person to ever power-up a PowerPoint presentation. From technical tips to personal pointers, we are really dedicated to helping you make your presentation a memorable, charismatic event. That’s why I’m now going to suggest that you should just stand in front of the room and  read your next presentation. Huh? Seriously? Yes! Of course, most of the time, reading one’s speech or presentation is clearly one of the worst ideas you can imagine. However, there…

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  Duarte Blog

• Visualizing the Sun Food Agenda with Michael Pollan

  Doug Neff

  12 Nov 2009 | 10:09 am

  Duarte had the distinct pleasure of working with bestselling author Michael Pollan to turn his ideas about sustainability and food systems into a visual presentation for the PopTech conference last month. Plan to eat your lunch in front of the computer today so you can enjoy his presentation: It’s rare that we’ll work with such a gifted natural storyteller. You can see Michael speak sans visuals here and here. So, to take advantage of Michael’s comfortable, engaging speaking style, we built into the presentation some key moments, opportunities for Michael to really connect…

• Book Review: The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs

  Nancy Duarte

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:51 pm

  Source: Business Week I l-o-v-e-d this book. It’s officially in my Top 5 favorite presentation books. You should definitely crack open this book every time you have a high-stakes presentation to give. Carmine Gallo has studiously observed Steve Job’s presentations and has cracked the code! The book is much deeper than just Job’s delivery style, Gallo has codified it into practical lessons and insights around content construction and corporate theater. He covers insights from Steve’s entire journey at Apple. Gallo also sprinkled in non-Apple examples that help you see how you too can…

• Duarte is more than great pumpkins… we’ve got great costumes, too!

  Paula Tesch

  6 Nov 2009 | 11:43 am

  Pumpkin carving is fun, but what’s Halloween without costumes?! In addition to the Annual Pumpkin Decorating Contest we share with the public, we also hold a costume contest that you don’t get to see. Below is a slideshare presentation of (almost) all of our employee costumes… comment and tell us which is your fave! Duarte Halloween Costumes 2009 View more presentations from duartian.

• Book Review: Six Pixels of Separation

  Nancy Duarte

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:23 am

  Mitch Joel is president of Twist Image, a agency with offices in Toronto and Montreal. I met him at TED two years ago. It’s nice to read a book by another CEO who is running an agency and taking on the role of author—I can empathize with the challenges. Mitch did a fantastic job encapsulating the entire online ecosystem. I wish this book had been published a year ago when I dove into social media, it would have been like having a mentor. No wonder Six Pixels of Separationis on Seth Godin’s reading list and received fantastic reviews and on the “popular book” list at 800-CEO-read. In…

• Stanford Keynote Open to the Public

  Paula Tesch

  2 Nov 2009 | 12:18 pm

  If you’re in the South Bay around lunchtime tomorrow, grab a bite to eat and head over to Stanford! Tomorrow at noon Nancy will deliver a keynote at Stanford’s Bishop Auditorium, the South Building of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Hope you can make it!

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  Speaking about Presenting

• How to present with Twitter and other backchannels

  Olivia Mitchell

  19 Nov 2009 | 8:20 pm

  Presenting with Twitter can be challenging. Just about every week a new story of a speaker getting roasted on Twitter makes waves in the blogosphere. I’ve written a free eBook “How to present with Twitter (and other backchannels)” to help you avoid that fate. There’s no sign up required. Just click and read. I asked my trusted and expert community to review the book and say what they thought of it: “Fantastic eBook! Outstanding information and well worth the read.” Jeff Hurt, @JeffHurt and MidCourse Corrections “Wow! I really enjoyed this book. Very…

• 7 ways to keep audience attention during your presentation

  Olivia Mitchell

  17 Nov 2009 | 2:46 pm

  Reference: Hartley J and Davies I “Note taking: A critical review” Programmed Learning and Educational technology, 1978,15, 207-224 cited by John Medina in Brain Rules Keeping audience attention is more important and more difficult than grabbing audience attention. A reader emailed me: “What can I do to keep the audience’s attention through the whole of my presentation. There are always people who don’t seem to be listening.” A one-way presentation is one of the worst possible ways of transferring information from person to person. It requires discipline and effort to simply sit…

• How to craft a memorable key message in 10 minutes

  Olivia Mitchell

  10 Nov 2009 | 2:48 pm

  A key message is the number one thing you want your audience to remember or do as a result of your presentation. Some experts call it “the big idea”, the core of your presentation or the proposition. Start planning your presentation by deciding on your key message. It will make the rest of your planning easy and straightforward. Steve Bent, one of my readers, said in a comment on a previous post: “…[T]hat’s when I had the Eureka moment of the key message for that particular presentation. Then all previous thoughts, notes and parts of the presentation were easy to classify in terms…

• Powerpoint Twitter Magic – now you can tweet from PowerPoint

  Olivia Mitchell

  2 Nov 2009 | 12:23 am

  In my post 10 tools for presenting with Twitter, I lamented that there was no easy-to-use way of posting tweets from within PowerPoint. Timo Elliott of SAPWeb2.0 has now created an add-in for PowerPoint 2004 and 2007 which does just that. It’s called AutoTweet. Thank you Timo – you’re a star! Go to Timo’s PowerPoint Twitter page to download the add-in. Open PowerPoint, and click on the Add-in ribbon. Then click on Autotweet – highlighted in this screenshot: You’ll get this Dialog box: Then type your tweet into the Notes pane of your PowerPoint slide. Type…

• The two best alternatives to Twitter as a presentation backchannel

  Olivia Mitchell

  27 Oct 2009 | 10:36 pm

  Note: This post was updated on 30 October to reflect TodaysMeet introducing Twitter integration. The advent of the backchannel is a tremendous opportunity for presenters. The backchannel is an online conversation that takes place at the same time as people are talking live. Audience participation didn’t use to scale easily beyond a small group. Now, the backchannel allows every audience member, whatever the size of the group, to be an active participant. However, if you plan to use a backchannel proactively in your presentation, it may be better to use a backchannel tool other than Twitter.

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  Dave Paradi's PowerPoint Blog

• Use hanging indents properly on your PowerPoint slides

  Dave Paradi

  20 Nov 2009 | 5:34 am

  I saw it again this week so I need to comment on the incorrect use of hanging indents on PowerPoint slides. Here’s what happens. The presenter wants to have text on the slides, but doesn’t want it to be in bullets. It might be a quote or other text that is not bulleted. So they use the bullet slide layout and simply deselect the bullet formatting and start typing away. The problem? The first line of the text is set to the left of the rest of the text, making it look strange. The audience wonders what’s wrong with the text and pays less attention to the message.The problem is caused by…

• PowerPoint Tip: More results from the Annoying PowerPoint Survey

  Dave Paradi

  17 Nov 2009 | 6:05 am

  I’ve already reported on what audiences find most annoying based on the survey completed by 548 people. The text overload epidemic continues and the number one annoyance again is the presenter reading the slides to the audience.I’ve now gone through the hundreds of comments that people wrote in – it took up nine pages of 10 point type! It is clear that the annoyances extend beyond just the overload of text. The comments did reinforce the text issue, with many expressing frustration at reports that are copied on to slides and read to the audience. But here are five more areas that…

• Top 5 PowerPoint Tips for Student Presentations in School

  Dave Paradi

  13 Nov 2009 | 3:03 am

  Recently a friend, Beverly, asked if I could please give some advice that elementary school kids could use when preparing PowerPoint presentations for class. For those of you who don’t have kids or grandkids in elementary school, teachers are now requiring many projects to be presented using PowerPoint (our kids started using PowerPoint in third grade).There are two general ways that PowerPoint seems to be used in classrooms. Sometimes it is used as a way to format a report, where the output isn’t a true presentation, but more of a way to save paper (sentence structure is graded and the…

• PowerPoint Slide Makeover - Presenting Test or Measurement Procedures

  Dave Paradi

  10 Nov 2009 | 7:42 am

  Just a quick note to let you know that a new Slide Makeover Video Podcast based on the ideas in "The Visual Slide Revolution" is available for your viewing through the iTunes Store, online or through my YouTube channel. Presenting tests or measurements usually includes talking about how often the testing is done and what tests were performed. Don't use bullet filled slides, use the ideas in this makeover to organize the information visually so it is clear for your audience.This slide was submitted by one of the participants in a workshop - someone just like you who is looking for a way to…

• PowerPoint Tip: Top Ideas from PowerPoint Live

  Dave Paradi

  3 Nov 2009 | 5:06 am

  I’m back from PowerPoint Live and today’s tip is about the top ideas I learned while at the conference. First off, the conference is changing its name. It is now known as The Presentation Summit, reflecting the evolution of the content beyond just software features to many other techniques and ideas that presentation professionals need to know about. The next conference is Oct 17-20, 2010 in San Diego.I went to an excellent session by Echo Swinford on creating templates in PowerPoint 2007. She gave a clear workflow to follow and explained how we can create a theme in PowerPoint that can…

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  Six Minutes

• Public Speaking Tips: Weekend Review [2009-11-21]

  Andrew Dlugan

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:06 pm

  On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere. This review features topics including: fear of public speaking; keeping your audience’s attention; storytelling tips; facilitating small-group discussions; PowerPoint in the classroom; and Steve Jobs is human too. In Review: Six Minutes 8 Faulty Speaker Assumptions and How to Fix Them Pinpoint your guilty thoughts and eliminate them with the help of guest author Marjorie Brody. Are Your Speech Gestures Too Small, Too Big, or Just Right? Learn to match the size of your gestures to…

• 8 Faulty Speaker Assumptions and How to Fix Them

  Marjorie Brody

  19 Nov 2009 | 9:51 pm

  Many speakers are guilty of making faulty assumptions about their presentations, and their ability to deliver them well. Sometimes even seasoned speaking professionals like me fall victim to this behavior. How about you? In this article, you will learn: 8 common faulty assumptions you might be making; the subsequent result on your presentations; and how to fix your flawed thinking. 8 Faulty Speaker Assumptions Eight common faulty assumptions that speakers make are: Deep knowledge of a topic alone will enable me to present ideas on it. My audience members are mind readers. I can present…

• Are Your Speech Gestures Too Small, Too Big, or Just Right?

  Andrew Dlugan

  16 Nov 2009 | 3:36 pm

  By now, you know that you should be complementing your speech with gestures. But do you know how big these gestures should be? In this article, you’ll learn to match the size of your gestures to your audience and venue. What is meant by gesture size? Just as your voice can be loud or soft, your gestures can be large or small. For example, consider the spectrum of hand and arm gestures. Gestures involving your fingers only are small gestures. Gestures pivoting at your wrist are a bit larger. Gestures pivoting at your elbow are larger still. Finally, gestures pivoting at your shoulder are…

• Ultimate Twitter List of Public Speaking Bloggers

  Andrew Dlugan

  11 Nov 2009 | 11:35 am

  Looking for public speaking experts on Twitter? Two years ago, Six Minutes compiled an extensive list of public speaking bloggers. Now, we’ve enhanced the list to include Twitter accounts for those bloggers. As of this writing: Twitter List — 73 bloggers listed: @6minutes/public-speaking-bloggers On Six Minutes — 117 blogs listed: Public Speaking Blogs You can follow Six Minutes on Twitter here: @6minutes Similar Articles You May Like...Public Speaking Tips: Weekend Review [2009-11-21]Public Speaking Tips: Weekend Review [2009-11-07]Public Speaking Tips: Weekend Review…

• Public Speaking Tips: Weekend Review [2009-11-07]

  Andrew Dlugan

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:15 pm

  On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere. This super-sized review features topics including: new public speaking books; writing a eulogy; eye contact vs. eye communication; speaking with notes; tools for slide color schemes; the validity of learning styles (are they a myth?); moderating a panel; and being successful as an introvert. Resources for Speakers – Public Speaking Books Check out these recently released public speaking and communications books: Presentation S.O.S.: Persuasion in 9 Easy Steps by Mark Wiskup Talk…

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  Speak Schmeak

• Don't be macho -- use a mic

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:39 pm

  Download audio here.I'll be the first to admit that I take an almost macho pride in my ability to project my voice. I was born this way. Even when I wasn't trying, I could be heard talking a mile away. And yes, I got in trouble a lot in school for being too loud.However, I've learned my lesson about voice overuse, and I'm happy to say that if a microphone is available and a group is over about 40 people, I will use it. Here's why.Even if you can be heard in the last row without shouting, you will be straining your voice to some degree if you have to give an hour-long or longer presentation to…

• Make it personal

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:25 am

  Download audio here.A Twitter user asked the other day if her followers preferred purely "on topic" tweets or if they liked some personal tweets that help you get to know the tweeter. Her replies all said the same thing: they liked a mix of business and personal tweets so they could get to know the tweeter a little. And several people mentioned that Twitter is about building relationships.Public speaking is the same way (in fact, I might argue that you're public speaking every time you post a tweet!). If you stand up in front of an audience and recite facts, figures and data, your audience…

• A tough room

  16 Nov 2009 | 10:11 am

  Download audio here.We enjoyed a lively show by They Might Be Giants yesterday afternoon. What we didn't realize when we bought our tickets was that it was a family show promoting their latest children's album, "Here Comes Science" (4:00 did seem a little early for a start time). The audience was full of kids wearing balloon hats and carrying balloon swords, picked up at the family festival before the show.Last week, TMBG was interviewed in our local weekly, and one question stood out to me about the difference between audiences of adults and audiences of kids.Independent: You're playing both…

• An argument worth rehearsing

  13 Nov 2009 | 3:20 pm

  Download audio here."I don't wish to be impertinent, Miss Walters, but it's an argument worth rehearsing. You never know; someone else might want to know the point of it all one day."In the movie, An Education, student Jenny argues with her headmistress about the value of a traditional education vs. leaving school to marry an older man who has exposed her to art, music and travel.Do you know what the arguments are against your points? Are you prepared to address them?It's a quick way to lose credibility if you're not prepared to stand behind your assertions.See the clip below with the full…

• You think you're doing a good job, but you're not

  13 Nov 2009 | 3:10 pm

  Download audio here.Is this you?You're very busy. You're running your business, writing a book, traveling to speak at conferences and trainings, living your life in the cracks between business engagements and trying to find two minutes in the day to breathe.You believe that you do everything well, even when you're rushed and stressed, because you get good evaluations and you're invited back.You created a PowerPoint presentation for a prestigious conference, mostly cut and pasted from other presentations you've done in the past, sent it in a month or two ago because they required it, and you…

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  The Daily Figure

• Who Does No. 2 Work For?

  Figaro

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:01 pm

  Granted, Palin was a unique nominee, with uncommon charisma and fire-power, but number two is number two. - Mary Matalin, CNN commentator and former aid to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, on CNN.com epizeuxis (eh-pih-ZOOKS-is), the “What is, is” figure. From the Greek, meaning “linked repetition.” Figaro has much to be thankful for as Thanksgiving approaches. His book is doing well, he’s busy writing another one, and Sarah Palin is back. You’d think that we hadn’t missed a journal entry since the last one. The emphatically ex governor of Alaska is…

• Kitsch and Table

  Figaro

  3 Oct 2008 | 6:57 am

  He’s not been a maverick on virtually anything that genuinely affects the things that people really talk about around their kitchen table. - Joe Biden, speaking of John McCain during the vice presidential debatemetonymy (meh-TON-y-my), the scale-changing trope.  From the Greek, meaning “name change.”Candidate debates give Figaro the same ennui he feels watching most Super Bowls. Everybody is just so darn careful. Last night, the cliches flew like nobody’s business. The two candidates used the tired old “kitchen table” five times, for instance. Well, Figaro…

• Palin: Bush in Diguise!

  Figaro

  2 Oct 2008 | 2:09 pm

  George W. Bush has put on a wig and rimless glasses and started talking like…Bush. And I love America where we are more tolerant than other countries are. And are more accepting of some of these choices that sometimes people want to believe reflects solely on an individual’s values or not. Homosexuality, I am not gonna judge people. Sarah Palin [disguised as Bush] in the Katie Couric interivewYou really can’t blame him. After 8 years as President, he probably figures he’s up for a promotion.For a Figarovian analysis of Bushspeak—uh, Palinspeak—click here.

• Biden Him Good

  Figaro

  30 Sep 2008 | 1:37 pm

  I’m looking forward to meeting Joe Biden. I’ve been looking forward to meeting him since the second grade.VP CANDIDATE SARAH PALINennoia (en-NOY-a), the figure of faint praise. From the Greek, meaning “hidden intention.” Oh, that saucy Sarah Palin!  With a smile like a dog’s before it bites you, she delivers her lines with an energy we haven’t seen politicians exhibit in some time.  We’re happy to see Governor Palin’s comfort with one of the finer figures. The ennoia damns the victim through faint praise, allowing you to seem…

• I, Like, Know

  Figaro

  15 Aug 2008 | 2:03 pm

  Dear Figaro, I have a friend who says “you know” a couple dozen times in any 5 minute conversation. Why does she do this? How can it be stopped? Fred, from “Ask Figaro”Dear Fred,“You know” serves as a figure called a parelcon (pa-REL-con, meaning “redundancy”), a place-filler that gives the speaker’s brain a few more milliseconds to think. “Like” is a more common parelcon these days, and it has its uses in moderation. “You know” is actually a parelcon from my generation. As I say in my book, my generation was…

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  A PowerPoint Blog

• Photographs and Copyrights: Conversation with Rikk Flohr

  Geetesh

  9 Nov 2009 | 6:41 pm

  A refugee from 18 years in corporate management and marketing, Rikk Flohr turned his attention inward to his 20-year love affair with photography. He founded his design firm Fleeting Glimpse Images in January 2006 and divides his days between various print and screen design projects, presentation consulting and, of course, photography. He lives in Apple Valley, Minnesota.In this conversation, Rikk talks about photographs and copyrights.Geetesh: Many people use all sorts of photos in PowerPoint – and most of them assume that any visuals they find from image searches on Google can be used in…

• Adobe Captivate's Edit View

  Geetesh

  9 Nov 2009 | 1:21 am

  In an earlier post last week, I discussed Adobe Captivate's views and compared them to PowerPoint's deafult views. I also explained about the Storyboard View. In this post, I'll look at Captivate's Edit view, which in many ways is similar to PowerPoint's Normal view.If you are not already in Edit view within Captivate, choose the View drop-down in the toolbar, and select Edit View as shown in Figure 1 below.Figure 1: Choose Edit View in Adobe CaptivateEdit View has a tri-pane view that's similar to PowerPoint's three panes. These are how they compare:Captivate's Filmstrip is similar to…

• Effective Animation: Conversation with Glen Millar

  Geetesh

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:19 pm

  Glen Millar is a MVP (Most Valuable Professional) for Microsoft PowerPoint. Based near Brisbane, Australia, Glen is a regular on the Microsoft support newsgroups, and a featured speaker at PowerPoint Live. Visit Glen's site, PowerPoint Workbench for tutorials on cool animation effects in PowerPoint.Geetesh: You experiment a lot with animation in PowerPoint – in your opinion, where is the thin line that divides animation that is sufficient and enhancing from one that is too much and distracting. Is there a rule of the thumb that can act as a guideline, and what are your opinions?Glen:…

• PowerPoint Training Sessions: Two Day PowerPoint 2007 Course

  Geetesh

  2 Nov 2009 | 10:32 pm

  I often do PowerPoint training sessions in India for corporates -- and yes, that information is nowhere on this site! To make amends for that omission, I am going to speak about my training sessions in this and some future posts.First, let me talk about my two-day training session on PowerPoint 2007. This is my most successful course and it is geared towards an audience that creates PowerPoint presentations in a typical office environment. On each of the days, I do 4 sessions that talk about PowerPoint usage and creation. The entire course comprises of interactive exercises -- and the goal is…

• PowerPoint Live Sessions: Peggy Says Do It Now!

  Geetesh

  1 Nov 2009 | 10:58 pm

  Peggy Duncan has a way with words, and that influences how she expresses herself. At the recently concluded PowerPoint Live conference in Atlanta, she went out of her way sharing all her secrets with everyone -- her topic was Shameless Self Promotion. And I guess there's no one better qualified than Peggy to do a session on a topic of that sort -- she's a rare combination of being humble and confident at the same time. She's not scared of speaking her thoughts aloud, and she shares her fears too.What did I learn from Peggy's session? Her session was about promoting yourself in the online…

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  Business Innovation Speaker and Consultant Stephen Shapiro

• TEDx NASA

  Stephen Shapiro

  19 Nov 2009 | 11:08 am

  I am now in Newport News, Virginia preparing for my speech tomorrow at TEDx NASA.  There will be 1700 aerospace engineers and scientists in the audience. My topics is titled “Innovation is in the Space.” I have only 6 minutes for my presentation.  This may prove to be my most challenging speech yet!  Blaise Pascal (not [...]

• FT Innovation Conference Highlights – Part 1

  Stephen Shapiro

  18 Nov 2009 | 7:24 am

  I just returned from a week in London where, amongst other things, I spoke at the FT Innovate conference. There was an impressive line-up of speakers including the CEOs of Jaguar, EMI and Best Buy. This is the first of two blog entries with conference highlights. Jaguar Land Rover David Smith, CEO, Jaguar Land Rover, [...]

• Complete Idiots’s Guide to Target Marketing

  Stephen Shapiro

  17 Nov 2009 | 10:42 am

  My good friend Susan Friedmann just released her next book today, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Target Marketing.” Do you want to get the word out to buyers about all the great things your business has to offer, but a big-bucks marketing campaign just isn’t in your budget? Now you can get the expert information you [...]

• London FT Innovate Conference

  Stephen Shapiro

  9 Nov 2009 | 2:02 am

  My schedule has been crazy lately!  My work with InnoCentive, my speeches all over the planet, and a manuscript due in a few weeks.  My blogging has become the victim of this.  But that will change. This week I am one of the speakers at the FT Innovate conference in London.  I will also be blogging [...]

• Content is No Longer King…Long Live the King (Part 2)

  Stephen Shapiro

  21 Oct 2009 | 1:05 pm

  In an earlier blog entry on content, readers provided a number of interesting comments. If you haven’t already read that article (and the comments), you may want to do so in order to understand this new article. Many did not agree with my point of view. And that is great. I only wanted [...]

• 
  The Extreme Presentation(tm) Method

• Pre-emptive Strikes: how to field tough questions

  Andrew Abela

  19 Nov 2009 | 3:33 pm

  Tom Antion is a renowned public speaking expert; I asked him if he could share a few thoughts on fielding tough questions from your audience, and I'm grateful for this guest post he has written in response: Here are some rules to follow when you are expecting tough questions tocome up during your presentation. 1. Show that you understand their point of view. Restate yourunderstanding of how they feel before you offer your answer. 2. Use appropriate Self effacing humor. One time I took a large archerytarget and hid it on stage before the audience arrived. Near the beginning of my speechI…

• Audience Analysis - Speak to Different Personality Types

  Andrew Abela

  16 Nov 2009 | 3:58 am

  The first step in the Extreme Presentation method for designing a presentation is to identify the communication preferences of the different personality types that are likely to be in your audience.  I like to use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator for this.  For example, your audience will contain Introverts, Extraverts, or (most often) both.  Introverts need some kind of pre-reading--they need to be thinking about your material in advance.  Extraverts need lots of Question and Answer (Q&A) time, so if you have a one-hour presentation to a bunch of extraverts,…

• Message to Amy F. from NJ

  Andrew Abela

  16 Nov 2009 | 3:02 am

  Amy - we've received your emails and attempted to reply, but your email server keeps bouncing our replies.  Could you email us with a different email address or a phone number where we can reach you?Thanks,Andrew

• Diagramvalasztasi javaslatok (Chart chooser in Hungarian)

  Andrew Abela

  9 Nov 2009 | 1:38 pm

  Here is the Hungarian version of the original Chart Chooser, translation courtesy of Zoltan Till. Download a pdf. 

• Aide à la sélection de graphiques - Chart Chooser in French

  Andrew Abela

  7 Sep 2009 | 9:31 am

  Bernard Lebelle of Impact Visuel has translated the Chart Chooser into French.  Download the pdf here. Merci bien, Bernard!

• 
  Great Public Speaking

• Public Speaking Tips For Humor

  Tom Antion

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:31 am

  Don't signal your punch line. If the humor in your punch line depends upon the words ruptured camel, don't say the following: Did you hear the one about the ruptured camel?Don't EVER repeat a punch line! Once the surprise is revealed, the joke is history. I'll repeat this, but I don't want to hear you repeating any punch lines. Let me repeat. Don't EVER repeat a punch line. Don't EVER repeat a punch line. NEVER repeat a punch line. You'll be shot by the humor firing squad if you repeat a punch line. OK. I'll let you repeat one, but only under certain circumstances. Here's the exception. If…

• Public Speaking: Storytelling Tips and Tricks

  Tom Antion

  18 Nov 2009 | 6:16 am

  Learn To Be A Great Storyteller!

• Public Speaking: You Must Have a Good Sound System

  Tom Antion

  16 Nov 2009 | 7:16 am

  If it is hard to hear, people won't listen. When speaking in public you must have an excellent sound system because some of the time you will be speaking while your audience is laughing. Stand-up comics need good sound too, but they are a little different because they tell a joke, then people laugh (they hope). They tell another joke, then people laugh. A good public speaker will be rolling right along making points, showing product features, telling stories, and dropping one-liners and must be heard all the while.A humorous speech demands a better sound system than a serious speech. In a…

• Public Speaking: Could She Use Some Training?

  Tom Antion

  13 Nov 2009 | 6:31 am

  If She Had Only Used This First!

• Even Beauty Queens Need Good Presentation Skills

  Tom Antion

  10 Nov 2009 | 9:11 am

  Guest post by Diane DirestaYou say you don't need presentation skills? You're not a public speaker? Think again.Beauty pageants aren't just about beauty. Did you know that the interview is 40% of the grade? That means if a contestant flubs the presentation there's a good chance she won't win the crown.It's no different in business or the workplace. I've known very bright, competent people who lose instant credibility because of an inability to communicate or speak in public.But don't take my word for it. See for yourself.Diane DiResta is CEO of DiResta Communications, Inc., a New York City…

• 
  Max Atkinson's Blog

• Christmas competition: What did Santa say before 'Ho-ho-ho'?

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:07 am

  As we're going away tomorrow in search of some sunshine, I don't expect to be posting much until the end of November.Needless to say, I'm hoping that regular readers will come back when blogging resumes.Meanwhile, here are two things to keep you occupied while I'm gone.The first, and this should be more than enough to keep the keenest anoraks going, is to catch up on the 350+ posts that have so far appeared on the blog - just in case you've missed any. You can access these from the Complete Bloglist Index on the left (under 'recommended websites), or you can type names or topics into the…

• Authors versus publishers in the digital age

  19 Nov 2009 | 1:43 pm

  As many of you will know, there's quite a debate going on about Google's plan to make every book ever published available online.Although publishers are making a lot of noise about it, they've stayed remarkably quiet about another wheeze they've been exploiting since the digital age got under way - and about which they haven't bothered to tell their authors.Does a book ever go out of print?As you'll see from the second box from the right at the top of this page, Our Masters Voices can still be obtained from Amazon. And I've long been amazed that it seems to have stayed in print for as long as…

• Hypnotic eyes

  18 Nov 2009 | 1:53 pm

  After thanking Tony Benn earlier today for his lifetime contribution to my career, I was not intending to post anything more about him for quite a while. But, having invited comments about the yesterday’s video clip on Twitter, replies came in from a number of people who had noticed something about his eyes and/or eye movements (for which, thanks to Olivia Mitchell, Marion Chapsal and Martin Shovel). I was fascinated by this, because I’d originally thought of adding a note about his eyes to my comments on yesterday's video clip - pointing out that, in the parts of it where we can actually…

• The enormity of my debt to Tony Benn - without whom ...

  18 Nov 2009 | 3:28 am

  Writing the last two posts on Tony Benn has reminded me of the enormity of my debt to him, and I think it's time I went public on recording my thanks to him.I'm not just talking about the rich source of videotaped data his speeches supplied for the research on which my first book on public speaking (Our Masters' Voices) was based, grateful though I am to him for that.But he played a much more direct part, albeit unwittingly, in changing my life for good - many years before I ever got interested in public speaking.My first proper academic jobFirst of all, he was responsible for providing me…

• An example of rhetorical virtuosity from rhetoric denier Tony Benn

  17 Nov 2009 | 1:52 am

  Readers from outside the UK have probably never heard of Tony Benn, and quite a few here will be too young to remember just how effective an orator he was. So, having looked at his 'rhetorical denial' in the previous post I thought it might be useful to show a video illustrating his rhetorical virtuosity in action.This particular clip comes from a Labour Party conference in the early 1980s, when he was at the height of his powers and a prime mover in his party's electorally disastrous lurch to the left after Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979 (on which, see also HERE).It shows how he was…

• 
  SpeakerSue Says...

• Selling Skills: The 6 secrets to asking for the next step in email

  speakersue

  20 Nov 2009 | 5:30 am

  The question keeps coming up at my sales writing workshops: How do I ask for the next step? 1. Always give them a reason to want to accept or take the next step. 2. Make it about them not about you, your product, your deadlines, your anything. 3. Know exactly what you want the next step to be. 4. Be clear about who will take the next step; what the expected action is. 5. Never end with something procedural to you. 6. Make it easy for them to take the next step. Examples: I’ll call you tomorrow to talk about a meeting place so special your attendees will thank you for finding us. If…

• Why dog lovers make the best salespeople

  speakersue

  19 Nov 2009 | 5:28 am

  The rescue dog wouldn’t stop digging and the owner tried everything. The vet’s advice? Make one area in the backyard so attractive to the dog that the dog won’t want to dig anyplace else. Now if you’re a dog lover, you know what attractive means. It doesn’t count any of the stuff that we find attractive unless it falls under the mutually adored category of food. Attractive means bones,  toys and dog treats and maybe even some good smelly stuff. Bury the bones and toys and treats, the vet said, but make it easy for the dog to find. Set the dog up for success. So…

• Sales mastery: Your most important sales tip today

  speakersue

  1 Nov 2009 | 9:18 am

  This post isn’t about objectives. And that’s why it’s important. For years, I’ve read (and used) the question: Can you tell what your meeting objectives are? Their response, almost always, a slight chuckle and then: Hmmm. That’s a good question. It’s too tough a question to ask. In an ideal world, of course, people who are buying services would have the answer to that question before they look at their options. So we as sales people can make their life easy; we can help them feel safer and smarter and get the answer to the question we need to do a great job…

• Presentation Mastery: How to deliver the best presentation ever

  speakersue

  26 Oct 2009 | 9:12 am

  I’m a good speaker. Evaluations tell me so. Clients who rehire me year after year tell me so. Clients who remember what they heard in my sessions from 5, 10, 20 years ago tell me so. But I’ve just recently learned the key to delivering the best presentation ever. Present after a bad speaker. There is nothing so appreciated by an audience than when a good speaker speaks energetically, passionately, meaningfully, after a boring, self-centered, ill-prepared one. What you don’t want to do, of course, is be that bad speaker. Whether you’re an executive, board member, book…

• A wallet was found…Please check to see if it’s yours…

  speakersue

  22 Oct 2009 | 4:37 pm

  Flying Southwest Airlines, if not always as much fun as they’d like us to believe, is always interesting. This last trip didn’t let me down. By the time group C started boarding, the overhead bins were full. You can imagine if you schlep your bag all the way to the back, looking for a seat and overhead space, and then because there is no space, you have to bring the bag forward (excuse me, excuse me), boarding takes longer, gets more confusing, and is in general, not fun at all. The flight attendant makes an announcement: Ladies and Gentlemen, a wallet was found in the gate area.

• 
  Professionally Speaking

• Interview: Bob Houlston, St. Albans, UK, Guitar Teacher

  Ian

  20 Nov 2009 | 7:59 am

  During my University of Hertfordshire presentation on Social Networking I interviewed local guitar teacher Bob Houlston. He offers relaxed, informal, supportive but professional one-to-one guitar tuition at his home in St. Albans. Bob’s mission is to promote Community Development via free internet distribution of guitar playing musicianship and craft skills information. He caters for [...]

• Professionally Speaking Magazine - Fall 2009

  Ian

  10 Nov 2009 | 11:54 am

  Six of the Best The California Chapter has now produced six editions of Professionally Speaking magazine. That’s 180 pages containing over 40 articles by chapter members and guest speakers. Contents of the Fall 2009 issue The latest issue contains Jane Atkinson - Are Bureaus Not Digging You? Ed Brodow - How to Win an Oscar on [...]

• Interview: Jason Kersten, Author and Journalist

  Ian

  7 Nov 2009 | 11:02 pm

  The afternoon session of Saturday’s Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association (NSA/NC) meeting featured a conversation between Craig Harrison and journalist and author Jason Kersten. An author and journalist since 1998, Jason has written features for numerous national magazines, including Rolling Stone, Men’s Journal, and Maxim. His first book, Journal [...]

• West Wing Writers’ dour Scottish client

  Ian

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:29 am

  The left-of-center British newspaper The Guardian has broken the news that beleaguered British Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid Washington, DC based West Wing Writers fees totaling $40,000 for speechwriting services. The most recent fee of $7,045 was paid for editing his March 4th address to the Joint Session of Congress. Speculation is that Brown [...]

• Book Review: The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs

  Ian

  28 Oct 2009 | 8:50 am

  The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience Steve Jobs is the exception to the rule – a corporate executive whose product introductions captivate audiences as powerfully as the best motivational speakers. He’s a college drop-out whose eloquent 2005 Stanford University Commencement address has been watched [...]

• 
  Slides that stick

• Keep your text trapped in its box

  19 Nov 2009 | 7:30 pm

  The elaborate tornado illustration of this ad is pretty, but it looks like there was not much time left to think of a good place for the punch line and the dates of the event. Eyes and brains do not like reading text over fluctuating backgrounds.Via Ads of the World.

• Richer color textures for presentation design?

  18 Nov 2009 | 7:14 pm

  Colors for computer screens and printers are created by mixing primary colors. (See this background article about RGB (adding primary colors for screens) and CMYK (filtering primary colors for printers).In theory, it is possible to create any color you want using the right RGB codes (more about the color wheel here). Still, I find it almost impossible to recreate the colors that some of the great painters are using in their paintings. Obviously they did not use tools such as kuler, but rather relied on mixing colors on a palate by hand.Take this painting as an example: The Arnolfini Portait…

• Tilt those Google maps

  17 Nov 2009 | 7:20 pm

  Google Earth is a wonderful tool to produce maps in your presentation. Select the area you want to cover, do a screen dump and crop your image in PowerPoint. Make sure to make the best use of the power of Google Earth. Tilting the map to a level that the horizon becomes visible adds a nice additional perspective to the chart. Especially when you visualize paths.

• Chart concept - "Stuck!" (redux)

  16 Nov 2009 | 7:10 pm

  This ad uses a visual concept which I discussed in an earlier post. The easiest way to recreate it in PowerPoint is to stick to simple shapes with numbers, similar to the original puzzle with 15 pieces. You can go one level up and use an image (like in the ad). To do this, re-read an earlier post about slicing up PowerPoint shapes.Via Ads of the World.

• Frans Hals: 27 shades of black

  15 Nov 2009 | 7:55 pm

  It is thought that Vincent van Gogh once admired the Dutch painter Frans Hals (1580-1666) for using 27 shades of black in one painting. If you study the works of the Dutch masters carefully, you can see that they actually do use very little color. (Here is an example from Rembrandt: black, red, yellow) Part of this is due to space limitations on the color palette. Pink skin tones take a lot of space, leaving not much room for other colors.Painting above: Frans Hals, The regentesses of the Old Men's Home in Haarlem, 1664, Oil on canvas, 170.5 x 249.5 cmThere is a similarity to designing…

• 
  More than PowerPoint...

• Presenting with Twitter - Free Ebook

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:25 am

  The Twitter backchannel is changing the way speakers deliver presentations. Twitter is also changing the way conference planners promote and manage events.What do teachers, trainers, speakers, and conference planners need to know to keep up with these fast-breaking changes?You can find out in a wonderfully written (and totally free!) ebook written by "Speaking About Presenting" blogger Olivia Mitchell. The comprehensive ebook, How to present with Twitter (and other backchannels) is available today for free download.My one-word review of this e-book?"Wow!"Olivia gave me the opportunity to…

• How to Be a Great Audience Member

  11 Nov 2009 | 1:07 pm

  When I'm presenting live, I look for a friendly face in the audience. I like to focus on attentive, smiling, thoughtful faces. They give out a good energy that I respond to as a presenter.Often, just one friendly audience member can make me a better, more confident presenter.So when it's my turn to be an audience member, I try to pay the good audience vibe forward. I feel that a presenter will do a better job if someone in the audience gives the performer "good face". I try to radiate "positive face energy" to the performer. I make eye contact. I smile and nod at the presenter. If it's…

• Halloween Meets the Fear of Public Speaking

  30 Oct 2009 | 3:42 pm

  Imagine getting this event invitation:"Come to our Halloween party. Dress as your worst fear."I received just such an event invitation a number of years ago. Delighted, I set my mind to the task of what I would wear."Worst fear. Let's see. I'll bet people will come as ghosts, werewolves, monsters, and such. But I'm not really scared of those things... what am I really afraid of?"After a number of days of deep thought, I had my answer.I went as Madame Butterfly.However, when I got to the party, a gal dressed as a spider and a guy with a lightning bolt driven through his brain wanted to know if…

• Two Tips for Curing the "Trailing So..."

  9 Oct 2009 | 2:56 pm

  Americans find the word "whatever" annoying.They find it way more annoying than the phrase "you know" and "it is what it is."This factoid comes courtesy of USA Today, as quoted in a recent Marist Poll.Really?As for me, I have trouble with another pervasive verbal tic.I call it "The Trailing So."You might hear "The Trailing So..." in interviews and Q&A sessions. Someone asks a question. The subject answers, but instead of ending the sentence in a period, he or she ends with "so..."You can actually hear the ellipses after the trailing so! For example:Question: "How did it feel to come back…

• Two Ways to Let Your Audience Co-Create Presentation Content

  18 Sep 2009 | 1:48 pm

  Your audience has the technology. They're carrying smart phones. They have net books or note books.So why not let them use their snazzy tech tools to co-create presentations? Here are two tech-driven ways to let your audience co-create presentation content.PollEverywhere. Audience interactivity is a big part of the draw of PollEverywhere. You ask your audience a question; they can answer using Twitter, text messages, or the web. The PollEverywhere online service instantly tabulates audience survey results in chart form in your PowerPoint presentation.I used PollEverywhere in class earlier…

• 
  Humor Power

• Observational Humor — Case Study #46

  John Kinde

  20 Nov 2009 | 5:53 am

  Here’s an Observational Humor monologue used at the end of the first day of a Fripp Speakers School. THE SET-UP (What happened and what was said during the workshop, before the monologue was delivered.) 1.  Fripp mentioned that a speaker was tall, and had long, pretty hair. 2.  An effective phrase as part of a speech opening might be:  “In the next few minutes you’ll learn…” 3.  Someone suggested, as part of a speech opening, that you could say:   ”…information which you will take away.” 4.  Fripp pointed out that the word…

• Joke Writing Contest — Blended Cities

  John Kinde

  15 Nov 2009 | 7:04 am

  The theme of this month’s contest, Blended Cities, is inspired by Sol Morrison of Santa Barbara. New Joke Contests are announced mid-month. New Cartoon Caption Contests are announced on the first of the month. Your challenge is to combine two city names to create the name of a new community.  We’re not looking for anagrams (a total mixing of the letters) but challenge you to use parts of the city names for your inspiration.  Then take it one step further by adding a sub-title or descriptive punchline.  Here are three examples: Tampa and Grand Rapids — Grampa Raps:  Home…

• Contest Results — Alternative Dinosaurs

  John Kinde

  13 Nov 2009 | 10:39 pm

  It’s time for the results of our Alternative Dinosaur joke writing contest.  The contest theme was inspired by Jim Spero and Paul Lirette from Las Vegas. New Joke Contests are announced mid-month. New Cartoon Caption Contests are announced on the first of the month. Here are this month’s top lines: ** FIRST PLACE ** Dinosaur learning to ice skate:  Mega-sore-ass      Darin Thompson, Smithfield, Utah, USA ** SECOND PLACE ** Friendly Neighbour:  Helloasaurus      Kaye Newton, Raymond Terrace, Australia ** THIRD PLACE ** Bank Chief Executive Officer:  Tiranus-Bonus-Rex…

• The Foundation of a Humorous Speech

  John Kinde

  9 Nov 2009 | 6:06 am

  I attended the District 33 Humorous Speech Contest this past weekend.   I wasn’t speaking.  I wasn’t judging.  I was a spectator.  What a great way to enjoy a contest! A conversation with a friend led to the subject of “how soon should we expect a laugh in a humorous speech?”  A lot of people believe that you should get your first laugh as soon as possible.  I take a different approach. When you’re preparing a humorous speech, it’s your opening that will lay the foundation for the humor which follows.  Don’t be in a hurry to put in your first…

• Observational Humor — Case Study #45

  John Kinde

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:20 am

  Here’s another Observational Humor monologue presented at the end of a Toastmasters meeting. THE SET-UP (What happened and what was said during the meeting before the monologue was presented.) 1.  A speaker told us that to love others, you must first love yourself. 2.  A speaker told us to SLAP our significant other, using SLAP as a motivational acronym. 3.  Mike told the classic Starfish story. 4.  Freeway traffic was terrible enroute to the meeting.  Everyone coming from my end of town was late. 5.  Daylight Savings time change took place the day before our meeting.  We set our…

• 
  The PowerPoint® Blog

• #9 - Export Presentation as Video

  Troy Chollar

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  This one could easily be in my top 5, but there is so much good stuff in this version of PowerPoint it makes the top 10 list. Yes, PowerPoint for Mac has had an export to video function for a few versions. Yes, Keynote has had an export to video function. Yes, I like everyone else has wanted, needed, hoped for this function and have invested lots of money in third party solutions. Well it is here and it works incredibly well! 1. It is easy to do. Go to BACKSTAGE >> SHARE >> CREATE A VIDEO 2. Pick a quality level (High Quality = 720p (1280x720px)) 3. Watch the progress bar and when done, watch…

• Office 2010 Public Beta Announced Today

  Troy Chollar

  18 Nov 2009 | 11:30 am

  Just a quick post about Microsoft officially announcing and making available to the public the Office 2010 Beta! Here is the official press release with some interesting details and marketing stuff. This is the site to get all the details and your copy. - Troy @ TLCOriginal post blogged on b2evolution.

• #8 - Video Styles

  Troy Chollar

  18 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  There are so many great things when working with inserted video files in PPT 2010 this can only be an overview of some of the new tools and ways to work with them. Here is my sample video, an abstract motion background loop: With the movie selected the FORMAT tab offers all of the custom settings: Videos are no longer contrained to rectangles! Any autoshape can contain a movie, just select the one you want: Here is my sample movie set to playback in some custom shapes: In addition the CROP TOOL works on videos now! So the next time you have a CNN news ticker running along the bottom of a…

• #7 - Image Crop Tool

  Troy Chollar

  16 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  When doing a PPT Training seminar I am always amazed that people are not aware of the image crop tool and how to use it. For PPT 2010 this simple, useful tool gets a lot better! Here is my sample photo: With the image selected I go to FORMAT >> CROP (okay, in reality I have added this to my QAT for faster access): Now the image has the familiar black-dash handles for cropping - but it also has the standard dot handles... When cropping an image the non-visible (cropped) portion of the image is still visible with a dark mask: Here is the cropped image when I click off of it (deselect it). Only…

• #6 - Video and Audio Options

  Troy Chollar

  14 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  The Microsoft development team has added some really, really great usability options for working with video and audio files! First, when a video or audio file is inserted it can easily be previewed from the edit view with full playback controls: A. Play/Pause B. Playback duration, which is draggable C. Step forward/back (approx. 1/4 second per click) D. Timecode E. Volume control In slideshow a pop-up playback bar can be activated - just move the mouse to view it (note: the pop-up playback bar can also be disabled during a slideshow (my preference)) that has play/pause, playback duration…

• 
  Nick R Thomas - A Public Speaker's Blog

• 3 talks, 3 topics, 3 towns - in one day?

  Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking)

  21 Nov 2009 | 6:42 am

  Morning, afternoon and evening presentations on different subjects on the same dayTwo years ago I blogged about how I was offered a choice of two dates for a booking, one of which would have meant my having three engagements in one day so I chose the alternative. But I was left with a curiosity about what this would be like so when a similar opportunity arose for July 21 this year I took it. The venues were all in Hampshire and Dorset and within fairly easy reach of each other - even by public transport - but I did have the challenge that three different topics were involved, each with a…

• Your presentations are their own best advert

  Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking)

  28 Oct 2009 | 2:12 pm

  Totton South U3A, HampshireOn 16 July I delivered my talk My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer for around 45 members of Totton South U3A in the town's Masonic Hall. It was a successful talk and was followed by a good question and answer session.My thanks to Dr John Dracass for the lift from Southampton Central and back to Totton station afterwards.In Totton, I picked up a copy of a local weekly magazine and noticed that its classified section had a section for Speakers. A few were using this to advertise their titles.I hope they got some bookings (it certainly doesn't cost a great deal to…

• An audience worthy of Mengham!

  Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking)

  16 Oct 2009 | 11:51 am

  Mengham Women's Institute, Hayling IslandI gave an evening talk on 8 July to Mengham Women's Institute on Hayling Island. Although technically in Hampshire, they are actually part of the West Sussex FederationI had only been to the island once before and that was later at night so it was fascinating to see the place in daylight. The WI meet in the hall of the South Hayling United Reformed Church in Mengham village.There were about 35 ladies there and my talk on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer got a great reception. Over on my other blog Freelance Comedy Writer I have written about the…

• A 'handy' hint for public speakers!

  Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking)

  2 Oct 2009 | 12:31 pm

  Monks Brook U3A, HampshireOn 1 July, I spoke about the Power of Humour in Everyday Life to around 90 members of Monks Brook U3A at St Boniface Church Hall in Chandlers Ford.Regular readers may remember that last year I was plagued with a skin problem (eventually diagnosed as eczema) on my feet. This was only visible to my audience in as much as it meant my having to turn up at a few bookings dressed rather more informally than usual (ie wearing training shoes!)This summer, just to add a little variety, I have had the problem on the backs of my hands instead - very badly. This affected my…

• An 'upskill' struggle: beware of the buzzwords!

  Nick R Thomas A.L.A.M. (Public Speaking)

  30 Sep 2009 | 11:44 am

  Distracting neologismsRecently, I was studying the current brochure of an adult learning provider in my area and it mentioned that as well as running daytime and evening classes they can also offer the services of tutors in certain subjects if you are 'an employer who wants to upskill your valuable staff'.Whoa - do what? Upskill? Upskill? Is that even a word?Apparently it is - but would you want to use it in your public speaking...yet?Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that language is constantly evolving (in fact, the millionth word was recently added to the Oxford English Dictionary). And I…

• 
  Pivotal Public Speaking

• Ten Fatal flaws of public speaking

  21 Nov 2009 | 6:50 am

  In this article, Ten Fatal Flaws Frequently Found from the Podium, Sandra Schrift lists 10 basics to success in public speaking.  They may seem obvious, and yet in the focus on writing and delivering a speech, they can be overloooked.  Well worth a look - just to be reminded!

• How will you handle your Q & A?

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:29 am

  You’ve just wrapped up your presentation, and you’re confident that you’ve conveyed your points clearly and persuasively.  Now, it’s time for the Q&A. If you’re like many speakers, you view Q&As in one of two ways: you dread them, worried about being caught off guard, or you breeze through them, thinking that the “real work” is behind you. Wrong and wrong, and here’s why Q&A is often the most valuable part of any presentation — it invites dialogue, provides feedback, and, when properly handled, allows you to conclude on an energetic and powerful note. Q&A is…

• Create your key message in a snap

  18 Nov 2009 | 11:24 am

  Olivia Mitchell has written a great post on “How to craft a memorable key message in 10 minutes”.  Her post is an excellent model of how this works.  It gives us 9 ways that the key message can be created - all incredibly relevant and useful.   Sometimes it’s good to be reminded, like this, to stay focussed.

• The role of a leader in times of tragedy

  17 Nov 2009 | 9:29 am

  Nick Morgan looks at three US Presidents’ speeches in times of great tragedy.  He defines what is needed at these moments and analyses the speeches in terms of those needs.  The latest instance, of course, is Obama’s response to the Fort Hood events.  There is much for us all to learn, though we may not be political leaders, in Nick’s analysis.

• Effective reading for your presentations

  15 Nov 2009 | 7:18 am

  Rich Hopkins has a great new blog post that should have us all using reading aloud far more effectively … There are times when reading during your speech is appropriate and necessary: A. Letters, memos, and reports that must be heard in there entirety B. Quotes, short and long C. Poetry, lyrics, short excerpts from books D. Manuals E. Religious readings Reading the written word effectively can be a daunting task. We’ve spent our lives listening to others read out loud in school, church, and the workplace, and it is often so excruciatingly bad, we fear our own reading will be heard…

• 
  DeFinis Communications

• The Power of Polished Technical Demos and Why I Love My Work

  Angela DeFinis

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:59 am

  Last week I was in Charlotte, NC teaching a technical presentation skills program for one of my favorite clients, Autodesk. Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) is an American mulitnational corporation that focuses on 2D and 3D design software for use in architecture, engineering and building construction, manufacturing, and media and entertainment. The company is best known for its flagship computer-aided design software AutoCAD. Autodesk is the world’s largest design software company, with more than 9 million users throughout the world. The company was recently named number 25 on Fast…

• The Art of Deconstruction: Building Better Speaking Skills

  Angela DeFinis

  11 Nov 2009 | 9:11 am

  My husband and I have a summer house in Sedgwick, Maine with a big, 200-year-old dilapidated barn on the property. Its roof is caving in, several huge hand hewn beams have collapsed and the heavy front doors recently blew off in a windstorm. Saving it is too expensive so we decided to have it taken down. I’m talking to an excavation crew to do the work. Simultaneously I’m talking to a barn builder and architect about saving some of the priceless old beams and hardware, the cupola and the large barn doors and reusing them in a new barn we will one day build. But before that time comes we…

• Perfect Your Sales Presentation to Win in a Down Market

  Angela DeFinis

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

  Today’s sales environment is like navigating a 60-foot sailboat in a thunderstorm. New demands of a global economy, the immediacy of the internet, increased and hungry competition and most of all a ubiquitous down market make it a treacherous climate. Additionally, salespeople are being asked to plot a winning course through longer buying cycles, increased executive involvement, significant price pressures and the greatest of today’s challenges – no decision. While buyers may be interested in your products and services, budgets are tight, which leaves only the promise of a future sale.

• 4 Methods to Deliver a Great Speech

  Angela DeFinis

  3 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pm

  When it comes to delivering your presentation, you actually have many choices. Public speaking involves so much more than just standing in front of a crowd and talking. How you deliver your thoughts and message can depend on a number of factors, such as your comfort level, the nature of the information and most important, your audience’s expectations. So before you stand up to speak, make sure you choose the correct delivery method that will give you the best results for you and your audience. Here is a quick overview of each method: Reading verbatim from a manuscript Some speeches must be…

• Executive Speech Prep Team Effort: Coach and Writer

  Angela DeFinis

  26 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am

  Many thanks toJeff Porro for submitting this great post. Jeff is a Washington, DC-based speechwriter for Fortune 250 CEOs, diplomats, and other government leaders, as well as executives of some of the nation’s leading trade and professional associations. He is also an award winning screenwriter and a PhD with 20 years of experience in research, public policy, and business. Learn more about Jeff at www.porrollc.com and http://blog.porrollc.com As a speechwriter who works with executives, I’ve found that far too many corporate and nonprofit leaders are unfamiliar with a couple of basic…

• 
  Executive Speaking Weblog

• Has Westpac got it wrong?

  Australia's Public Speaking Coach

  10 Nov 2009 | 3:41 pm

  How Westpac got their Ads wrong

• The Solution

  Australia's Public Speaking Coach

  27 Oct 2009 | 3:45 pm

  The solution to getting your point across when they may just not understand

• PowerPoint and your Logo – an unhealthy relationship

  Australia's Public Speaking Coach

  20 Oct 2009 | 8:05 pm

  Why you should remove your logo from your PowerPoint Slides

• World Class PowerPoint

  Australia's Public Speaking Coach

  15 Oct 2009 | 6:14 pm

  How to use PowerPoint in Business

• What are You Saying?

  Australia's Public Speaking Coach

  7 Oct 2009 | 3:52 pm

  Why people don't understand you

• 
  Business Presentations

• Speaking Skills for Women-Obsolete?

  Business Presentations

  19 Nov 2009 | 5:52 am

  Yesterday I gave a webinar entitled Speaking Skills for Women in Tough Economic Times.The moderator told me that prior to the meeting, two men saw the listing and commented that the topic was outdated. They did not attend the webinar so they didn't know what I said. That made me think. Yes, women represent larger numbers in the workforce but where are they? How many traditionally male industries have representations of women of 30% or greater? How many corporate CEOs are women? Thirteen out of the top 500 companies?Even though women have made tremendous progress I still hear complaints from…

• Round and Round She Goes

  Business Presentations

  10 Nov 2009 | 6:39 am

  Enjoy this guest post by Tom AntionRound and Round She Goesby Tom AntionI recently spoke at a seminar where the hotel representative had talked the meeting planner into using round tables for the room setup. I later found out that the hotel had run out of classroom tables and told the inexperienced planner that round tables are better.When I saw the set up I was horrified. That's because I know that people are spread out further from the presenter and also, you have the problem of half the chairs facing away from the stage area.Unless you are doing a banquet/luncheon/breakfast, or unless you…

• The Right Word at the Right Time

  Business Presentations

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:34 pm

  On my way home tonight, I stopped in a CVS store. As I was waiting in line the cashier called out to the person in front of me. It sounded like "Next guest, please." I wasn't sure I heard correctly. Then he looked at me and said very clearly, "Next guest, please." Wow!I immediately told him how nice it was to be called a guest. He replied, "That's what you are." I explained that it was the first time I had been called a guest in a store. He said, "I hope all of my people would say that". It turned out that he was the manager. I told him I had never had that experience anywhere except in a…

• Even Beauty Queens Need Good Presentation Skills

  Business Presentations

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:50 am

  You say you don't need presentation skills? You're not a public speaker? Think again.Beauty pageants aren't just about beauty. Did you know that the interview is 40% of the grade? That means if a contestant flubs the presentation there's a good chance she won't win the crown. It's no different in business or the workplace. I've known very bright, competent people who lose instant credibility because of an inability to communicate or speak in public.But don't take my word for it. See for yourself.DiResta Communications, Inc. Communicating With Impact!

• Don't Assume You Know What Your Audience Wants

  Business Presentations

  27 Oct 2009 | 1:48 pm

  My friend, Vera Moore, launched her line of Vera Moore cosmetics at Duane Reed. It was exciting for her to get her product line in the New York City store next to Macy's. I stopped by to share in her celebration. I had just returned from a networking breakfast where the authors gave us two books. I was juggling my handbag, a small tote bag and these two books in my arms. The books were too big for the tote bag. It was cumbersome to say the least. When I left Vera's cosmetic display, I noticed a table with a wheel in front of the store. People were lined up to spin the wheel to win a prize.

• 
  Jef Menguin Seminars & Workshops

• Moving Up

  Jef Menguin

  18 Nov 2009 | 6:52 pm

  How to move Up, UP, Up in a down, down, down world. This will be the subject of my next squidoo lens. I will start writing some of my ideas today. I thank God because I have a life to celebrate the things that I want to do. Inspiring people is one of them. I hope we can inspire all. I hope you can join me. Jef Note: Please refer my website http://jefmenguin.com to your friends. See more progress on: Aspire and Inspire Posted in 43 things Tagged: Inspiration, motivation

• Check out You Are Invited to TOPS Toastmasters Philippines – 1767573

  Jef Menguin

  13 Nov 2009 | 11:13 pm

  Hi, I want you to take a look at : You Are Invited to TOPS Toastmasters Philippines – 1767573 Posted in personal effectiveness

• Most reliable training provider in Metro Manila

  Jef Menguin

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:57 am

  I did not notice it. I thought people can easily find me in Google search engine. My experience was that when people are looking for seminars and workshops in metro manila, or seminars and workshops in the Philippines, they always find my websites in the first pages. Sometimes, three of these pages appear in the top ten. Yahoo sometimes put me in the first page, but yahoo is unreliable since it places the older websites and older seminars in the front page. In effect, people are viewing seminars which were held two or three years ago. Sad.  That is why I encourage people to use Google more…

• Let it be clear

  Jef Menguin

  26 Oct 2009 | 1:38 am

  Funny how it happened. I listened to an applicant for half an hour, then explained how my business works. Of course she was interested to know how she will work. And I am interested to show how my business works. I thought knowing how the business works can help her see how she can be successful when she works with me. But then, the magic word came. She said she was confused. I stopped. I have wasted my time. All the time, she was concerned about the the details. She wants me to explain how she will spent her day working for me. I was showing her the big picture, because I like her to see the…

• I am happy facilitating my workshops and seminars

  Jef Menguin

  25 Oct 2009 | 5:48 pm

  Last Saturday I conducted a teambuilding workshop for the officials of a Barangay in Pasay. I have conducted workshops for government agencies, but never for barangay officials. One friend told me that the most difficult group to handle are barangay officials. He said that many are know-it-alls, people who seemed to know all the answers and reasons why answers cannot be done. That comment was of course not encouraging. The teambuilding was scheduled to start by 8.30am but the only two participants arrived on time. I was informed that there are 25 expected participants. The rest, 17 more,…

• 
  Breaking Murphy's Law» – Breaking Murphy's Law

• Bookmarked: Conference Humiliation: They’re Tweeting Behind Your Back (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

  Lee Potts

  19 Nov 2009 | 8:02 am

  Conference Humiliation: They’re Tweeting Behind Your Back (The Chronicle of Higher Education) – "Perfect conditions propelled this Twitter torrent: a speaker who delivered what was apparently a technically flawed and topically dated talk to a crowd of Web experts who expected better. They reacted by flaying him with more than 500 tweets in one hour. The onslaught grew so large that it went viral—live. The conference became one of the most popular topics on Twitter, meaning strangers with no connection to the meeting gaped at Mr. Galper's humiliation when they logged…

• Bookmarked: Cut off after 2 minutes (Speaking Energy: Adventures in Public Speaking)

  Lee Potts

  18 Nov 2009 | 11:00 am

  Cut off after 2 minutes (Speaking Energy: Adventures in Public Speaking) – "In the smaller room there are a lot more distractions as well. If my audience of one decides to do something else besides listen…well, my presentation just got a lot more difficult — and energy depleting. … The person I was speaking to (or trying to) had just come out of a high stress meeting an hour before I met him. He had a lot on his mind. Very distracted. One of the first points I raised was something similar to an issue he recently had. This set him off." Sharing: del.icio.us…

• Bookmarked: The First Slide in Your PowerPoint/Keynote Presentation (Tod Maffin)

  Lee Potts

  17 Nov 2009 | 8:33 pm

  The First Slide in Your PowerPoint/Keynote Presentation (Tod Maffin) – "About four years ago while giving a keynote presentation about leading 'the Facebook generation' in the workplace, disaster struck. I was about mid-way through the speech, talking about new models for employee benefit plans, when the following popped up on the screen — in front of 2,200 people…" [Yes, it's pretty much as embarrassing as you're imagining. Tod offers a really clever solution. Thank for the heads up tweet @OliviaMitchell.] Sharing: del.icio.us Twitter…

• Bookmarked: You Must Have a Good Sound System (Great Public Speaking)

  Lee Potts

  16 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pm

  You Must Have a Good Sound System (Great Public Speaking) – "A humorous speech demands a better sound system than a serious speech. In a serious talk, words can be missed and the main message can still be very clear. In humor it doesn't work that way. If key words are missed in a joke or story, it will ruin the humor. No one will laugh and you will look like a giant goober. The need for a thorough sound check is another good reason to be in the room early. You need to check the microphone to make sure it works. You need to check to see how far your mouth should be from the…

• Bookmarked: All eyes on you — as you choke (Crain’s Chicago Business)

  Lee Potts

  14 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pm

  All eyes on you — as you choke (Crain’s Chicago Business) – "But sometimes, getting past a disaster of a presentation can be freeing. One of Mr. Connellan's clients, an executive from a very large company, was asked to update 2,000 people at a conference. She was ready for the performance but froze when she got up to the podium. She fainted with her hands gripping the lectern, pulling it on top of her, and had to be carried offstage." Sharing: del.icio.us Twitter Categories: Bookmarks Tags: choke, disaster, fainted

• 
  TEDTalks (video)

• TEDTalks : Tom Wujec demos the 13th-century astrolabe - Tom Wujec (2009)

  Tom Wujec

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:29 am

  Rather than demo another new technology, Tom Wujec reaches back to one of our earliest but most ingenious devices -- the astrolabe. With thousands of uses, from telling time to mapping the night sky, this old tech reminds us that the ancient can be as brilliant as the brand-new.

• TEDTalks : Devdutt Pattanaik: East vs. West -- the myths that mystify - Devdutt Pattanaik (2009)

  Devdutt Pattanaik

  19 Nov 2009 | 7:32 am

  Devdutt Pattanaik takes an eye-opening look at the myths of India and of the West -- and shows how these two fundamentally different sets of beliefs about God, death and heaven help us consistently misunderstand one another.

• TEDTalks : Fields Wicker-Miurin: Learning from leadership's "missing manual" - Fields Wicker-Miurin (2009)

  Fields Wicker-Miurin

  18 Nov 2009 | 7:17 am

  Leadership doesn't have a user's manual, but Fields Wicker-Miurin says stories of remarkable, local leaders are the next best thing. At a TED salon in London, she shares three.

• TEDTalks : Mathieu Lehanneur demos science-inspired design - Mathieu Lehanneur (2009)

  Mathieu Lehanneur

  17 Nov 2009 | 7:34 am

  Naming science as his chief inspiration, Mathieu Lehanneur shows a selection of his ingenious designs -- an interactive noise-neutralizing ball, an antibiotic course in one layered pill, asthma treatment that reminds kids to take it, a living air filter, a living-room fish farm and more.

• TEDTalks : Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology - Pranav Mistry (2009)

  Pranav Mistry

  15 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pm

  At TEDIndia, Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data -- including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper "laptop." In an onstage Q&A, Mistry says he'll open-source the software behind SixthSense, to open its possibilities to all.

• 
  speakfearlessly.net

• Be the Duck: The Key to Calm

  Nicole

  13 Nov 2009 | 12:35 am

  Editor's Note: This is a guest post by Robert Graham of GrahamComm. January 10, 2007: Apple CEO Steve Jobs was rolling out the iPhone at MacWorld. It was an event that, as he correctly predicted, would “reinvent the phone.” A third of the way through his keynote, however, his slides froze. He tried his clicker. He tried his other clicker. He went to his laptop. Nothing helped. Most people, if rolling out a franchise product in front of thousands of people and something went wrong, would panic. But Jobs is a master. He casually said, “Guys, the slides are stuck.” Then he made a…

• Last Public Workshops of the Year

  terrygault

  28 Oct 2009 | 5:49 pm

  Once a quarter The Henderson Group holds a "By Invitation Only" Art of Presentation workshop in San Francisco, led by our VP of Services, Terry Gault.  The last of 2009 will be held Nov. 5-6, 2009.  Using interactive methods, rather than lectured instruction, participants cultivate a personal style – a style that gains the audience's attention through confident composure and meaningful interaction. Through the Henderson Group's unique and proven feedback model, participants receive immediate feedback from instructors, peers and videotape, enabling them to rapidly…

• Presentation Style: What if …?

  terrygault

  24 Sep 2009 | 9:22 pm

  Konstantin Stanislavski, the famous Russian director and co-founder of the Moscow Art Theater, was a major force in the arts of theater and film.  No one since Shakespeare has had a stronger impact on the theater. Stanislavski devised a simple technique to help actors overcome the artificiality of the theater.  By this I mean that when you are acting on a theater set, you are not in a real space – it’s a representation of a real space.  It’s not a real living room or a real office or a real battlefield.  It’s a set. When you speak to the other actors you are not speaking to your…

• The Importance of Empathy

  terrygault

  10 Sep 2009 | 10:27 pm

  This is compelling evidence that empathy is most important when engaged in communication with others.  It speaks specifically to the importance of empathy when practicing Empathic Paraphrasing or Interchangable Empathy technique in our Dialogue, Listening and Influence workshops. "People just don't sue doctors they like," is how Alice Burkin, a leading medical malpractice lawyer, puts it. "In all the years I've been in. this business, I've never had a potential client walk in and say, 'I really like this doctor, and I feel terrible about doing it, but I…

• Creation Myth: Simple Green

  terrygault

  19 Aug 2009 | 4:00 am

  The founder of Simple Green, Bruce FaBrizio, tells a compelling Creation Myth in this video profile on Lou Dobbs segment titled, “Business Unusual”. FaBrizio was delivering chemicals in college when he watched a man fall into a tank of acids, cyanide and boiling water; “All the meat fell off his body before they got him out… it started there.” He created a non-toxic biodegradable cleaner, and to start a business he borrowed “street money” at 60% interest to pay to have the product tested.  “Rocco” would show up to collect interest.   FaBrizio takes money to Las Vegas to…

• 
  Successful Speeches Blog

• The Blueprint for How to Write and Deliver a Difficult Speech - Obama in Cairo

  John Watkis

  12 Nov 2009 | 6:19 am

  In yesterday’s post, I said that Obama’s speech at Fort Hood was not his best ever, but I didn’t say which speech I thought was his best. Most of Obama’s speeches are good, but his best speeches, in my opinion, were the most difficult to deliver. Back in March of 2008, I wrote a blog post about his speech on race in America. I would rank that as his second best speech. I think the best speech he ever delivered was his speech in Cairo. If you ignore your feelings about politics, religion etc … and examine the speech strictly from a rhetorical point of view, it was…

• Was This Obama’s Best Speech Ever?

  John Watkis

  11 Nov 2009 | 8:18 am

  I was surprised to read the following headline in this morning’s PR Daily News Feed. Media Calls Obama’s Fort Hood Memorial Speech His Best In his article in “the Atlantic’, Marc Ambinder sounded giddy in his evaluation of the speech. Yes, I’m having a Chris Matthews-chill-running-up-my-leg moment, but sometimes, the man, the moment and the words come together and meet the challenge. ummm … yeah. The “Time” article, written by David Von Drehle, painted a more accurate picture of the speech. It also raised some valid points about the difficulty…

• 3 Reasons To Say “Thank You” When You Start Your Speech?

  John Watkis

  9 Nov 2009 | 7:03 pm

  Should you say “thank you” when starting a speech? Some “experts” will tell you it’s a public speaking sin that will bore your audience and not give any momentum to your speech. Some presenters believe you should thank everyone and their grandmother’s cow. So what’s the answer? Should you or shouldn’t you “give thanks” at the start of your speech? It depends. Every speech is different. Every audience and every occasion is different. That being said, I don’t want to be irresponsible and give you a one-size-fits-all answer.

• 10 Tips to Take Your Public Speaking to the Next Level

  John Watkis

  26 Oct 2009 | 5:19 am

  Are you looking for ways to take your pubic speaking skills to the next level? Here are 10 tips to help you get there. 1.) Research your audience You can give the exact same speech to two different groups, but you shouldn’t expect the same results. Research your audience so you can address their specific needs, concerns and objections . 2.) Speak the language of your audience When you know your audience and can speak their “lingo”, you gain immediate respect from them. They will know  you took the time to understand them before speaking to them. 3.) Analyze every event Do…

• Public Speaking Myth: Brevity Is Key

  John Watkis

  19 Oct 2009 | 8:08 pm

  While scanning through Twitter a couple weeks ago, I came across an interesting “tweet” on the page of speaker and speaking coach, Patricia Fripp. It read … Speakers…if you can say anything in less words it will be more memorable. I’m sure you’ve heard the same advice in different forms from many different sources. For example “Brevity is key” And while this may seem like sound advice, it’s not always true. In fact, sometimes using more words will make your speech more memorable. Regardless of what “new scientific evidence” may…

• 
  Rhett's Laubach Authenticity Rules Blog

• 9 Tips for Leading a Small Group Discussion

  16 Nov 2009 | 7:36 am

  Have a casual presence. This will put your group and you at ease and grease the conversation. However, it is also important to remember that you need to bring the energy to the group. Your eyes, body language and vocal patterns need to model engagement and energy.Address each individual by name and be personable with them. It is too easy for small group discussions to have a formal/stuffy feeling and this environment prohibits open comments from the group. Keep it loose.Set time limits on discussions - particularly if you have a set number of topics to get to that concern different members of…

• S.M.I.L.E. Formula

  4 Nov 2009 | 11:45 am

  A good majority of your success on the platform is based on how you act before you get there. Click over to my leadership blog for some tips on how to maximize this all important time!The S.M.I.L.E. Formula to Networking SuccessPlease visit www.YourNextSpeaker.com to learn more about our leadership keynotes and workshops and our Presentation Coaching services.

• Audience Rapport Lessons from Shinedown

  17 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am

  I caught the band Shinedown at the San Diego House of Blues last month. The room was wall to wall with rockers and there I stood in my biz casual holding a noteboook (I just came from a working supper.) Needless to say, I felt a bit out of place, but I enjoy catching live music when I'm on the road, so there I was.[FYI - If you don't own any Shinedown, start with Simple Man and I Dare You.]I knew I would be hit with a wall of sound, but I didn't expect to be overly impressed with the audience rapport skills of Shinedown's lead singer, Brent Smith. However, after the first 10 minutes of the…

• How to Make an iPod Work With a Sound System

  29 Sep 2009 | 6:36 am

  You need three things:1. An XLR cable. Also known as a mic cable. Most facilities have them, but I keep a short 3-foot one with me just in case. You can get this at any musical instrument store. Price varies depending on the length.2. A DI box. These can be purchased anywhere guitars are sold - Guitar Center or you local mom and pop music store Costs around $30.3. A stereo iPod cable with an 1/8th inch male plug on one end (standard iPod plug) and a quarter inch male plug on the other (this goes into the DI box). You can get this cord at Radio Shack. $10.Good luck.Please visit…

• Certainty

  17 Sep 2009 | 2:17 pm

  Certainty trumps talent many times on stage. Work as hard getting confident in yourself, your abilities and your content as you do in preparing for the presentation. Of course, what you will often find is your certainty grows with your content familiarity.Please visit www.YourNextSpeaker.com to learn more about our leadership keynotes and workshops and our Presentation Coaching services.

• 
  Public Speaking Library

• Stuck in the middle again

  About Tim Wilson

  21 Nov 2009 | 8:53 am

  Fellow speakers,The middle part of your story is for:Filling in the necessary detailBuilding towards the high point of the storyBuilding up,Tim

• Getting set up

  About Tim Wilson

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:51 am

  Fellow speakers,When you begin your story, you set up the:General setting of the storyMain charactersAn event or conflictBeginning,Tim

• Credit check

  About Tim Wilson

  19 Nov 2009 | 10:22 am

  Fellow speakers,If you quote someone or use their content in your story, always give them credit:Credit the person who wrote the storyIf you are basing your story on some other story, say, "This story is based on..."Mention if the story is based on a folk legend or folkloreCrediting,Tim

• How to create a story

  About Tim Wilson

  18 Nov 2009 | 10:20 am

  Fellow speakers,When creating your stories, decide on two things:What you want the story to mean to the audienceWhat type of emotions you want the audience to haveEmotionally,Tim

• Multi-storied

  About Tim Wilson

  17 Nov 2009 | 1:20 pm

  Fellow speakers,There are many sources for stories:  things you have heard, things you have read, a picture you've seen, a song you've listened to, something you've made up, etc.Storied,Tim

• 
  Overnight Sensation - Public Speaking, Communication and Personal Development

• 10 Things You Should Know About Job Hunting

  James

  17 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pm

  Whether you’ve been laid off, downsized, quit due to frustration, forced out or you’re absolutely miserable in your current situation – if you’re looking for work, you probably know how difficult it is to find a good job, especially these days. When the market is this competitive, you need every advantage that you can get so it’s time to boost your resume, learn how to interview and start hitting the pavement. Here are ten tips to get you started: Every company has its own style and procedures for the hiring process – make sure you learn it and follow it.

• 10 Things You Should Know About Public Speaking

  James

  15 Nov 2009 | 6:51 pm

  My first “Ten things you should know about…” post is on (big surprise) Public Speaking. It’s the number one social fear and many people fear it more than death. Yet, there are people out there that you’ve probably never heard of that are getting paid over $10,000 to give a two hour presentation. So here are ten things that you should know about Public Speaking: The only way to overcome your fear of public speaking is to actually get up and speak. There’s a lot of bad advice out there related to public speaking – and some of it even makes it into best…

• Ten Things That Will Guarantee Your Speech Will Bomb

  James

  9 Nov 2009 | 1:22 am

  There are endless tips out there to help you give a successful speech so I thought I’d take a different approach with this article. Instead of giving you tips that may or may not help you give a great speech, I figured I’d point out ten things to avoid – each of which would almost guarantee that your speech is failure. 1: Don’t practice: Yes, many experienced speakers wing it and may get lucky from time to time. But it only takes one time for you to make this most basic of mistakes that you’ll never do it again. When you start giving a talk that you haven’t…

• What to Do When You’re Asked to Give a Speech

  James

  8 Nov 2009 | 4:18 pm

  Not everyone has the luxury of time when they’re asked to give a speech. Perhaps they’re working on an important project at work and then asked to make a presentation to “sell” it to other parts of the company. Or maybe they are a business owner and get to spotlight something exciting about their business to the local community. Whatever the case, we often lack the time for taking a class, joining Toastmasters or finding a speaking coach. So what can you do? Write it out: The first thing you need to do is write your speech. In most cases, the content of your speech is…

• 
  Prosperous Project Management

• Do the math

  Wayne Botha

  13 Nov 2009 | 12:18 pm

  We left Johannesburg last night, about 9:20 PM. We flew for 16 hours, and covered 8,700 turbulent miles before touching down in Atlanta this morning at 6 AM. So let's see - that is 9 PM, plus 16 hours of flying during the night, means that it is 3 PM, yet we were on the ground at 6 AM?With body clocks stuck somewhere over the Atlantic, we are once again safe and sound in South Windsor. Kudos to Delta for excellent service and on flight arrivals. I notice that the International leg of our journey attracts the granny brigade of cabin crew. No matter, with creaks and groans they catered to our…

• Swapping stories

  Wayne Botha

  9 Nov 2009 | 8:28 pm

  Presentation at PMSA in Johannesburg went extremely well last night. Great audience. I enjoyed swapping stories with like-minded project managers and learning about PMSA.Project managers in South Africa face many of the same challenges that project managers in the USA face, including non-standard operating procedures across departments and cross-cultural challenges.Project managers in South Africa face a challenge that we don't even consider in the USA - the horrendous cost of Internet access. In South Africa, users pay by the kilobyte of data download for Internet access, which makes it very…

• Homecoming - PMSA style

  Wayne Botha

  8 Nov 2009 | 9:18 pm

  This afternoon, I have the pleasure and honor of speaking at the Project Management South Africa meeting in Johannesburg.The meeting venue in Selby, is a few minutes away from where my office was when I worked at the Standard Bank, in 2000.Looking forward to sharing firsthand experiences of project management in USA, and in turn, learning firsthand experiences of project management in South Africa today.

• Oh! If the Botha Family Bible could talk - what stories it would tell

  Wayne Botha

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:36 am

  Today, I inherited our family bible. We believe it has been in the Botha family for at least 150 years, handed down to the eldest son of each generation. The title page begins with "BIBLIA, dat is De gantsche H. Schrifture, vervattende alle de Cononijcke Boeken des Ouden en des Nieuwen Testaments." Published in 1690 by Hendrick end Jacob Keur in Dordreght and Marcus Doornick in Amsterdam. The family legend is that this Bible accompanied an immigrant fleeing from Holland to start a new life in South Africa. Later, it was a daily companion as a family endured the trials of the Groot Trek in…

• The business and practice of coaching

  Wayne Botha

  2 Nov 2009 | 11:29 am

  I just finished reading "The business and practice of coaching" by Lynn Grodzki and Wendy Allen. This is the very best book I have encountered so far to study if you are at all interested in starting or growing your professional coaching practice.The authors are both experienced coaches, and intimately familiar with the challenges of building a coaching business. "The business and practice of coaching" is different from the other books on how to build a coaching practice, because the authors incorporate information from the ICF survey on incomes, as well as consolidate thoughts and…

• 
  tellingpeople

• Chris Evans – BBC Radio2 presenter…

  simon

  18 Nov 2009 | 1:44 am

  …. and me! I’ve just finished an interview, (live and completely un-rehearsed!), on-air with Chris. This link won’t last forever because only the last few days-worth of shows are held online, but for what it’s worth, the recording is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00nww67/Chris_Evans_17_11_2009/. My three and a half minutes of glory start at one hour and fifteen [...]

• When to breathe…

  simon

  17 Nov 2009 | 3:04 am

  I know it’s not quite technically correct all the time, but one of the ways children are taught about where to put commas into sentences is to think about where they’d breathe if they were saying it out loud. It doesn’t work all the time but it’s a pretty handy rule of thumb. It also [...]

• Venues again…

  simon

  12 Nov 2009 | 8:15 am

  Yesterday I mentioned that when you’re working somewhere other than your office it’s a really good idea to have one person in charge of logistics. Today I’d like to make a quick comment about some of the things that your venue might not provide (despite saying they will). The obvious solution, of course, [...]

• Venues…

  simon

  11 Nov 2009 | 2:28 am

  I’m working here today: Matfen Hall Dammit, it’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it! By coincidence this was where my wife and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary recently. Actually, you’d be amazed at how much difference a venue makes. Here, you can be assured that everything will [...]

• Working it!

  simon

  10 Nov 2009 | 4:36 am

  I was talking yesterday about how important it is to work hard in your preparation, not just the presentation itself. A sports coach I heard of recently summed that all up with the phrase “Train hard – play easy“. I like that. My old piano teacher was a concert pianist and I [...]

• 
  Nick Morgan - Public Speaking Advice and Commentary

• How good a speaker is Michael Porter?

  Nick Morgan

  19 Nov 2009 | 12:19 pm

  Michael Porter is a University Professor at Harvard, one of the founders of the Monitor Group, the author of several of the most significant books on competition and competitive advantage, including On CompetitionCompetitive Strategy and Competitive Advantage – and the guy who taught the world how to optimize a supply chain.  He’s on anyone’s list as one of the more important business thinkers of the last couple of decades.  But how good a speaker is he?You can see him speaking here, http://tinyurl.com/67p94g, on his famous five competitive forces that shape strategy. …

• How good a speaker is Gary Hamel?

  Nick Morgan

  18 Nov 2009 | 10:17 am

  The management guru Gary Hamel has had more Harvard Business Review articles reprinted more often than anyone else - 15 and counting.  He’s a visiting professor at the London Business School, the founder of a new venture called MLab, which seeks to “accelerate the evolution of management knowledge and practice,” the author of several seminal books on management, including The Future of Management, Competing for the Future, and Leading the Revolution (which unfortunately recommended Enron) -- and the inventor of the idea of core competencies.  The Wall Street Journal recently…

• How good a speaker is Philip Kotler?

  Nick Morgan

  17 Nov 2009 | 9:08 am

  Philip Kotler is a marketing consultant and a professor of marketing at the Kellogg School at Northwestern University in Chicago.  He’s probably the world’s most influential thinker on strategic marketing.  He’s on any number of top ten lists of important business gurus.  He’s written more than 40 books, including some of the basic textbooks in the marketing field, such as Marketing Management (http://tinyurl.com/y9kjxo3) and Principles of Marketing (http://tinyurl.com/ya293jw).   Here he is talking about the brand called you: http://tinyurl.com/kp66nh. …

• Richard Branson – how good a public speaker is he?

  Nick Morgan

  16 Nov 2009 | 10:30 am

     Richard Branson may well be the world’s most famous entrepreneur.  He got his start selling records out of the trunk of his car – or ‘boot’, since he’s English.  Today, some 360 companies later, he’s the Chairman of Virgin Group, and has innovated or even overturned more industries than most of us have heard of, including space flight.  But how good a speaker is he? You can see Branson here:  http://tinyurl.com/d6qxjf.  He’s talking with Arianna Huffington about his wealth and other matters.  Also check out his interview with…

• How good a speaker is Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman?

  Nick Morgan

  12 Nov 2009 | 11:27 am

  Paul Krugman shows up as number 3 on Forbes' most influential management gurus list (http://tinyurl.com/ygc6mb4).  He’s a brilliant economist, winner of the Nobel Prize for his work on international trade, prolific writer of books, and blogger for the New York Times.   What kind of speaker is he?   You can see him here:  http://tinyurl.com/yhbz7ak (on the stimulus ) and here:  http://tinyurl.com/5d9g3y (his Nobel Prize acceptance speech) as well as here: http://tinyurl.com/y8pjrjh talking on the Colbert Report, and to Google on the economic…

• 
  PPT - Powerful Presentation Techniques

• Twitter more fully integrated into PPT - Powerful Presentation Techiques

  the Web Chef

  9 Nov 2009 | 5:15 pm

  I haven't been posting to this blog as frequently as I like due to spending more time with Twitter.  I've found that Twitter allows me to quickly share articles and resources that I've come across without spending quite as much time writing and researching for a more thoughtful post here on my Typepad blog.  I've moved the Twitter feed up to a more prominent location on this blog so that you can see some of the topics that I'm covering there.  I've also updated the footer on this blog to allow for you to re-tweet a post that you find interesting.  Typepad has integrated this widget into…

• A dramatic reading from one of the books in the PPT Reference Listing

  the Web Chef

  24 Aug 2009 | 12:13 pm

• Photo Editing Tools - Alternatives to Photoshop

  the Web Chef

  12 Aug 2009 | 2:03 pm

  As presenters, we're often using photographs in our presentations.  There are many free and fee tools to enhance or modify our photographs to better convey our message or engage our audience.  Read Write Web had an article reviewing 7 free alternatives to the pricey Photoshop.  The tools reviewed include both web and desktop based applications: PhotoFiltre Paint.net Gimp Aviary Splashup flauntR FotoFlexer Aviary was also recently reviewed in the Richmond BizSense where it was called "Photoshop for kindergarteners".  I decided to test out FotoFlexer, one of the online tools, with a…

• How Twitter is Being Used at Conferences

  the Web Chef

  11 Aug 2009 | 10:46 am

  09_edumedia

• Presentation Skills - avoiding talkaholicism

  the Web Chef

  7 Aug 2009 | 7:00 am

  Related to this video are two recent postings on the Examiner.com by Lenn Milbower "True confessions of a talkaholic, part one" and "True confessions of a talkaholic, part two" that define the problem and offer suggestions for the various symptoms associated with talkaholicism.

• 
  Relational Presentation Blog - Flexible PowerPoint

• Should I Hide Navigation Elements?

  Robert

  30 Oct 2009 | 9:17 am

  by Robert Lane      www.aspirecommunications.com Figure 1 is an example of Topical-style navigation. Navigation buttons and thumbnails appear along the slide’s left side and the audience sees all these navigation elements. New relational presenters often observe this fact and ask, “Hey, is there a way I can hide those navigation components so that my viewers don’t see them?” Figure 1: Visible Navigation Yes you can, depending on which styles of navigation you choose. The question, though, is whether you really want to hide navigation. As a general rule, our opinion is no, you do…

• The Illusion of Completion in PowerPoint Networks

  Robert

  22 Aug 2009 | 11:43 am

  By Robert Lane      www.aspirecommunications.com  You really like the idea of visually interactive PowerPoint presentation. One day you decide it’s time to take the plunge. Parking yourself at a big conference table with packages of index cards in hand, you begin planning a relational platform’s organization structure, all the individual ideas that might be needed while explaining points to audiences and answering their questions. Pretty soon you realize … geesh … the number of slides needed will be massive, maybe hundreds and hundreds. How in the world will you have time to get…

• Working with PDF Files in PowerPoint

  Robert

  31 Jul 2009 | 11:36 am

  By Robert Lane www.aspirecommunications.com Over the years, many people have asked: “What is the best way of using PDF documents in a visually interactive presentation?” The answer is two-fold. Getting a PDF document onto a PowerPoint slide is easy enough. All you have to do is insert it as an object. On the Insert tab, click the Object button on the right side of the Ribbon. Then toggle the Create from file option. Browse to find your PDF file and then click OK. The PDF file then appears on the slide. That’s all well and good, but now what? What do you do with such an embedded object?

• How a Relational Powerpoint Presentation Saved my Bacon

  Robert

  18 Jun 2009 | 4:09 pm

  By Susan Guggenheim When I bought Bob Lane’s book Relational Presentation in early April, I knew two things about PowerPoint—I didn’t like using it for presentations and everyone expects you to have a PowerPoint. Every meeting, demo, and training I have attended in the last 10 years featured content delivered via PowerPoint—all linear shows with bulleted slides. When the lights went down, so did our eyelids. I started reading Bob’s book, tried out the exercises, and decided to build a relational presentation from scratch. In my small business, www.susanguggenheim-is.com, I train…

• Layouts for Visually Interactive Presentation

  Robert

  24 May 2009 | 7:26 pm

  By Robert Lane        www.aspirecommunications.com  How Should I Lay Out Content on Slides? What are some effective ways of arranging content on slides to promote simple, visual, interactive expression? Here are six suggestions we recommend, available free by download here. This short PDF is an excerpt from the new Selling Visually with PowerPoint book by Robert Lane and Andre Vlcek. ShareThis

• 
  CK Online - Communicate to Connect !

• Recent Speech Openers

  CK

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:59 pm

  Last Sunday, I spoke on "How to make your message stick' at the Division E Conference of Toastmasters in Bangalore.I was introduced by two young girls and they compared me to a Post it note and this is how I responded"Thank you beautiful and charming ladies for your kind words. Well, if you'd like to know, a beautiful woman is the one I notice and a charming woman is the one who notices me !.I've been compared to many things before but this is the first time I've been compared to a Post it note. Much better than the time when I was introduced as a "Rolls Royce of a speaker".I was highly…

• Sugarcane Juice- Persuade by changing a perception

  CK

  9 Sep 2009 | 5:53 am

  Josh Gordon, in his highly readable "Presentations that change minds" lists "Top 15 persuasion strategies" and "changing a perception' ranks high in this list.I found a text book case of changing a perception to persuade customers in the way sugar cane juice is being marketed in Bangalore.Sugar cane juice ! Conjures up visions of a street side vendor with a sturdy contraption in which the cane is "shoved" by one and pulled out by another until the last drop is out ! Swarming with flies and insects, some of which get crushed with the cane, perhaps giving it a heady flavor... in one word…

• Topical Humor !

  CK

  28 Aug 2009 | 12:04 am

  MIT Manipal. Late 70s. We brought out a rag UG, which took an irreverent,frivolous and absurd view of campus life.The movie Kramer vs Kramer, starring Dustin Hoffman had just been released and our semester exams were approaching.We brought out this ad " Running to packed houses in the college library !CRAMMER vs CRAMMERStarring Rankies and Gold Medalists from all branches !Limited release ! This was a huge hit !What's heartening, my juniors still recall this ad,after about 30 years ! I learnt a valubale lesson - topical humor,if used well works wonders !A classic example is the iconic Amul…

• Spontaneous Speech Openers

  CK

  27 Aug 2009 | 11:04 am

  A celebrity speaker,wading his way through entangled wires to the podium,slips and falls flat. Lying down,he speaks through his lapel microphone "for the first time in my 20 years of speaking career, I've reached the level of my audience !" Another speaker who tripped and fell said " I am now ready to take questions from the floor !"I am not sure what their topics were but I feel the audience would have lapped up anything they said after the remarkable way in which they opened their speeches by converting their problems into opportunities...I find this to be the toughest form of humor-…

• "Selling with NLP" workshop in Bangalore this weekend

  CK

  26 Aug 2009 | 7:02 am

  My good friend and master NLP trainer Dan Pacheko is offering a two day certification workshop "Selling with NLP" in Bangalore on August 28/29Ideal for sales professionalsGreat value for money !To know more, please call Roshni +91 80 25553656/ 25553657+91 97409 02624

• 
  Craig Strachan - Keep Talking!

• The Oratorical Prowess of Barack Obama

  Craig Strachan

  19 Nov 2009 | 11:19 pm

  Guest post by Zander Smith A good politician gives lots of speeches. A great politician has the oratory skill to use his speeches to motivate, inspire, and convince people to follow him. The recent American presidential race showed the world the importance of giving a good speech, the importance of having great oratorical prowess. Barack Obama a black motivational speaker inspired millions of Americans to follow him to the White House during the course of the 2008 presidential campaign. Most Americans have never met Barack Obama and they never will. They do feel connected to him because of…

• Definitive list of public speaking blogs – updated with Twitter

  Craig Strachan

  13 Nov 2009 | 8:21 am

  Andrew Dlugan, custodian of the list to top public speaking blogs, has just updated the list to include the Twitter profiles. You can view the update list here. Thanks Andrew for the update. Related posts:70 Great Public Speaking Blogs I came across a great list on Andrew Dlugan’s website...Public Speaking Webring created – add your site After reading Andrew Dlugan’s list of 77 public speaking website,...The 10 Truths of Public Speaking In a recent post, I spoke about the 10 myths...

• How to Triple Your Back of the Room Book Sales Every Time You Do a Public Speaking Engagement

  Craig Strachan

  10 Nov 2009 | 5:35 am

  Guest post by Tom Antion I’m darn good at selling at the back of the room. In fact, just this month I did three speaking engagements at multi speaker events and I outsold all the other speakers put together. What’s unique about this is the way I do it is not obnoxious and high pressure. Today I want to give you a low pressure technique that can give you way more sales than when you nervously wait till the end of your talk to suggest people buy your book. What I want you to do is put a copy of your book on the chair of every attendee at your event. You will put a note in the book…

• Create great docs from PowerPoint – review of George! for PowerPoint

  Craig Strachan

  5 Nov 2009 | 2:14 am

  PowerPoint is a great tool for creating presentations, but it has never been particularly good at creating documentation or handouts. However, it is a huge amount of work to maintain two completely separate sets of documents. Enter George! for PowerPoint by Leaders Guide Pro. They kindly gave me a free license to play with the product. This simple little addin fills the gap very nicely by providing a simple yet powerful documentation creating capability for PowerPoint. Some of the features are: Create table of contents for your handouts A variety of elegant document templates, with titles,…

• 6 Freebees

  Craig Strachan

  24 Oct 2009 | 2:04 am

  Use these when preparing your speeches, and you will give a great and engaging presentation. Be prepared Be concise Be engaging be authentic Be aware Be involved What other bee’s should I add to the list? Related posts:10 Myths of Public Speaking 1) I can wing my presentation. No you can’t –...The 10 Truths of Public Speaking In a recent post, I spoke about the 10 myths...When you are the Emcee at a Wedding I mentored a new client recently on being an emcee...

• 
  The Eloquent Woman: A blog on women and public speaking

• what do speakers assume?

  Denise Graveline

  21 Nov 2009 | 10:21 am

  Last month, I spent nearly as much time in the audience as I did up front as a speaker, and from that vantage point, I noticed lots of speakers making faulty assumptions about their audiences or their speeches. (For example, I saw lots of speakers assume they could hold the microphone anywhere and still be heard.) So I asked fans of The Eloquent Woman on Facebook what speaker assumptions they'd noticed, and whether those assumptions were right or wrong. Here's what they said: Germaine Palangdao called out speakers for "Acronyms - they assume everyone knows acronyms."…

• free ebook on speaking and Twitter

  Denise Graveline

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:21 pm

  For those of you who've been wondering how to handle an audience that's commenting about your speech or presentation on Twitter--while you're speaking, here's a post about a new, free ebook that every speaker needs, with guidance for what to do before, during and after your presentation.  Check it out!

• Where is my (eloquent woman) badge?

  Denise Graveline

  18 Nov 2009 | 6:26 pm

  Today, The Eloquent Woman on Facebook passed the 1,500-fan mark.  Want to celebrate? You can add this fan badge to your website, blog or FB page. Go here to do so--and thanks so much for your ideas, questions and inspiration for women (and other) speakers! Denise Graveline is a fan of The Eloquent Woman Create your Fan Badge

• week 12 wow: Stephanie's new message

  Denise Graveline

  18 Nov 2009 | 6:12 pm

  One of the biggest thrills I get as a trainer is to watch someone make real progress as a speaker--and that might mean confidence, message skills and delivery successes, or much more. To see what I mean, watch Stephanie Benoit's contest entry for our Step Up Your Speaking program, less than 6 months ago: Now watch her in week 12 of our coaching, trying for the second time to deliver a message: And, I might add, Stephanie reports that she did that video message in just one take! There's much to be proud about in Stephanie's message, delivery and motivation this week. Here's what I see: Her…

• Sussing out your speaker space: A checklist

  Denise Graveline

  17 Nov 2009 | 6:29 am

  Emily Culbertson posed this question some time ago: What should you know about the room in which you're speaking?  The room--especially its technology--is one of the six sets of questions in my checklist to prepare the whole speaker.  But here's a longer list of factors to consider when you're finding out about the room where you'll be speaking.   What's the size and shape of the room?  Where should I stand? Is that my only option? Will I be able to move around the room while I speak? Is there a remote and a portable microphone so I can control my technology if I…

• 
  Presentation Skills and Storytelling in Business

• When to Tell A Story and What Story to Tell

  Doug

  12 Nov 2009 | 2:54 pm

  ©Doug Stevenson 2009 - All Rights Reserved I recently gave the luncheon keynote speech for a state association. In the program that I presented, Emotional Eloquence, I usually tell three stories, which I call: The Oscar Story, The Chicago CEO Story and the Dagger Lady Story. Because I was speaking after lunch, I knew I needed to keep the energy high and work in a little more interaction.  I decided to take out the Dagger Lady Story and replace it with my Airport Story, because the Airport Story is funnier. Have you considered not only what stories to tell, but also when to tell them? When…

• Denver and Nashville Workshops Coming Up

  Doug

  12 Nov 2009 | 2:35 pm

  I’ll be giving the following workshops. Both are open to the public. Denver - Saturday November 14th. NSA Colorado chapter meeting at the Denver Athletic Club. Nashville - Saurday December 12th. NSA Tennessee. Call Deborah at 719-573-6195 or email her at deborah@dougstevenson.com for more information.

• 12 Nov 2009 | 2:07 pm

  Doug

  12 Nov 2009 | 2:07 pm

  Subscribe to the free Story Theater Newsletter

• Presentation Skills - How to Hold Your Audience Attention

  Doug

  3 Oct 2009 | 10:19 am

  Recently, while providing a corporate training for the top sales agents in a large pharmaceutical company, I asked the following question: “Have you ever been speaking, and you look out into your audience and see ’screen saver eyes’?  You know - that glassy-eyed look that let’s you know you’ve lost their attention?” They all laughed and nodded in agreement! If you’ve ever seen “screen saver eyes,” the two most important questions to ask yourself are: What did you do to lose them? How do you get them back? This is an age-old problem. It…

• Are You in The Right Place?

  Doug

  3 Oct 2009 | 10:01 am

  A while back, Deborah and I traveled to London and Germany. For the first 18 days we worked: a Story Theater Retreat in London, 2 Retreats in Munich, a keynote at the German Speakers Association annual conference and finally, a speech at a human resources convention in Cologne.  It was a very busy, intense and absolutely wonderful time. This was my first time presenting Story Theater in Germany and we weren’t sure what to expect. However, after doing two Story Theater Retreats and giving two speeches to audiences of Germans, Austrians and Swiss (many of them listening to me through an…

• 
  Public Speaking Can Be Fun

• Opportunity = More Business = More Speaking

  Jacki Rose

  10 Nov 2009 | 1:54 pm

  I was with my bike club getting ready to go on a ride when I saw a man run out of the restaurant adjacent to the parking lot where approximately 75 cyclists were. He went up to every person and said, “I hope you enjoy your bike ride today. If you are hungry when you get back, here’s coupon for our all you can eat brunch.” He saw an opportunity and grabbed it. As a result, he got more business. The more speaking opportunities you have the more exposure you will get and the more business you will gain.Comment on this blog.

• Text Messaging

  Jacki Rose

  9 Nov 2009 | 2:48 pm

  If there are people in your audience text messaging, let them. They could be texting to their boss to hire you because your speech is so good!Comment on this blog

• Over and Over - What Do You Say?

  Jacki Rose

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:24 am

  I was listening to a speaker and noticed that she kept saying “ya know.” I then heard the person next to me whisper to his friend and he said, “ya know, ya know, ya know.” Pointing out to his friend that the speaker kept saying that over and over. At this point, there were at least three people not focusing on the speaker or what the speaker was saying. All we were thinking about was ‘ya know.” Having some kind of word or phrase that we repeat over and over during our presentation is very common. Discover what yours is, become aware of it, and work on stopping it. How? Practice…

• Using your Notes when Presenting

  Jacki Rose

  3 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am

  When you look at your notes, do not say “I’m going to look at my notes so I do not forget anything.” I admit that I even do this from time to time, but there is no reason for it. Your audience expects you to have notes and refer to them so you can stay on track.Comment on this blog by going to my new blog for conference presenters.

• Conference Presenting - Podium

  Jacki Rose

  2 Nov 2009 | 5:30 am

  Just because the podium is there, doesn’t mean you have to speak behind it. Get out in front. Ask for a wireless microphone, own the stage, Take the Stage and Love It.Comment on this post and visit my new blog for conference presenters.

• 
  Jane Atkinson, Speaker Launcher Blog, Speaker Coach, Presentation Skills, Speakers Bureaus

• Website Contest, we have our winners!

  jane

  16 Nov 2009 | 9:33 am

  With over 80 entries for the best speaking-expert website contest, the panel and I had our work cut out for us! And it was a very tough decision! Drum roll please…….. THE WINNING WEBSITE IS: www.toninewman.com Here’s what the panel saw in Toni’s website which made it stand out: 1. A clear promise and expertise. The minute you come to this website, you understand that it’s about innovation. And, Toni positions as an expert who happens to speak. 2. A topic that is needed and bookable. Innovation is something that corporate and association audiences need…

• Are you distracting your prospects?

  jane

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:33 am

  Recently, I decided to take most of the social media logos off of my website. You see, I don’t want to drive people away from my site (over to Facebook, LinkedIn, etc) I want to keep them with me until they take the desired action. In an effort to be deemed current, I think we all jumped on the social media bandwagon. But did we do it with strategy? Remember that old saying a confused buyer never buys? Well, a distracted buyer won’t buy either. He or she will hop on that social media train and will be off your site faster than you can say ‘YouTube’. So we have to work…

• So, what’s a great website really look like?

  jane

  21 Oct 2009 | 12:39 pm

  After launching The Best Speaking-Expert Website Contest last week, I was thrilled with the response – more than 65 entries and counting! After reviewing some sites, I realized something…. Some people are confused about what makes a great website. I’m not saying there weren’t a few good ones, and you’ll see them in the finals. But several led me to think…. “Really? This is THE BEST speaker website you’ve seen?” Here are some of the criteria that were outlined by myself and the expert judging panel. For the sake of this tip, I’ll give…

• Best Speaking-Expert Website Contest

  jane

  14 Oct 2009 | 11:12 am

  People are always asking me to show them examples of great websites.  Today, I’m announcing the best speaking-expert website contest! See below to nominate your favorite website or your own site. PRIZES 1.  First prize wins the title of Best Speaking-Expert Website which includes announcement to Jane’s list of 5000+ speakers and bureau agents (ie:  exposure). 2.  Best website will be promoted on Jane’s blog for up to 6 months. 3.  The person who nominates the winning website (even if it’s their own) will receive either a one hour marketing makeover coaching call…

• What’s the Cost of Distraction?

  jane

  30 Sep 2009 | 7:11 am

  After pulling myself up out of a quagmire of family drama that went on for about a year, I can look back and realize how incredibly distracted I had been. As grateful as I am for my family, I was 100% lost in the problems of others and my profit and loss statement reflected it. It began with my stepdaughter and 1-year old grandson moving in with us (which I must say was a blessing). And continued when we moved my brother with cerebral palsy to our town. Then throw in a healthy dose of aging parents (80 and 82) with a history of cancer, heart attacks and broken bones, plus two home…

• 
  ManageSmarter.com - Presentations News

• "Crucial Conversations" Author Joseph Grenny Offers Executive Briefing

  19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

  Is it time for a "Crucial Conversation?" How about an executive briefing? Joseph Grenny, co-founder of VitalSmarts and author of "Crucial Conversations" and "Crucial Confrontations," offered tips in an executive briefing in New York City last week about influencing the intractable.

• IBM Goes Green for Conference

  13 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

  The company recycled thousands of pounds of material and went paper-free for much of the event.

• Amgen Advances, Standardizes Meetings Reporting Technology

  30 Oct 2009 | 9:00 am

  Led by director of global meetings management Marybeth Roberts, pharma giant Amgen has pushed tech vendor StarCite to reconfigure its systems to accommodate conventions data.

• Survey: Meetings Not Impacted by Swine Flu

  30 Oct 2009 | 9:00 am

  Although companies are worried about the impact of the H1N1 flu, most aren't canceling meetings or events because of it.

• Making Your Audience Feel Comfortable and Keeping Them Engaged

  12 Oct 2009 | 9:00 am

  Do you feel like you're practicing hypnosis when you facilitate a training session at your company? There are ways to overcome the dazed expressions on your learners' faces, perk up their attention levels, and keep them engaged enough to absorb your lessons.

• 
  Excellence in Presentations

• An interesting sign

  normwei

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:03 am

  Here is an interesting sign in a hotel restroom. Now – does it mean to say:” if you smoke, the alarm will go off”? Or “It’s OK to smoke because no smoking alarm will go off.” The same ambiguity is found in many presentations. Watch for it in yours.

• Some feedback from the audience

  normwei

  23 Sep 2009 | 7:46 pm

  I just finished conducting a 2-day presentation on environmental regulations in California. As I have done in the past few years, none of my PowerPoint presentation contained any bullet points. Here are a couple of comments about the presentation format from the audience: “Great review of environmental regulations and law; enjoy the format; presentation was great because it wasn’t filled with bullet points; like that it was simplified.” “Usually when a presenter uses PowerPoint, they tend to use it as their presentation. Mr. Wei used it to supplement his presentation…

• This is just like a PowerPoint presentation with no bullet points

  normwei

  12 Sep 2009 | 10:19 pm

  This is a wonderful video of a financial writer (Bethany McLean) talking about hedge funds. Notice how the video has a sentence on a slide and then the speaker talks about that topic following the slide. This is almost like a presentation without bullet points – a subject on the screen followed by a cvonversation. Note also how she spoke without reading any notes.

• Don Hewitt knew!

  normwei

  19 Aug 2009 | 8:53 pm

  The famous producer of 60-Minutes Don Hewitt passed away yesterday. The reason his show was so successful was because he knew what every children knew and wanted: Tell me a story! He delivered. He told stories. Thank you! Presentations are just that – telling a story. And we certainly do not tell stories by using bullet points!

• Talking points without a talker is pointless

  normwei

  4 Aug 2009 | 9:12 am

  Here is a slide on a fairly esoteric topic – risk identification. The author posted it on slideshare for all to see. That’s fine. The problem is that the slide contains talking points presented as bulletpoints. Without the author standing next to the slide to ELABORATE on his talking points, the reader is left with trying to decipher what is behind those cryptic talking points.   A much better way for the author to communicate his ideas is to hand out his report – with complete sentences and paragraphs – in PDF format so that the reader can understand it. I wrote…

• 
  Sandra Schrift - Executive Speech Coach

• ON GIVING

  Sandra Schrift

  17 Nov 2009 | 9:29 am

  One of the great lessons I have learned from spiritual teachers is that giving is essential for developing my inner quality of “letting go.” I have read this many times: “If you want more love, joy or money in your life, give more love, joy and money. The more we give, the more we will receive. And now I try to do this silently as I pass so many homeless people on the streets. I wish them peace, happiness, love , health and certainly prosperity. Am I touching these people? I don’t know. But it is one way I learn to give unconditionally.The Coach suggests . . . give stuff away and see…

• ON THE ART OF FOLLOW-UP

  Sandra Schrift

  13 Nov 2009 | 9:55 pm

  Have you ever noticed that prospective clients/customers buy whenthey are ready, not when you are ready? So how do you know whento be “in front of them” when they are ready to buy? Rich Sloan of startupnation.com has these suggestions:• Build trust – promptly mail a handwritten note after your meeting. If you set an expectation, meet or exceed it.• Use a variety of mediums – is email marketing viable?Or direct mail postcards? A phone call? Meeting in person?• Be a thought-leader – provide interesting, useful informationrelated or unrelated to what you offer. Stay on the minds…

• ON A CHAMPION SPEAKER

  Sandra Schrift

  4 Nov 2009 | 12:21 pm

  A great public speaker knows that not everyone in the audience will agree with his/her point(s). Hey, if everyone in the room agreed with you, would you need to make a presentation? The reason you make a presentation is to make a “point,” to sell your ideas so that when people leave, they will begin to think/act differently. To do this, you need to provide your audience with great content and great delivery. Logic needs to be coupled with feelings. We need to know, but we also need to feel in order to take action.The Coach sez . . . tell your audience what they need to hear, not just what…

• ON DE:

  Sandra Schrift

  1 Nov 2009 | 4:03 pm

  Lawyers can be disbarredClergy can be defrockedElectricians can be delighted or diffusedMusicians can be denoted and disbandedCowboys deranged or deridedModels deposed or disfiguredDry Cleaners decreased and depressedBaseball players debasedSongwriters decomposedTeachers can be degraded and detestedThe Coach knows . . . speakers can be denoted, devoiced and debriefed!(C) 2009 www.schrift.com

• ON CONQUERING YOUR FEAR

  Sandra Schrift

  23 Oct 2009 | 10:39 pm

  Do you ever think things like . . . “What if I forget my speech?” “What if I fail at the lectern?” “What if I lose my good health?’ Don’t you want to just strangle the “what ifs?’ My clients, who fear public speaking, learn to accept this fear and then work at conquering it, make fear their friend by facing it, and give themselves permission to make mistakes. So they feel their fear . . . and do it (speak) anyway. Then they can move on and say, “OK that was my last speech, and my next one is going to be a winner.”The Coach sez . . .slay the enemy of fear by BREATHING…

• 
  Ah, Um, Er... A Toastmaster's Blog

• Club Webpages: Who Is It For? Guests?

  Sara Marks

  28 Oct 2009 | 11:45 am

  I am my home club's webmaster this year. We use FreeToastHost to run our webpage, but I have found it very limiting. It has sent me down a path of deep contemplation about club webpages.I am going to stop here and say that Freetoasthost is a fantastic service and one I am glad is available to clubs. Most clubs are just beginning to understand how a webpage can help them. It is enough to ask them to have a webpage. Without FTH this would not be possible for 99% of the clubs in the organization. I thank Bo and his team for helping this organization take this step in 21st century…

• Contest Season... again

  Sara Marks

  15 Sep 2009 | 11:28 am

  Yep, it's speech contest season again- Humorous this time. To be honest, I am not a huge fan of contests. There are a few reasons. While they are fun to watch, I don't think most members want to be part of them. I have found it intimidating to be speaking with those who are much better speakers than I am. I can only imagine how intimidating it would be to speak in the same contest as one of the few who return to the contests each year and make it to the international level. I suspect this actually acts as a deterrent for contest participation. I have spoken to a number of people who have said…

• New Toy: Scribd

  Sara Marks

  21 Jul 2009 | 11:43 am

  I realized last night that it has been 2 years since I updated my actual webpage. I use it as a professional portfolio. Thus, it isn't critical to keep updated, but 2 years is too long.I do keep a list of presentations I have done for Toastmasters. I send people there to re-print handouts and get copies of power points I may have run. In those 2 years, a lot has changed with technology and I have been looking for a way to begin using Scribd.Scribd is pretty cool. It allows you to upload word, power point, excel, pdf and more. People can then view, download, print and share the document. Here…

• Padding the Numbers... again

  Sara Marks

  20 Jul 2009 | 11:23 am

  I am involved in 2 clubs. One is my home community club where many of my friends are members. I love this club because I helped rebuild it and we are all on the same page with our club's identity. Last year we were presidential distinguished, but we knew we were getting ready to loose a few members. We took a bigger hit than we expected and were down bellow 10 members again. We worked our magic, focused on our members and their goals. We rebuilt the mentor program and re-thought our education program. We came back to 17 with no members ready to leave the club this fall. In my opinion we did…

• A Third Post About Tone

  Sara Marks

  15 Jul 2009 | 12:11 pm

  I am totally fascinated with this issue of tone-of-voice.A quick recap... a friend of mine, a fellow club member, has an problem with her tone of voice. She wants to be a professional speaker. I feel her problem with tone could hurt her more than help her. It took me a few weeks to realize my frustrations with her had to do with her tone-of-voice. Once I did, it opened up a new world for me. Two things have happened since my previous post about this. First, I realized that I use this tone. Last year I got some great feedback from someone about how he or she often felt it's Sara's way or the…

• 
  tjwalker.com

• 21 Nov 2009 | 9:40 am

  TJ Walker

  21 Nov 2009 | 9:40 am

  Sarah Palin’s book tour PR Problems – Media Training Presentation Training

• 19 Nov 2009 | 7:56 am

  TJ Walker

  19 Nov 2009 | 7:56 am

  Coach Rex Ryan Cries–Again! public speaking media training presentation training

• 18 Nov 2009 | 8:33 am

  TJ Walker

  18 Nov 2009 | 8:33 am

  Obama goes on Fox – Goldman’s “God’s work” soundbite -public speaking media training presentation

• 17 Nov 2009 | 9:45 am

  TJ Walker

  17 Nov 2009 | 9:45 am

  Sarah Palin is Back in the Media! public speaking media training presentation training

• 16 Nov 2009 | 7:20 am

  TJ Walker

  16 Nov 2009 | 7:20 am

  Congressmen caught mouthing words from Lobbyists! – media training presentation training

• 
  My Toastmasters Blog

• It’s Not the Right Time

  chris

  8 Nov 2009 | 3:13 am

  I have noticed a disturbing trend in the Toastmasters clubs that I am active. A new member will join, give a speech or two, and then send an e-mail that says, “I am sorry, but I just don’t have the time for Toastmasters anymore.” The irony of these e-mails is that they tend to come from people that would benefit the most from being an active member. I have collected some excuses that people use and want to present some ideas on the meaning behind the excuses. I don’t have time for Toastmasters Did you know that Toastmasters can make you more efficient in managing your time? By working…

• Vote for Chris to Speak at SXSW

  chris

  19 Aug 2009 | 3:11 pm

  I Have a Dream I dream of traveling the world to speak to audiences about technology, leadership, and personal development. The past five years, I have worked hard at becoming an excellent speaker. However, being a great speaker is only part of the equation. What it Takes to be a Professional Speaker In order to be a professional speaker, you need a combination of speaking skill, knowledge, and marketing.  I have the first two, but I am struggling at becoming a marketable speaker. You Can Help Me One of the top ways to be recognized as a marketable speaker, is to be seen speaking at major…

• Club Coaches: Life Support For Dying Toastmaster Clubs

  GuestPost

  18 Aug 2009 | 2:45 pm

  Today’s guest post is from Bob Jensen, a fellow Champions’ EDGE Member. In his post, Bob discusses Club Coaches and how a coach can assist struggling Toastmasters clubs. Bob’s article is a great overview of the club coach program and I am grateful for his contribution. Toastmasters International recognizes that there is a natural ebb and flow to club membership cycle. Unless proper care and feeding is given to a Toastmaster club’s membership program, an otherwise strong club might find itself facing a precipitous decline in membership in a relatively short period of time. Once…

• An Engaging Opening is Necessary for Long Presentations

  chris

  28 Jul 2009 | 9:12 am

  Sitting in a training class, I found myself starting to wonder about the point of the class. We had an agenda, workbooks, and trainers but the point was slipping away. You could see the attention of the audience slip and the trainers begin to go on to autopilot. What was one thing that the trainers could have done to get our attention from the start and keep it through the two days of training? Ed Tate in one of his lessons on the Champions Edge shared with me a technique that gets the audience interested in your presentation, and keeps them engaged in long speeches or training sessions.

• How Are You Filling Roles?

  chris

  10 Jul 2009 | 9:06 am

  If you are like most Toastmasters, you get a copy of the agenda for the next meeting and take whatever open role that you are comfortable. For many Toastmasters, that means you will be the timer, grammarian, or ah counter. Those roles are important on the agenda, but they don’t require you to speak much, provide in depth analysis of speakers, or take an active role in leading the meeting. Just taking the open role that you are good at also hinders your growth and doesn’t enhance the learning environment in your club. In order to develop as an individual and as a club, you need to change…

• 
  Persuasions Blog

• Nov 21, International Public Speaking: What do You Need To Know?

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:24 pm

  International public speaking has unique challenges. Do you know why?

• Nov 21, Public Speaking India

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:23 pm

  Public Speaking India: Tips and experience to help you succeed.

• Nov 21, Public Speaking Singapore

  20 Nov 2009 | 7:27 pm

  Public speaking Singapore: Share your knowledge, tips and expertice.

• Nov 20, How to Speech Topics: What are Good How To Topics?

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:40 am

  How to Speech Topics: A list of topics you can give how to speeches on.

• Nov 20, Speech Topics and Your Topic Research can be Found Together

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:37 am

  Speech topics and the research for the body of your public speaking topics can be found here. The 40 places to find current speech topics.

• 
  Public Speakers Blog

• Do you REALLY BELIEVE what you speak about?

  steve

  31 Oct 2009 | 2:59 pm

  The personal development/self-help industry is once again being accosted by the national press in the United States. The catalyst seem to be the Sweat Lodge tragedy that occurred at the James Arthur Ray event in Arizona earlier this month. (more comments on that at www.mentaltoughnessblog.com)  My question for speakers is; are you delivering a message you really believe in? Are you giving your audiences all of you? Are you writing and speaking at the pinnacle of your ability? Are your books, CD’s, DVD’s and other speaker products world class, or just 2nd rate knock off’s of…

• Steve Siebold on Good Morning America

  steve

  30 Sep 2009 | 3:31 pm

  [See post to watch Flash video]

• Public Speaking and Television: Could it Catapult YOUR Career?

  steve

  9 Aug 2009 | 4:50 pm

  In the last 13 years as a professional speaker, I’ve probably reached a couple million people with the mental toughness message. Last week, through the power of television, more than 10 million people, most of whom probably never heard of me before, saw me on NBC, FOX, and NBC/Australia. I’m in the beginning of a publicity tour for my new book, Die Fat or Get Tough: 101 Differences in Thinking Between Fat People and Fit People. You can see the Today Show and FOX interviews at www.diefatbook.com  My challenge to this week is to listen to this post and think about how you can use…

• Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Interview Steve Siebold on NBC’s Today Show Tuesday, August 4, 2009 at 10:30am EST

  steve

  3 Aug 2009 | 8:20 am

  I’m headed to New York to be a guest on the NBC’s Today Show. My good friend Mark Victor Hansen was thier guest today, and he was dynamite as usual. The interview started out being centered around my new book, Die Fat or Get Tough: 101 Differences in Thinking Between Fat People and Fit People. There have been dozens of news stories written about the book around the country, and many of them have chosen to demonize the messenger instead of evaluating the message. This is classic middle class thinking, which the press is not immune to. That being said, I’m expecting a very fair interview…

• The Holy Grail of Keynote Speaking

  steve

  10 Jul 2009 | 9:56 am

  The professional speaking business is loaded with misinformation and misconceptions. The biggest may be that the business is all about marketing.  While sales and marketing is critical, you MUST have a GREAT product to get great results. Many new speakers are being told you don’t have to be good to get booked, and that’s an outright lie. Corporations aren’t stupid, and they’re not going to pay thousands of dollars per hour for an amateur speaker posing as a professional. Make sure you’re good before you start marketing. Listen to this post and learn what I see…

• 
  Visual, Verbal and Nonverbal Communication

• Where are the Great Women Orators?

  16 Nov 2009 | 12:47 pm

  Turning over my keyboard this week to ZMF colleauge Bill Grimes. Who would make your list of great female orators? Comment below and let us hear your list. Talk to you soon ... TZThere are, and have been, great orators who happen to be women; Susan B. Anthony, Margaret Thatcher, Barbara Jordan, Hillary Clinton, to name a few. But male orators, past and present, far outnumber the women. Historian Philip Gavin’s Great Speeches Collection lists sixty-five speeches – three were given by women. University of Texas at Tyler Communications Professor Michael Eidenmuller’s list of the 100…

• Lie To Me

  21 Oct 2009 | 8:56 am

  I'm back .. thanks for being patient while I was away ... interested to hear what you have to say about this topic. Theresa Yesterday, my son lied to me, my business partner lied to me, my manfriend lied to me and a client lied to me (those are the ones I know for sure.) I am hoping that this was an unusual day. But the more I learn about our capacity to lie, the more I believe this happens to each of us every day, more than we would like to know. Research suggests that people lie approximately three times within 10 minutes of meeting someone new. In fact, one article I read last year…

• Tattoo This

  13 Oct 2009 | 6:11 am

  Hello Readers - ZMFer Alan Tuerkheimer is filling in with a guest blog for me since I have spent more time on airplanes than on laptops recently. Talk soon! Warmly, TheresaWho here thinks about the 1981 Rolling Stones album “Tattoo You” upon hearing the word “Tattoo” 28 years later? Probably not many. Probably not even the members of the Rolling Stones who released that album nearly three decades ago. Back in the ‘80s, my association with “Tattoo” was that album. Since then, society has undergone a rapid transformation from a time when tattoos were the exclusive body design of…

• More Thoughtless Communication

  14 Sep 2009 | 6:04 am

  Maybe my age is showing with my increased sensitivity to insensitivity. President Richard Levin of Yale was quoted in the New York Times this morning saying that he wrote an email to the Yale community stating “our hearts go out to Annie Le’s family, fiancé and friends, who must suffer the additional ordeal of waiting for the body to be identified.” For you regulars, you may recall a few weeks ago when I blasted a local industrial company for "announcing" a death as if it were a second moon landing. Could President Levin have found more appropriate language than "the body"? What pray…

• What’s in a Face?

  2 Sep 2009 | 1:10 pm

  Another guest post this week from fellow ZMFer Eliza Shepherd ... In a previous post, Theresa discussed the growing inquiry about the hit television show on Fox called “Lie to Me.” What makes the show so intriguing is that it is based off the work of Dr. Paul Ekman, a world-renown face reading expert and “human lie detector.” Through his research, Dr. Ekman found that “micro-expressions” (brief facial expressions) can reveal true emotions a person may be trying to conceal, such as deceit. Dr. Ekman’s work illustrates just how powerful and integral nonverbal cues are in…

• 
  Persuasive Communication and Life Skills

• What To Do With Your Bottled Up Feelings – Life Skills

  drkblog@gmail.com (Dr. Rick Kirschner)

  16 Nov 2009 | 12:01 am

  Today's post is about dealing with your bottled up feelings, and how to develop your emotional intelligence. It is in response to a comment I received on my blog a little while back, in which a... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Paved With Good Intentions – Why You Do What You Do, What You Can Do About It

  drkblog@gmail.com (Dr. Rick Kirschner)

  9 Nov 2009 | 12:01 am

  When your problems surface in your awareness as problems, I think you'll find it instructive and constructive to interpret your awareness of problems as signals from your subconscious that you’re... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• How Do We Resolve Conflict With Others? – Reply To A Reader

  drkblog@gmail.com (Dr. Rick Kirschner)

  2 Nov 2009 | 12:01 am

  I love the idea of resolving conflict instead of suffering it and making it worse. I frequently do this kind of work with my coaching clients and organizational clients. Effective communication is... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Bonus Post! Vitamin D and Elderberry for Influenza (H1N1 Infection)

  drkblog@gmail.com (Dr. Rick Kirschner)

  30 Oct 2009 | 1:12 am

  I hope this post helps calm you about the H1N1 virus that has so many people frightened these days, and that you can use this information for your own health and peace of mind. The post is a little... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Dealing With Your Reaction To Criticism – Response to A Reader

  drkblog@gmail.com (Dr. Rick Kirschner)

  26 Oct 2009 | 1:01 am

  By identifying a good internal response ahead of time and then rehearsing it a bit in the privacy of your own mind, you can give yourself the advantage of being prepared, and the other person the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• 
  Digital Roam

• "Drawing is how I think" - Milton Glaser

  dr@digitalroam.com

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:38 am

  Whether you think you can draw or not, it's worth watching this short clip of award-wining designer Milton Glaser talking about the importance of drawing as a life skill. (While drawing, of course.) MILTON GLASER DRAWS & LECTURES from C. Coy on Vimeo.Select quotes from Milton:Drawing is how I think.Accuracy is the least important part of drawing.Art schools have abandoned drawing in order to make time for all the software they have to teach. We get what we need for our professional life but don't have an instrument for understanding the reality of life.

• Napkins in Seattle

  dr@digitalroam.com

  8 Nov 2009 | 11:45 am

  I'm up in Seattle today to give the opening keynote at the 2009 Society for Information Management SIMPosium. While preparing, I came across a wonderful back-of-the-napkin story. It turns out that Seattle's most famous landmark, the Space Needle, owes it's origin to a simple sketch drawn by a one-time gas station attendant, seaman, and hat salesman named Edward Carlson. By 1955, Edward, a Tacoma native and classic "self-made man", had become a successful hotel manager in Seattle. To boost civic pride, he undertook a feasibility study to determine whether Seattle could…

• The Health Care Rollercoaster Unplugged

  dr@digitalroam.com

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:18 am

  Time for a ride on the health care roller coaster again. Only this time forget about the Senate Finance Committee; we're talking the Big Dipper on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Next Thursday, Nov. 12, the Health Improvement Partnership of Santa Cruz County has invited me to share my health care napkins at their gala event. Join me and Healthy Kids of Santa Cruz County for a rolling ride through the ups and downs of H.R.3200, The Baucus Bill, Nancy Pelosi's new price tag... and of course, solving problems with pictures.Thursday, Nov. 12, 6:00 - 8:00pm. The Dream Inn at 175 West Cliff…

• Health care napkins take top honors

  dr@digitalroam.com

  29 Sep 2009 | 4:14 pm

  I'm excited that the health care napkins I created with Tony Jones have just been announced as the "World's Best Presentation 2009" by Slideshare.net and Business Week. It tells us a lot about the power of simple pictures that over 100,000 people have viewed the slides. After all, this is a PowerPoint presentation about health care; what in the world could possibly be more boring? Yet by making it visual, simple and clear, people don't mind taking the time to look it over.Healthcare Napkins AllView more documents from Dan Roam.This is the real lesson for all of us who need to present…

• Scaling the Grand Hyatt SF

  dr@digitalroam.com

  4 Sep 2009 | 5:15 pm

  On Sept. 23 I'll be talking and drawing at the SF Chapter of the American Marketing Association. I hope to touch on: Solving any problem with a picture. How anyone can draw. The best 2 business pictures ever made. (Einstein drew one of them.) Reception starts at 6:00pm at the Grand Hyatt, drawing on napkins starts at 7:00. Thanks Mark Evans for setting this up. Hope to see you at the Hyatt, right off Union Square.Register here.

• 
  The Accidental Communicator

• Hey Baby, Come Here Often?

  Dr. Jim Anderson

  16 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pm

  Image Credit What's A Nice Girl / Guy Like You Doing In A Place Like This? Just like a cheesy pick-up line, the first words that come out of your mouth when you are giving a speech will determine if you are going to get lucky with this audience. Unlike a wanna-be Casanova in a bar, you (normally) don’t have an opportunity to buy your audience a drink, so you’re going to have work extra hard to make your opening lines do all the work for you if you want to have any hope of sweeping the audience off of their feet. How are you going to score? The 4 Questions That Every Audience…

• Never Give A Speech Without Having A Potato

  Dr. Jim Anderson

  9 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pm

  Every Speaker Must Respect The Power Of A Potato Bored audiences will get up and walk out of your speeches. How would you keep the attention of 400+ engineers who were attending an industry dinner event that they didn’t really want to be at on a weekday evening? I recently had the opportunity to be the master of ceremonies at such an event – great gig, tough crowd. The banquet’s master of ceremonies (MC) last year had tried very hard, but had ended up not being able to hold the crowd’s attention and they had started to leave before the event was even half over. This…

• Act Up Or Sit Down!

  Dr. Jim Anderson

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pm

  Photo CreditIf You Aren't Acting While You Are Speaking, Then Sit Down When I come to hear you speak, no matter if it’s at a departmental project status report or at a local restaurant or even if it was at a convention, the worst thing that you can do is to waste my time. What are you going to do about this? Why So Many Speakers Suck Let’s be frank here – most speakers that you listen to really aren’t that good. In fact, the ones that we think are good may not really be all that good – they may just be better than the ones who are really bad! What’s…

• Speaker Alert: Make Me Laugh — Or Else

  Dr. Jim Anderson

  26 Oct 2009 | 9:01 pm

  Make Your Audiences Laugh And They'll Remember What You Say Stop. How funny was the last speech that you gave? What – you were talking about how best to diversify a 401k basket of investments in order to incorporate more foreign exchange funds & there’s nothing funny about that? Wrong. You’re not trying hard enough. Stop being not funny. Learn To Be Funny From A Politician Every speech counts. Especially if you are trying to get elected. If there was any group of speakers who needed to find a way to get people to remember them & their message, it would be…

• How Boys Can Talk To Girls (And Visa Versa)

  Dr. Jim Anderson

  19 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Reaching An Audience Of The Opposite Sex Can Be Difficult (c) - 2008 by Steve Hopson Man, as though giving a speech wasn’t hard enough already, then you go ahead and throw that gender thing in there and all of a sudden it gets that much tougher! It can be a challenge when you are asked to talk to an audience made up of members of the opposite gender. How can you not screw-up this speech? Boys Talking To Girls Male presenters need to adapt their speeches when they are presenting to a primarily female audience. Neil Chethik has a great deal of experience presenting to female audience and…

• 
  The Campaign Spot on National Review Online

• That Was Then, This Was Now -- By: Jim Geraghty

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:49 am

  Americans for Tax Reform has found 16 separate new taxes, tax increases, and eliminations of tax deductions in the Senate version of the health-care bill. As Keith Hennessey notes, this bill would violate, again, Barack Obama's promise that he would not raise taxes on those making less than $250,000. (He already broke that promise by raising tobacco taxes, but I guess that's the thing about breaking promises -- it gets easier with experience.)

• A Hilarious Anti-Harry-Reid Ad That Probably Won't Last Long -- By: Jim Geraghty

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:25 am

  This ad from Danny Tarkanian, candidate for Senate in Nevada, is hilarious, depicting X-Files' agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully investigating Harry Reid's "missing congressional districts." Go watch it right now, as it will also probably be pulled very quickly, unless Tarkanian obtained the rights to use clips from "The X-Files." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid isn't directly responsible for nonexistent congressional districts cropping up in Recovery.gov, but he certainly did pledge that the government would spend the money wisely and openly with great accountabilty. (HT: Watchdog.org.)

• Fox Finds No Significant Wrongdoing in Henhouse -- By: Jim Geraghty

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:15 am

  The Senate Ethics Committee has "found that [Illinois Sen. Roland] Burris's sworn affidavit and testimony before the Illinois House of Representatives as to how he was appointed were inconsistent, incomplete and misleading." Naturally, they have responded to this serious violation -- close to perjury, one would think -- with a letter of "Qualified Admonition." Apparently they thought a letter of reprimand would be too tough.

• There Is No Plan B. -- By: Jim Geraghty

  20 Nov 2009 | 7:36 am

  We find ourselves dealing with the frightening realization that with the Obama administration, there is no Plan B. There are a lot of unemployed folks out there. A lot more are worried about their jobs, a lot more are wondering how they're going to pay their mortgages, their rent, their grocery bills. Last year, when people first started to really worry, they elected Barack Obama to the presidency. Not my choice, but I hope he can make the situation better instead of worse. Obama's first crack at improving the economy was the stimulus, and we’ve lost three million more jobs since it passed.

• Thrown Hats Are Landing in Rings in Iowa, Minnesota, and Connecticut -- By: Jim Geraghty

  20 Nov 2009 | 7:05 am

  A few more aspiring Republican congressmen have made their bids official. In Iowa, former Iowa State University wrestling coach Jim Gibbons will run against Democrat Leonard Boswell.In Minnesota, Allen Quist, a "retired college teacher and rural farm owner -- who also served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1982 to 1988 -- announced Thursday that he will challenge DFL Rep. Tim Walz for his First District congressional seat." In Connecticut, "former Bridgeport mayoral hopeful Rick Torres has joined the growing field of Republican contenders hoping to take on freshman Democratic…

• 
  washingtonpost.com - George F. Will Archive

• George F. Will: Fossil fuels belie environmentalism

  George F. Will

  21 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

  What city contributed most to the making of the modern world? The Paris of the Enlightenment and then of Napoleon, pioneer of mass armies and nationalist statism? London, seat of parliamentary democracy and center of finance? Or perhaps Titusville, Pa.

• George F. Will on health reform's constitutional problems

  George F. Will

  18 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

  PHOENIX

• George F. Will on the discounting of a famed war photo

  George F. Will

  14 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

  NEW YORK T he 20th century was 100 years of amplitude. It overflowed with barbarous fighting faiths, wars enveloping continents, and graphic journalism assaulting global audiences with scenes of shocking immediacy. The Spanish Civil War, although small in terms of the number of combatants, was perhaps the century's emblematic conflict. As a rehearsal for the Second World War, Spain's agony became a proxy struggle between fascism and communism, with democracy crushed in the middle. And for perhaps the first time, pictures supplemented and sometimes supplanted words as primary shapers of…

• George F. Will on debt and the dollar

  George F. Will

  11 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

  One of the many television commercials exhorting viewers to buy gold says solemnly that it is an asset whose value "has never dropped to zero," a boast that surely sets a record for minimalism. Still, the world's appetite for gold as an investment option is intensifying. Last month, India purchased 200 tons of gold at $1,045 an ounce, before the price topped $1,108 on Monday. China, too, may increasingly diversify from paper -- i.e., bonds -- into gold, the price of which, some experienced investors believe, could soar to $2,500 an ounce in three to five years. One reason for all this is U.S.

• George F. Will on the changing climate for a global warming treaty

  George F. Will

  7 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

  Intelligent people agree that, absent immediate radical action regarding global warming, the human race is sunk. That is a tautology because those who do not agree are, definitionally, unintelligent. Britain's intelligent prime minister, Gordon Brown, gives scary precision to the word "immediate." By his reckoning, humanity now has about 30 days to save itself. He says that unless a decisive agreement is reached at the 192-nation summit on climate change that opens Dec. 7 in Copenhagen, all is lost.

• 
  TSG Speakers Bureau Blog

• Conscious Capitalism: Transforming the Way We Think About Business

  TSGspeakers

  30 Oct 2009 | 7:34 am

  Business today needs a new paradigm, because “business as usual” is just not working anymore. Environmental consciousness is exploding; public distrust of business is at an historic high; many employees and customers are disconnected from the companies they work for or buy from; suppliers feel squeezed; communities often organize to keep certain businesses out. The [...]

• Hire a Horrible Speaker in Six Easy Steps

  TSGspeakers

  20 Oct 2009 | 11:44 am

  photo credit: markhillary STEP ONE: Look only locally to save travel expenses. STEP TWO: Choose a speaker based on the theme of your event. STEP THREE: Read a book and hire the author to present the content. STEP FOUR: Base your search on price. STEP FIVE: Make name-recognition the top priority in your search. STEP SIX: Do it yourself.   Google [...]

• Need Help Finding the Right Speakers for Your Event? That’s What We Do!

  TSGspeakers

  8 Oct 2009 | 7:40 am

  photo credit: Rob Shenk What’s your greatest challenge when booking speakers for your meetings? We’ve been asking that question of our clients and others who plan meetings lately and by far, the answer we hear most often is something to the effect of “finding speakers who fit my needs, objectives and budget.” If you feel [...]

• FedEx and The Speakers Group: Helping You Achieve Your Goals

  TSGspeakers

  5 Oct 2009 | 10:08 am

  // This little company in the video is ready to go global. They couldn’t do it alone, though. The manager knew he needed a great shipping partner like FedEx, and some extra motivation from one Mr. Dick Butkus. What are your big plans for closing out 2009 or kicking off 2010? Is a great shipping partner [...]

• Capitalism: A Love Story – The Missing Chapter

  TSGspeakers

  2 Oct 2009 | 5:15 am

  Michael Moore’s newest movie, Capitalism: A Love Story – which opens in theaters nationwide today – spotlights what Moore calls “the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans.” Jeff Klein, author of Working for Good: Making a Difference While Making a Living, offers a  contrasting, more hopeful perspective with his [...]

• 
  Speakersite.com: Artie Isaac

• FEATURED ON SPEAKERSITE: Larry Edmonds

  Artie Isaac

  In the heat of the summer, I found a cheap ticket to Phoenix. (Go figure.) Plus, the big NSA Conference was going on there, so I thought I should be in town. I sent a message to the SpeakerSite members in Arizona: let's meet for lunch. Whaddya know. About a dozen of us met at the fancy schmanzy Arizona Biltmore for a lovely lunch. Who Cares?We did — and you might. Sharing on SpeakerSite is nice and sharing in person is twice as nice. We could all stand to learn a little more from each other. So, I'm going to profile the folks who came to lunch that day. Perhaps, by looking into their…

• How Was My Speech Delivery?

  Artie Isaac

  A friend and I were exchanging critiques on our performances last week as public speakers. In critiquing my friend's expert presentation, I wrote him mainly about the content and structure of his arguments. As an English major, I'm mainly focused on the rhetoric, rather than the delivery. Well, my friend followed-up this morning, specifically seeking advice on his delivery. He wrote: All of your points give me more ideas on how to make my next presentation better, and that's the goal for me: to become the best speaker I can be, to inspire others, educate them on relevant ideas, make sure I am…

• What A Good Weenie Can Do: How Each Of Us Can Strengthen SpeakerSite

  Artie Isaac

  My head is spinning following yesterday's SpeakerSite Weenie Festival and Reunion of Speakers. (Happily, my stomach is not spinning. The hot dogs landed beautifully.) We had a great time. I'll post a few photos as soon as receive them from the other folks. But some of the conversation, I'll share right now. Top Topics With so many clever, expressive folks sitting around a table, there were many topics of conversation. People shared their insights into their own subjects: financial planning, health and wellness, Alfred Hitchcock and women, the meaning of life, leadership, Myers-Briggs, and…

• FEATURED ON SPEAKERSITE: Jeff Knott

  Artie Isaac

  SpeakerSite welcomes all members — especially Jeff Knott from Apollo Beach, Florida — a featured member on SpeakerSite! Want to know more about Jeff? Here you go... Nine Quick Questions With Jeff Knott You can read all about Jeff on his SpeakerSite profile. Also, I asked Jeff nine more questions. Here are his answers: 1. Why did you join SpeakerSite? I believe I was among the first 800 members. I was attracted to the professionalism and experience of the members. Plus, Artie, I saw that you were from Columbus and my whole family are Buckeyes — what more do I need to say! 2. What hopes…

• Chris Brogan on "Tuning Up Your Personal Message"

  Artie Isaac

  He's at it again. Making sense. Click here.

• 
  The Public Speaker's Quick and Dirty Tips for Improving Your Communication Skills

• 069 TPS How to Make a Speech Memorable

  QuickAndDirtyTips.com

  19 Nov 2009 | 3:05 pm

  Questions go to publicspeaker@quickanddirtytips.com or 206-350-7970. Like what you hear? Help us out by writing a review at iTunes!

• 068 TPS How to Write Better LinkedIn Recommendations

  QuickAndDirtyTips.com

  12 Nov 2009 | 3:05 pm

  Questions go to publicspeaker@quickanddirtytips.com or 206-350-7970. Like what you hear? Help us out by writing a review at iTunes!

• 067 TPS How to Talk With Someone Who Has Lost Someone

  QuickAndDirtyTips.com

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:05 pm

  Questions go to publicspeaker@quickanddirtytips.com or 206-350-7970. Like what you hear? Help us out by writing a review at iTunes!

• 066 TPS The Elevator Pitch - Presenting Ideas Quickly

  QuickAndDirtyTips.com

  29 Oct 2009 | 4:05 pm

  Questions go to publicspeaker@quickanddirtytips.com or 206-350-7970. Like what you hear? Help us out by writing a review at iTunes!

• 065 TPS Secrets to Sounding Conversational

  QuickAndDirtyTips.com

  22 Oct 2009 | 4:05 pm

  Questions go to publicspeaker@quickanddirtytips.com or 206-350-7970. Like what you hear? Help us out by writing a review at iTunes!

• 
  Power Presentations

• Hiatus

  The Power Presentations blog began a hiatus on Monday, November 15. We will resume on Monday, November 30 with a new article, All the Bells and Whistles: Human Touch versus Technology Touch. Subsequent titles of articles to come are: The Elephant The Whole of the Presentation Is Greater Than the ...

• Obama’s Oratory Is Not Enough

  Last Sunday, the New York Times ran an article by Peter Baker, their political correspondent, who questioned whether President Barack Obama’s widely-recognized oratorical skills were being diluted by overexposure. Baker tracked the increasing frequency of the number of times presidents speak publicly from Harry S. Truman’s average of 88 times ...

• Campaign Coaching II

  In the previous post, you read that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg poured $90 million of his own money into his re-election campaign but, leaving no stone unturned, he also made three significant changes in his presentation style to overcome a reputation that the New York Times described as ...

• Campaign Coaching

  Last week, billionaire Michael Bloomberg won his campaign for a third term as the Mayor of New York City, but only by a surprisingly close margin. According to the report of his victory in the New York Times, “Published polls in the days leading up to the election suggested that ...

• Presentation Advice from Painter Norman Rockwell

  One of the Wall Street Journal’s most interesting features is their weekly “Anatomy of a Masterpiece,” where noted authorities analyze classic works in their fields: literature, architecture, music, and art. Recent offerings have focused respectively on Samuel Johnson’s 1759 novel Rasselas, St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Dmitri Shostakovich’s “24 ...

• 
  Matt Eventoff

• The Truth About Public Speaking

  Matt

  10 Nov 2009 | 5:54 am

  There is a saying in boxing that holds true for public speaking – “Styles Make Fights.”  Styles also make presentations, speeches and media appearances – every person is unique and every person has a unique style, something that works for them.  This is why I have always felt that the idea that you can become a great orator after reading a book on public speaking is like being prepared to go on the Tour de France after reading a book on bicycling– not really possible. I have worked with speakers in situations where every “traditional” rule” for media training and…

• How To Talk To Terrorists…

  Matt

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:11 am

  “People who are carrying out such heinous crimes, they want to shake our resolve. And I want to address them. We will not buckle. We will fight you. We will fight you because we want stability and peace in Pakistan. You are on the run, and we know that. We defeated you in Swat and Malakand. And the brave soldiers and officers of the Pakistan army will defeat you in Waziristan. You think by attacking innocent people and lives, you will shake our determination? No, sir, you will not. We will be more determined to fight you and defeat you for our own reasons, because we have a vision for…

• Entrepreneurs Behaving Badly?

  Matt

  19 Oct 2009 | 5:24 am

  Breaking news….If you are a startup pursuing funding, you have more in common with a politician or athlete caught behaving badly then you might think.  A politician caught misbehaving, an athlete photographed doing something he or she shouldn’t be doing, or a celebrity who finds that one heated moment has turned into tabloid fodder for weeks on end all have one thing in common – how they communicate will likely determine whether the incident is a speed bump or a career ender. So what does this have to do with entrepreneurs pursuing VC funding? Everything! Crisis communications is…

• Becoming CEO via Text Message

  Matt

  14 Oct 2009 | 2:41 pm

  Gerry Storch, former night news, sports and business editor of USA Today, and now editor of a new combination of blog/book called Ourblook, recently interviewed me regarding social media, journalism and the future of online communication: You work with corporate execs, politicians and other leaders in public speaking … what to say and how to say it. How do social media such as Facebook, Twitter, texting, etc. figure into this? ME: Social media are an integral part of communicating today, and will evolve. The single biggest question I hear, whether from a political or business…

• Online Communication – Email is Not Dead

  Matt

  12 Oct 2009 | 2:49 pm

  Elie Saidman, a friend and a very succesful entreprenuer, had a great post on his blog this morning that I not only found very interesting, but completely agree with.  Email’s impending death has been written about ad nauseum, and never seems to come. Email has been, and in my opinion will continue to be, the dominant online communication medium of choice.  Here is Elie’s post: Email is not dead – be careful the Silicon Valley koolaid that you drinkby Elie Seidman on October 12, 2009 Jessica Vascellaro (of lipsyncing fame), the WSJ’s Silicon Valley reporter, has an…

• 
  Can You Hear Me Up the Back?

• 10 Great Lines Rewritten For Today’s Manager

  Ian

  18 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pm

  “I am the benchmark!” Ever wondered why some quotes live on for decades? The great ones use clear, vivid words. Words everyone can understand and relate to. Just because you’re in management doesn’t mean you can’t aspire to greatness in what you say. Every jargon word you add dulls your message and acts as a barrier to understanding. Just one can be enough to kill a sentence stone dead. Let’s take 10 immortal lines and add a single phrase from the MBA phrasebook. You be the judge. 1. “That’s one small step for a man, one giant positive outcome…

• Misguided message fails to stop spread of germs

  Ian

  16 Nov 2009 | 5:41 pm

  They’ve built an excellent new library just around the corner from my office. It has free wireless and looks like some kind of Apple flagship store, so it’s quite a pleasant spot to do some work when you need a change of scenery. In the bathroom, though, is this patronising piece of committee-driven communication. It’s not a presentation, but it’s instructive to think of it as a single PowerPoint slide trying to get an important message across. That message is: wash your hands. That’s an important message. Lots of people don’t wash their hands. Some of them…

• Screens in Your Magazines

  Ian

  12 Nov 2009 | 3:22 am

  For an audiovisual company blog, we don’t run much material about audiovisual technology, because our clients and presenters aren’t really interested in the technical detail of our projectors. But wait for it, here’s something interesting about screens! Americhip, a US company that does ’sensory’ marketing tools like those scratch & sniff strips in magazines, has developed a tiny video screen that can sit inside a magazine and play your client’s ads. They’ve just launched it with a campaign for Pepsi. Yes, a working video screen stuck into the…

• Top 5 Soul-Destroying Audience Lines

  Ian

  9 Nov 2009 | 4:13 pm

  No offence, but of all the people who read this blog, you are the most dim-witted, banjo-pickin’, web-fingered, snaggle-toothed, snuff-munching inbred that ever managed to read a computer screen. Hey, no offence! What is it that makes people come out with lines like these in meetings and presentations? As if the magic preface ‘no offence’ gives them total diplomatic immunity to trample all over your ideas without anyone finding it rude or obstructive. As if, as the great communicator and NASCAR hero Ricky Bobby noted in Talladega Nights, it’s enshrined in the Geneva…

• Win Designer Sunglasses For Making Stuff Up

  Ian

  5 Nov 2009 | 1:25 pm

  Are you a cool person? Neither am I, but that doesn’t matter in Scene Change’s Australia’s Coolest Event Person award contest. Most event industry awards involve writing thesis-length submissions and getting written references. Not this one, you can just make stuff up. And the more far-fetched the claim, the better. Then all you have to do to win deluxe designer sunglasses is get people to vote for you. Learn how it works here, then enter and vote via the Fans of Scene Change Facebook page. There’s one set of $350 sunglasses to win every week for 4 weeks. Sorry…

• 
  Professionally Speaking

• Presentations: What To Wear

  Kathy Reiffenstein

  10 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

  "I base most of my fashion sense on what doesn't itch" ~~ Gilda Radner If asked, most of us would say we want to look our best when we are at the front of a room, presenting to a group of people. However, in the flurry of pulling content together, finishing slides and producing handouts, we don't always give enough thought to the role our clothes play in our presentation. Now I'm not advocating buying a new outfit every time you give a presentation (although...if you need an excuse...), but choosing appropriate clothing can help you feel more confident in front of an audience and can ensure…

• Presentation Tip: The Difficult Speech

  Kathy Reiffenstein

  3 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

  Every so often we are called upon to make a difficult speech...you know the kind I mean. It might be a speech informing your employees that budgets are being cut by 25% and layoffs are required; it might be one where you communicate that the incentive trip everyone worked so hard for is canceled; it might be announcing to your faithful supporters than you are withdrawing from the campaign.  How do you deliver these kinds of messages with grace, poise and confidence? Be Clear and ConciseYour tendency may be to ramble around, avoiding the tough, stark facts. Or to use euphemisms to sugar coat…

• 10 Tips for Moderating a Panel

  Kathy Reiffenstein

  27 Oct 2009 | 2:14 pm

  Most of you would likely say that speaking on a panel is more difficult and requires more preparation than moderating one. And I'd say you're incorrect. The role of the moderator is critical to the success of the panel, success being defined as how much value both the audience and the panelists derive from the experience. Contrary to what some may think, the moderator doesn't just keep time or make sure that everyone gets an equal say. Here are 10 tips that will help moderators ensure that their audience stays engaged with the dialogue and their panelists stay on track. 1. Act as the…

• 10 Tips for Speaking on a Panel

  Kathy Reiffenstein

  21 Oct 2009 | 9:38 am

  I recently attended my local ASTD chapter meeting (www.dcastd.org) where a panel of CLOs talked about the role of global learning in tough economic times. I'm not usually a fan of panels, because they frequently appear disorganized with speakers rambling, cutting each other off and running out of time. But this panel was refreshingly different and very effective.  What made it so good? The moderator played a huge role and I'll cover tips for moderating a panel in the next post. But the speakers did some things very right. Here are the tips I uncovered: 1.  Stand in Your Audience's…

• Tips From the Acting Stage, Episode #3

  Kathy Reiffenstein

  14 Oct 2009 | 3:21 pm

  If you've ever attended live theatre, you know how riveting the experience can be, to the point where you feel you are right in the middle of the action on stage, aligned with the characters, experiencing their emotions. Have you ever wondered how the actors create such an engaging experience? And if you could figure it out, wouldn't you want to duplicate that engagement the next time you're on the business stage? Pshaw, you say, that's entertainment [well, perhaps you wouldn't say pshaw]. What does that have to do with a business person standing in front of a business audience, armed with…

• 
  Speak Without Interruption

• War is Peace (Big brother loves you)

  Prentiss Gray

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:40 am

  I’d love to have said it this well http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=war-is-peace&sc=DD_20091120

• Move Over Revivals- Can Broadway Get Something New?

  Minnette Coleman

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:21 am

  For many years now I have been avoiding Broadway shows. They cost too much and very few of them are original. Though I am glad to see performers getting paid work I wonder about those poor playwrights out there who will never get past seeing their works performed in community theatre or off-off Broadway because of producers’ fear of the new. It’s all about making money. I could stop here and you would understand the business end of it. People only want to invest in what they know will sell. We now have revivals of “Bye Bye Birdie” that opened on Broadway in 1960 and “A Little Night…

• I Need a New Crystal Ball – Mine is Broken

  Bob Grant - Editor

  20 Nov 2009 | 5:12 am

  On November 13th I sent a photo, to our contributors, of a Pumpkin Man making the ingredients for Pumpkin Pie.  At the suggestion of some of them I posted it on our site with a brief narrative http://www.speakwithoutinterruption.com/site/2009/11/how-pumpkin-pie-is-made/  Since that time – with all the great articles, and contributors, we have on our site this post has accumulated (to date) a little over 400 page views.  The next closest article – during this time period – has had only 57 page views.  I have no idea how viewers have found this posting or why it is so…

• Still Here After a Rough Year

  Peggy Noonan

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:01 am

  Still Here After a Rough Year We’re serving up a new gratitude this Thanksgiving. Last Thanksgiving, it looked as if a hard year was coming, and it was and it did. The holiday was shadowed by a sense of economic foreboding—Wall Street failing, companies falling and layoffs coming. It isn’t over—no one thinks it’s over. But the mood of this Thanksgiving looks to be different. An unofficial poll of a dozen friends yields two themes: “We’re still here,” and, “I am so grateful.” Almost all experienced business reverses, some of which were deep,…

• HOW ARE YOU (REALLY)?

  timbryce

  20 Nov 2009 | 3:55 am

  “How are you?” is a greeting we’ve been using for a long time and has spawned several mutations, such as the famous, “How ya doin?” The response is usually something like, “Fine, thank you.” Over the years though, we’ve changed our response to indicate elation, such as “Great!”, “Fabulous!”, “Super!”, “Wonderful!”, etc., or to denote depression, such as “Lousy,” “Horrible,” or “I could kill someone!” You can learn a lot about someone simply by how they answer the…

• 
  997 Ways to Be a Great Speaker

• Public Speaking – Six Strategies For Successfully Persuading Your Audience

  Cynthia Lay

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

  Persuading an audience, whether to buy your service or buy into your idea, is a common objective when speaking. And it differs in several ways from an informative presentation, where all you want is for your audience to walk away thinking, “Gee, that was interesting.” or “I never knew that.” But when you want to [...] Related posts:•5 Strategies For Delivering Presentations With Purpose and Passion•Persuasive Speaking•Effective Speaking – Captivate Your Audience

• Speaking Tips: Blogging for Speakers

  Cynthia Lay

  18 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

  What is the point of a blog? I’ve heard, read, and even asked this question myself in the past. In an early assessment, I thought that a blogger fell into one of these categories: 1. Someone who wanted to be discovered as a writer or reporter. 2. Someone with way too much free time on their hands. 3. [...] Related posts:•How Conference Professional Speakers Can Get Big Visibility With Authentic Marketing Messages•Professional Speakers – Create Brilliant Marketing Material•Public Speaking – 5 Tips For Writing an Engaging Speech

• Vocal Variety: A Goofy Exercise in Public Speaking

  Cynthia Lay

  16 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

  Practice your variation in pitch with the goofy exercise I’m about to share with you. Please note that although this may seem funny, may attract some attention, and may even get you committed if you do it at the wrong place & time, it works. Say a phrase – anything you want. It could be “Peter Piper [...] Related posts:•What Causes Vocal Hoarseness?•Want to Connect to Your Audience? Just Read Their Minds!•How to Use Your Voice Effectively

• Speaking Tips: 3 Mistakes to Have Fun With

  Cynthia Lay

  14 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

  Looking for a way to ruin that perfect speech? How about a tried-and-true method to disengage with your audience? Tired of people asking you to speak again? What if I told you that following just one bad course of action could help you with all of these goals? How much would you pay for that [...] Related posts:•Public Speaking – Top 10 Mistakes Visual Aids•5 Major Mistakes in Public Speaking•The Top 10 Deadly Mistakes You Can Make in Public Speaking – Avoid These at All Costs Or Fail!

• The 8 Worst Mistakes Public Speakers Can Make – Are Women Speakers More Likely to Make Them?

  Cynthia Lay

  12 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

  Do you remember being stuck in a room listening to a speech and thinking how bad the speaker was? I think we have all been there! Based on an informal survey of my own memories of what I thought and heard other listeners say, I came up with 8 most glaring mistakes made in public speaking: • [...] Related posts:•Public Speaking – Top 10 Mistakes Speakers Make•Public Speaking – Top 5 Mistakes Speakers Make While On Stage•5 Major Mistakes in Public Speaking

• 
  The Presentation Advisors

• Presenting and Public Speaking Do's and Don'ts

  Jonathan Thomas

  19 Nov 2009 | 9:24 pm

  A recent post over at the 6Minutes blog (by Andrew Dlugan, @6minutes) broke down some survey data gathered by Chris Brogan (@ChrisBrogan) about speaker Do's and Don'ts.  I thought the findings were GREAT and many of the responses were insightful and spot-on.  If you're a presentation newbie, this is one of the best resources to learn the best traits of effective presenters.  Some of my favorites were (my thoughts in italic): Involve the audience; Make your presentation a conversation (a.k.a. a two-way street) Focus on the message; avoid lengthy self-promotion Provide useful handouts (not…

• Is PowerPoint the Problem with Presentations Today?

  Jonathan Thomas

  18 Nov 2009 | 9:41 pm

  I won’t deny it - There are people who hate PowerPoint. They think it’s evil. They think it’s what’s wrong with presentations today. They say PowerPoint can distract, bore, and overload the audience with (often unnecessary) information. I disagree, however, there is some truth to their argument. I know that sounds strange coming from a presentation designer, but hear me out. PowerPoint presentations can be awful.  Just atrocious.  But PowerPoint as a software program is not the problem. PowerPoint is just a tool. When used for good, combined with a passionate presenter who has a…

• Do This Before Launching Your Presentation

  Jonathan Thomas

  17 Nov 2009 | 8:19 pm

  I rarely link to other blog posts in my own blog (I do it all the time on my twitter account), but I thought this would be very useful and wanted to pass it along to my readers.  Take a look at this post about what to do before you launch your PowerPoint or Keynote presentation to avoid any embarrassing mishaps.  It may save your presentation.

• Audience Members are from Venus, Presenters are from Mars

  Jonathan Thomas

  10 Nov 2009 | 9:10 pm

  It's an interesting occurrence when people ask what I "do".  When I tell them I'm a presentation designer or just simplify it to a presentation consultant, I get quizzical looks.  I "get" it. It's as if I just said I was a running consultant.  Everyone can run, just like "everyone" can create a presentation [using slideware like PowerPoint or Keynote].  Why would anyone want to consult on something that everyone can do.  I mean, how hard can it be?  Just type in the boxes that say "Click to add title" and add your title.  Throw some bullet points where it says "Click to add text" and…

• The Advantage of Depth instead of Width in a Presentation

  Jonathan Thomas

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:05 am

  A major fault of presentations that is seldom addressed is the tendency for most presenters to create presentations that are wide instead of deep.  Let me explain. If you're presenting something, anything, that usually means (I hope) you know a great deal about the subject.  To use a personal example, I've been playing volleyball for 13 years, coaching for nearly 10.  I know a great deal about the game, but often the players I'm coaching don't.  I could sit them down for hours and hours and teach them the game of volleyball.  Problem is,…

• 
  Dahle Communication

• Why are teachers the worst listeners?

  TD

  11 Nov 2009 | 7:21 am

  Being in the education world for a long time I have come to realize a few things. One of those is the simple fact that teachers are the absolute worst audience you will ever have. Its something I never thought would be possible. Teachers demand respect from their students and want them to make sure they are listening so they can learn something. In my aspects as a speech teacher, I always stress the importance of listening as a sign of respect to the person speaking. Unfortunately as teachers, we must have missed that lesson.Let me give you an example. During staff meetings the principal is…

• Mercator versus Peters Projection - why change is a difficult process

  TD

  26 Oct 2009 | 6:18 am

  When I was growing up studying geography, my school, like every other school in the world, used what is referred to as the Mercator Map. This map, as shown above, is something that you will probably recognize. I thought this map was correct. Why would we be studying something that was wrong? It had to be correct. Then I saw an interesting episode of The West Wing and it forced me to re-think what I thought I knew. The episode had a fictitious group (the Cartographers for Social Justice) present to some staff members the problems with the Mercator map and why it should be replaced with…

• Stay true to yourself when speaking - a lesson from Alice In Chains

  TD

  20 Oct 2009 | 5:58 am

  Growing up in the 1990's meant that I grew up with certain music: Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden and Alice In Chains. Each band had their own distinct sound but were lumped together into the "grunge" genre because of their timing and where they came from. I was never a big Nirvana fan but loved Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice In Chains. Over the years, I saw Soundgarden break up and with the death of Alice In Chains lead singer Layne Staley they broke up as well.Much to my surprise though, Alice In Chains has re-grouped with a new singer and put out a new album. I wasn't…

• Pick up "How to Win a Pitch" if you want to succeed

  TD

  19 Oct 2009 | 6:05 am

  One of the great things that has happened to me over the past year has been getting to know all of the immensely talented individuals in the communication world. People like Brent Duncan with Marketing in Progress, Jan Schultink at Slides That Stick and Jon Thomas at Presentation Advisors to name just a few.Several months ago, Joey Asher asked me if I would be interested in looking over his book 'How to Win a Pitch' and talk about it on my blog. I was flattered that he had thought of me and was more than happy to do it. Unfortunately I got caught up in too much stuff for a while…

• Do we all need an editor?

  TD

  5 Oct 2009 | 7:02 am

  While listening to the NFL pre-game shows on ESPN Radio on Sunday I realized something. The age of twitter, blogs and social media in general has created a paradox of sorts. All of us can within seconds share our thoughts with the world - that's the good news. The bad news - all of us can within seconds share our thoughts with the world!Larry Fitzgerald, a wide-receiver for the Arizona Cardinals, is a super-star. He is regarded as one of the best wide-receivers in the game. After one game, his brother tweeted some not so nice things about the Cardinals quarterback. Needless to say it…

• 
  Speaking Pro Central

• What goes on the last slide?

  21 Nov 2009 | 9:59 am

  A subscriber wrote me, “I have a question to which I have received as many answers as people I have asked: What content goes on the last slide? Do I end with ‘Thank You!,’ 8217; ‘Questions/Comments?,’ 8217; or “The End?’ 

• Politico Effect: Cuts at WAPO

  21 Nov 2009 | 7:12 am

  Call it The Politico Effect.  0160; That operation has established the winning formula for covering politics.  0160; It's a speeded-up metabolism and not missing a trick.  0160; Regarding the latter, every development is presented and often deconstructed for implications.

• Ten Fatal flaws of public speaking

  21 Nov 2009 | 6:50 am

  In this article, Ten Fatal Flaws Frequently Found from the Podium, Sandra Schrift lists 10 basics to success in public speaking.  They They may seem obvious, and yet in the focus on writing and delivering a speech, they can be overloooked.  Well Well worth a look - just to be reminded ! ...Tags:

• That Over-Emotionality: Oprah ends as she begun

  21 Nov 2009 | 6:06 am

  Oprah was a creature of her time: The age of over-emotionality.  0160; Everything was not only to feel but let those feelings rip.  0160; Then we tired of that and times got hard.  0160; With a heartfelt and some tears, Oprah said good-bye. 

• How To Write A LinkedIn Recommendation

  20 Nov 2009 | 3:04 pm

  Last year Chris Brogan talked about the elements of a good LinkedIn recommendation.  Of course, I have my own thoughts on this.  So, this week on The Public Speaker I talk about how to write better LinkedIn recommendations.  Here are the highlights but if you’d like to listen to the full details go here :

• 
  The Strategic Communicator

• How to Pump Yourself Up Before a Presentation During a Slump

  Sharí Alexander

  11 Nov 2009 | 4:17 am

  The day will come when you have to give a great presentation and you’re not feelin’ your mojo. In this podcast I cover 5 tricks I use to bring up my energy and feel my best before getting on the platform. Powered by Podbean.com

• How Poor Communications Is Costly to Your Business

  Sharí Alexander

  9 Nov 2009 | 4:43 am

  Poor Communication Skills Costly to Businesses I often talk about the importance of effective communication and presentation skills. I usually focus on what the benefits are for your business. Today I realized that perhaps some companies aren’t aware of the cost of poor communication skills. I believe that this must be the case – a general unawareness – because businesses are not focusing enough (or any) of their development efforts in this area. Today, allow me to make it very clear how your business suffers because of underdeveloped employees and poor communication skills.

• Improving Presentation Skills Without Judgment

  Sharí Alexander

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:18 am

  Ever wondered how weight loss is just like presentation skills? No? Me neither – until today. This month I re-started a very rigorous work out routine (P90X). This is my second time with the 90 day program. I only made it through 60 days at the beginning of this year. Since then, I’ve worked out occasionally, but within the last few weeks I’ve hardly worked out at all and have enjoyed many tasty foods. I’m sure you can imagine the result. I have been thinking about beginning the workout program for quite a while now, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. Why?

• Sharing Your Lessons from Tough Times

  Sharí Alexander

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:21 am

  Latest Podcast from Shari’ Alexander: Your greatness is born from tough times. In this episode, Shari’ Alexander shares how to turn your current struggles into a great story someday. Powered by Podbean.com

• Networking for Introverts

  Sharí Alexander

  2 Nov 2009 | 5:41 am

  by JOH_3164 Wondering how to overcome shyness when networking? Not a fan of approaching complete strangers? Don’t feel the urge to deliver your 30 second elevator pitch right after saying hello to someone? Don’t feel like listing off the benefits of your services to someone who unwittingly asked what you do for a living? Networking for introverts has never been easy. Don’t worry. You’re not alone. Not all of us feel comfortable being a “power networker” – which somehow has translated into being a pushy conversationalist. Networking is not nor has it…

• 
  John C. Maxwell

• johncmaxwell: Spoke this evening for Ohio State football team chapel. Great time! Tomorrow: the game against Michigan. Go Bucks!

  20 Nov 2009 | 7:16 pm

  johncmaxwell: Spoke this evening for Ohio State football team chapel. Great time! Tomorrow: the game against Michigan. Go Bucks!

• johncmaxwell: Now I'm on the bus to MI w the Ohio State Buckeyes. I speak for them tonight. Beat Michigan!

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:15 pm

  johncmaxwell: Now I'm on the bus to MI w the Ohio State Buckeyes. I speak for them tonight. Beat Michigan!

• johncmaxwell: Looking forward to Ohio State vs Michigan game tomorrow. Go Bucks!

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:01 pm

  johncmaxwell: Looking forward to Ohio State vs Michigan game tomorrow. Go Bucks!

• johncmaxwell: It's not the size of the project that determines its acceptance, support & success. It's the size of the leader.

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:02 am

  johncmaxwell: It's not the size of the project that determines its acceptance, support & success. It's the size of the leader.

• johncmaxwell: Today I'm on my way to Ohio w Jerry Anderson & Tom Mullins. Great company, looking forward to a great day.

  20 Nov 2009 | 5:01 am

  johncmaxwell: Today I'm on my way to Ohio w Jerry Anderson & Tom Mullins. Great company, looking forward to a great day.

• 
  Machen MacDonald

• MachenMacDonald: Leadership is a choice!

  1 Nov 2009 | 10:03 am

  MachenMacDonald: Leadership is a choice!

• MachenMacDonald: 4th Q Business Projection: People will go right on preferring to do business with friends.

  9 Oct 2009 | 3:22 pm

  MachenMacDonald: 4th Q Business Projection: People will go right on preferring to do business with friends.

• MachenMacDonald: 4th Q business projection: Business will go where invited & remain where appreciated.

  9 Oct 2009 | 2:46 pm

  MachenMacDonald: 4th Q business projection: Business will go where invited & remain where appreciated.

• MachenMacDonald: Learn to become unconditionally constructive.

  9 Oct 2009 | 11:39 am

  MachenMacDonald: Learn to become unconditionally constructive.

• MachenMacDonald: Get a fulfilling life, not just an impressive lifestyle.

  9 Oct 2009 | 10:53 am

  MachenMacDonald: Get a fulfilling life, not just an impressive lifestyle.

• 
  Andrew Windham

• AndrewWindham: @PaulTTran much apprec. happy to have great friends like you paul and @ryanangelo

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:56 am

  AndrewWindham: @PaulTTran much apprec. happy to have great friends like you paul and @ryanangelo

• AndrewWindham: @AlexKaris i would be ok w/o at this point...more trouble than worth

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:56 am

  AndrewWindham: @AlexKaris i would be ok w/o at this point...more trouble than worth

• AndrewWindham: RT @JamesBrandly: @AndrewWindham sharing time with the family is a must. No other way for Thanksgiving. Have a gr8 Thanksgiving! Be safe. :)

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:55 am

  AndrewWindham: RT @JamesBrandly: @AndrewWindham sharing time with the family is a must. No other way for Thanksgiving. Have a gr8 Thanksgiving! Be safe. :)

• AndrewWindham: @AllisonNazarian we and in me and you or who is the "we" you speak of

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:54 am

  AndrewWindham: @AllisonNazarian we and in me and you or who is the "we" you speak of

• AndrewWindham: @Bigman652 thanks

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:54 am

  AndrewWindham: @Bigman652 thanks

• 
  Tony Robbins

• tonyrobbins: "I believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, natural, wholesome things that money can buy. " Steve Martin

  18 Nov 2009 | 2:02 pm

  tonyrobbins: "I believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, natural, wholesome things that money can buy. " Steve Martin

• tonyrobbins: "When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace." Jimi Hendrix

  18 Nov 2009 | 2:01 pm

  tonyrobbins: "When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace." Jimi Hendrix

• tonyrobbins: "Man is the Reasoning Animal. Such is the claim. I think it is open to dispute. " Mark Twain isn't that the truth!! LOL

  18 Nov 2009 | 2:01 pm

  tonyrobbins: "Man is the Reasoning Animal. Such is the claim. I think it is open to dispute. " Mark Twain isn't that the truth!! LOL

• tonyrobbins: Check out the Charter for Compassion...what are the core values that create an extraordinary life for humanity? http://bit.ly/oDXGD

  18 Nov 2009 | 1:57 pm

  tonyrobbins: Check out the Charter for Compassion...what are the core values that create an extraordinary life for humanity? http://bit.ly/oDXGD

• tonyrobbins: Check out my new Free Video on 5 Keys to Thrive: How to take your life to next level now http://bit.ly/1NL3ni

  17 Nov 2009 | 7:09 pm

  tonyrobbins: Check out my new Free Video on 5 Keys to Thrive: How to take your life to next level now http://bit.ly/1NL3ni

• 
  Kevin Eikenberry

• KevinEikenberry: @barefoot_exec thanks - I'm checking out http://bit.ly/6QBY7i now for my kids :)

  21 Nov 2009 | 8:01 am

  KevinEikenberry: @barefoot_exec thanks - I'm checking out http://bit.ly/6QBY7i now for my kids :)

• KevinEikenberry: RT @LDguyMN: RT @mikemyatt: Too much time spread across too many initiatives results in too little progress. | Leaders must provide focus

  21 Nov 2009 | 7:58 am

  KevinEikenberry: RT @LDguyMN: RT @mikemyatt: Too much time spread across too many initiatives results in too little progress. | Leaders must provide focus

• KevinEikenberry: RT @JosephBrady: Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't. *E Jong | Leaders make the it more useful

  21 Nov 2009 | 5:58 am

  KevinEikenberry: RT @JosephBrady: Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't. *E Jong | Leaders make the it more useful

• KevinEikenberry: big day, including closing performance of my son in Guys and Dolls. :)

  21 Nov 2009 | 5:56 am

  KevinEikenberry: big day, including closing performance of my son in Guys and Dolls. :)

• KevinEikenberry: RT @NixTheNews: RT @prosperitygal How much does an act of kindness cost? Pay it. shazam

  21 Nov 2009 | 5:14 am

  KevinEikenberry: RT @NixTheNews: RT @prosperitygal How much does an act of kindness cost? Pay it. shazam

• 
  Les Posen's Presentation Magic

• Evolutionary psychology and faces for better presentation skills (whether you use Keynote or Powerpoint)

  lesposen

  15 Nov 2009 | 2:48 am

  Two popular blog writers in the past few weeks have noted the importance of faces in presentations and advertising. My colleague in doing away with Death by Powerpoint, Garr Reynolds (Presentation Zen) noted the advertisement below on his Posterous blog. Garr notes on his blog: We notices faces just about more than anything else, especially the eyes. Beauty is highly subjective (obviously), but there is a lot of evidence that we are more drawn to faces with greater than average symmetry. This is one aspect of our attraction to faces, and certain types of faces. Turning to another popular…

• At Media140, Aussie Opposition Leader disses Prime Minister’s love of Powerpoint: “It’s about engaging audiences, not reading slides”.

  lesposen

  4 Nov 2009 | 6:36 pm

  There’s a live Media140 conference occurring in Sydney, Australia following the international model of other such conferences looking at the changing world of social media, including the impact of Twitter, facebook, MySpace and lesser known brands. Australia’s national broadcaster, the ABC, is providing a live media coverage, here: http://www.media140.com/live/ and the conference is scheduled to continue through Thursday into Friday (AEDT – remember, we’re 11 hours ahead of GMT). There’s a live twitter feed occurring, and some very savvy and witty twitterers are…

• Using the iPhone to illustrate the difference between conventional Powerpoint and the sort of presentations Keynote elicits

  lesposen

  15 Oct 2009 | 4:24 pm

  I’m attending a business breakfast featuring my bank’s Chief Economist, Alan Oster. He’s giving a briefing as to the world economic situation so the well-heeled in attendance can be assisted in their financial and business planning. Alan Oster, Chief Economist, National Australia Bank presenting I was fortunate to be given a few minutes prior to his presentation (a stand and deliver, no slides conversational style presentation) to let the audience know of some forthcoming Presentation Magic workshops. I spoke of how the time had arrived to bring presentations to a new level,…

• A wonderful example of pattern detection, presentation skills, and persuasion

  lesposen

  14 Oct 2009 | 5:47 pm

  One of the big deals I discuss in my Presentation Magic workshops is how the brain acts as a pattern detecting and assembling device, and the more one knows how it operates this way, the better you can construct your presentations to be memorable and persuasive. There are two professions who have known about this for a long time, without necessarily knowing to a great level the cognitive neuroscience underpinning their knowledge base. They are Magicians and Advertisers. TED.com has just posted a wonderful 20 minute presentation by advertising guru, Rory Sutherland, from the recent July Oxford…

• Ah, if one day soon Apple’s Keynote could achieve these effects…

  lesposen

  19 Sep 2009 | 10:46 pm

  Every so often, I come across a marvellous brief movie that looks like it could have been produced using either Keynote or Powerpoint. When that happens, it reminds me of how these two popular software bundles are slowly moving closer and closer to professional production level competencies usually found in much more expensive and specialised video technologies and used in advertising or television studios, and high-end video production houses. Below you’ll find an Australian-based Google video, released this past week, discussing YouTube’s penetration into the Aussie psyche.

• 
  PRESENTability with DFG

• What is “fly-vertising”?

  Denis Francois Gravel

  16 Nov 2009 | 7:28 pm

  When you think that you have “seen it all”, somebody, somewhere prove you wrong. Some really inspired marketing people find a way to create a “buzz” by using fly for marketing. Source: woweffect.be Related Posts: Be memorable by being different & surprising 3 Extraordinary presentations of ordinary things iPod ad brilliantly piggybacked Posted by Denis François Gravel Return to front page

• Conference on cyber security and prevention – Live Blogging

  Denis Francois Gravel

  15 Nov 2009 | 7:46 pm

  Three bloggers have been invited to blog live during the web conference held for the “Protect your identity online” campaign. Sandra Bellefoy, Mario Asselin and myself. 10:00 I am in the room, ready for the “Conference on cyber security and prevention”. It will begin at 10:30 It still time to register if you want to participate (in French only). Speaker: Captain Frédérick Gaudreau, manager of the computer crime coordination office, Sûreté du Québec Facilitator: Denis Talbot 10:10 Denis Talbot & Captain Frédérick Gaudreau are getting ready for the conference 10:30…

• Live blogging of Conference on cyber security and prevention, tomorrow (Monday)

  Denis Francois Gravel

  15 Nov 2009 | 7:04 pm

  Monday November 16, I will be live blogging the “Conference on cyber security and prevention”. This Web-conference is part of the “Protect your identity online” campaign. See my precedent post. You can participate to the conference by registering here or by following my live posting tomorrow. The conference will begin at 10:30 Eastern Time. Related posts: Protect your identity online Posted by Denis Francois Gravel Return to front page Technorati Tags: Presentability,Security,ISIQ,Blogging

• Protect your identity online

  Denis Francois Gravel

  12 Nov 2009 | 5:24 pm

  “Protect your identity online” The third information and awareness campaign was launched on Monday by ISIQ (security institute of Quebec). I like this campaign because it is useful for every Internet user, and because it does not use the “FUD factor”. Campaign Web site: click here Disclosure ISIQ asks me to cover the campaign. I accept but only within my editorial line, which is: presentability.There is no money involved. My collaboration is my small contribution to help make the Internet safer. No “FUD factor” The FUD factor is a technique used in sales and marketing to convince…

• How to reduce the text in your slides

  Denis Francois Gravel

  11 Nov 2009 | 7:39 pm

  Too often, we come across a speaker who puts way too much text on it slide. Text is good for reading. Got it? READING. Not listening. Which means that if you put text on your slides, the audience will read it INSTEAD of listening to you. A bit of text can be fine. However, too much will distract the audience. Jan Schultink the author of stickyslides.blogspot.com made this « presentation lessons for entrepreneurs presentation ». I hope it will inspire you too reduce the quantity of text in your presentation. Downloadable PDF of the presentation lessons for entrepreneurs presentation View…

• 
  Vital Speeches of the Day

• Remembering Chuck Francis, fondly

  Chuck Francis died on Wednesday. What you won't read in his obit, which reviews his happy career as a speechwriter and general communicommando at IBM for 30 years and his later development of IdeaBank, a speechwriting research database eventually bought by Vital Speeches' publisher McMurry—is that he was pretty much the ...

• Vital Speeches of the Day podcast: INTERVIEW—On what really determines the effectiveness of a speaker

  INTERVIEW: On what really determines the effectiveness of a speaker In the second of a two-part interview with public speaking guru Tom Mucciolo, we talk about his research on what turns audiences on, and what turns them off. (12 min.) [podcast]http://www.vsotd.com/media/podcast/SpeakerEffectiveness_final.mp3[/podcast] Click here for more FREE podcasts on the subject of executive communications.

• A speechwriting lesson, on the 146th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address

  Speechwriter's speechwriter Tack Cornelius reminds his brethren that President Lincoln delivered his great Gettysburg Address on this date in 1863: Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now ...

• Burgeoning argument over POTUS’s “ghost-tweeting”

  On his blog Communication at Work, communication pro Robert Holland expresses disappointment that President Obama isn't writing his own tweets. I differ, saying, I'd be angry if Obama was twittering. Where do you come down?

• Everything you ever wanted to know about this week’s “Queen’s Speech”—and more

  There's a tempest brewing, in a teapot, over whether the traditional British Queen's Speech, slated for Nov. 18, is or is not a waste of time.

• 
  Biblical Preaching

• Improving Speech While Not Preparing – 3

  Peter Mead

  21 Nov 2009 | 1:48 am

  For the past two days I have looked at word choices and verbal pauses.  More could be said, but it would be more of the same.  Perhaps working on choosing vivid rather than lifeless descriptors would be worth a post, but you can think that through.  I would like to add one more post to the series on another aspect of delivery – the visual element. What listeners take in through the “eye-gate” is massively significant.  Some elements of visual, or non-verbal delivery, can be improved in everyday life.  Here are a few possibilities, select only those that are issues in…

• Improving Speech While Not Preparing – 2

  Peter Mead

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:39 am

  Yesterday I referred to Jay Adams’ suggestion that we can improve our language use best by working on it in everyday life so that it becomes natural.  He mentions another aspect of speech that many need to work on.  The unnecessary use of, you know, like, filler words.  These verbal pauses do a lot to distract listeners and lessen the impact of otherwise pointed and focused speech. The problem with filler words or verbal pauses is that they only seem to get worse when we focus on them in a time of tension.  So simply telling yourself not to say that thing you always say so often is…

• Improving Speech While Not Preparing

  Peter Mead

  19 Nov 2009 | 1:39 am

  Jay Adams suggests that improvements in speech should be pursued during everyday life, but not when preparing the message.  The reason he gives is that focusing on grammar, phraseology or pronunciation during preparation and delivery is a distraction from the real task at hand.  It is better, he suggests, to work on improving your speech during every day life.  Over the course of several weeks it is possible to master a new speech habit. For example, you might need to work on saying “He asks you and me,” rather than “He asks you and I.”  By concentrating on this…

• Of Bifurcations and Dichotomies

  Peter Mead

  18 Nov 2009 | 3:49 am

  Most people have a tendency to think in black and white categories.  Something is either right or wrong, good or bad.  In order to get from the complex world of reality to the comfortable world of clear categories, we tend to bifurcate inappropriately and end up with inconsistent dichotomies.  For example? Well, consider the two issues of communication style and biblical content.  These are two issues.  Yet for many people they seem to have been melded into a one or the other dichotomy.  So if a preacher has an engaging and natural style, then the content must be weak and lightweight. …

• A Tired Feast

  Peter Mead

  16 Nov 2009 | 9:25 pm

  Sunday morning I preached the last of the messages.  I’d taught class for four days, but then things got busier.  Between Thursday evening and Sunday morning (60 hours) I spoke six times, taught two sessions, and travelled many miles by car, train and aeroplane.  Not the busiest few days, but among the tightest in terms of the travel schedule.  So Sunday afternoon I got on the train to start the journey home. I was tired and knew that attempting to read or write would be borderline futile.  So instead I chose to enjoy a tired feast.  Stopping only to hand over my passport or order…

• 
  PowerPoint Tips Blog

• What goes on the last slide?

  admin

  21 Nov 2009 | 9:59 am

  A subscriber wrote me, “I have a question to which I have received as many answers as people I have asked: What content goes on the last slide? Do I end with ‘Thank You!,’ ‘Questions/Comments?,’ or “The End?’  No one can say for sure.” It’s a good question, and I realize that I’ve also been guilty of lame last slides. For example, I recently did a webinar and put, “Thanks!” on the last slide. Of course, I summed up the webinar at that time, but I could have done better. For my webinars, I often have a special offer and…

• Microsoft releases public beta of Office 2010

  admin

  19 Nov 2009 | 12:35 pm

  Anyone can now download the beta of Office 2010 at http://office.com/beta. It includes Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel, OneNote, Access, Publisher, InfoPath, SharePoint Workspace, and Communicator! Microsoft suggests downloading it on a secondary PC. Remember that betas, even a thoroughly tested one like this, can crash and have bugs. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions are available. You’ll find more information on the download site. See  my review of some of the new features of PowerPoint 2010.

• My training webinar: Present interactively-your audience expects it!

  admin

  18 Nov 2009 | 6:25 pm

  Today I conducted a training webinar on presenting interactively. I loved the topic and enjoyed myself quite a bit! Here’s what I covered: Why interactivity is necessary in today’s world: people are no longer willing to sit passively and take in information. They’re used to gaining knowledge interactively on the Internet, choosing what they want to see and hear. How to create a menu-based presentation that lets the audience control the direction of the presentation How to use third party software to make interactivity easy. I showed Yawnbuster and Raptivity Presenter How to…

• Join the Campaign Against Death by PowerPoint!

  admin

  12 Nov 2009 | 7:21 pm

  My new Campaign Against Death by PowerPoint aims to improve presentations skills and reduce the suffering of audiences. Instead of waiting for presenters to wake up and read the good advice of presentation experts, I want to harness the audience. The campaign lets the audience fight back—and help presenters. To do your part, take 4 simple steps: 1) Go to www.tellnshow.com. 2) Download the invitation, which invites the presenter to get a free white paper. 3) Print the invitation and take it to a presentation. 4) If the presenter commits Death by PowerPoint, give the presenter the invitation.

• Create a quiz in PowerPoint:demo of Technique #7 from my e-book

  admin

  11 Nov 2009 | 7:54 pm

  Learn more about 101 Advanced Techniques Every PowerPoint User Should Know.

• 
  Twitter / PresentationsGo

• PresentationsGo: Register for free Power Presentation tips http://is.gd/4LpZO

  21 Nov 2009 | 10:02 am

  PresentationsGo: Register for free Power Presentation tips http://is.gd/4LpZO

• PresentationsGo: Never tell jokes. Jokes ridicule people and always alienate someone. Instead tell funny stories about yourself. That builds rapport.

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:02 am

  PresentationsGo: Never tell jokes. Jokes ridicule people and always alienate someone. Instead tell funny stories about yourself. That builds rapport.

• PresentationsGo: How to write your presentation in 5 minutes or less http://bit.ly/24DBAG

  19 Nov 2009 | 10:02 am

  PresentationsGo: How to write your presentation in 5 minutes or less http://bit.ly/24DBAG

• PresentationsGo: Don't offend the audience with "obviously" or "everyone knows". If they don't know or think it's not obvious you have insulted them

  18 Nov 2009 | 12:03 pm

  PresentationsGo: Don't offend the audience with "obviously" or "everyone knows". If they don't know or think it's not obvious you have insulted them

• PresentationsGo: Always be prepared to handle your worst question. You know what it is - the one you dread the most.

  17 Nov 2009 | 12:03 pm

  PresentationsGo: Always be prepared to handle your worst question. You know what it is - the one you dread the most.

• 
  PowerPoint Ninja

• PowerPoint Ninja Toolbox: Distribute Options

  pptninja

  21 Nov 2009 | 10:35 am

  Get your ducks in an evenly distributed row (c) Shutterstock In my previous post, I covered the useful Align features within PowerPoint. Frequently, when I use these Align options to organize shapes and images, I also use the Distribute features at the same time. When you’re placing objects on a PowerPoint slide, you may align them properly, but that doesn’t mean they are evenly spaced. Spacing out your objects evenly is just another simple action that can keep your slides looking clean and professional. PowerPoint ninjas have zero tolerance for sloppily placed objects in their…

• PowerPoint Ninja Toolbox: Align Options

  pptninja

  10 Nov 2009 | 7:07 am

  Alignment is important in professional-looking presentations. (c) Shutterstock It’s been a while since I added a “toolbox” article to my blog. In these articles, I cover some of the key features of PowerPoint such as the Format Painter or Drawing Guides that every PowerPoint apprentice or ninja should know about. These are the features that I use almost every time I create a PowerPoint presentation. In the Non-Designer’s Design Book, Robin Williams presents the “Big Four” essential principles of design: alignment, repetition, proximity, and contrast. The…

• Dilbert on PowerPoint Presentations

  pptninja

  28 Oct 2009 | 6:05 am

  (c) Scott Adams Over the years I’ve collected a bunch of Dilbert cartoons related to PowerPoint and business presentations. I thought I’d create the ultimate Dilbert tribute to PowerPoint presentations. Please send me any others that I’ve missed. I’ll start with my top ten, and provide the rest in no particular order. Enjoy! 1. PowerPoint Disability 2. PowerPoint Zone 3. Presentation Ego 4. Co-worker Feedback 5. Copy of Presentation 6. Q & A 7. Glass Half Full 8. PowerPoint Poisoning 9. Enough Slides 10. Strategic Slides Boring Presentation Pie Chart One Slide…

• Bullet Point Boot Camp - Day Five

  pptninja

  24 Oct 2009 | 12:06 pm

  No more sloppy bullet points! (c) Shutterstock Well, we finally arrived at the last day of my Bullet Point Boot Camp. We’ve covered several different topics: Day 1: Consistency Day 2: Bullets Day 3: Layout/Structure Day 4: Usage / Text Density On this last day, I’m going to finish up the last two topics related to bullet points — content and delivery. Content and bullet points Content is king. Long live the king! (c)Shutterstock Content is king, right? We’re constantly reminded that content is the most important part of your presentation. Content is presented as a…

• Bullet Point Boot Camp - Day Four

  pptninja

  13 Oct 2009 | 10:46 pm

  Like real bullets, it's frequently not as fun to be on the receiving end of bullet points. (c)Shutterstock You’ve survived the first three days of Bullet Point Boot Camp (day one, day two, day three), and now we turn our attention to a popular and controversial topic — the appropriate usage and text density of bullet points. FACT: Presenters like bullet points more than audiences do. Bullet points can be relatively easy to pull together. You can do a brain dump into your slides, and then the bullet points serve as a helpful guide/outline for your key points as you present…

• 
  slidecoaching.com

• “Private” presentation sharing

  Alessandra

  20 Nov 2009 | 3:43 am

  If you are working on a slide presentation and would like to show it to someone using a slide sharing service on the Internet, you can upload the presentation to Slideshare and use the Privacy options.  The system gives you three choices for each slide show: [Public] everyone [Private] Only me [Private] all people I follow You can also tick the check-box and select “give me a secret URL”.  The URL provided can be copied and pasted into an e-mail message to enable selected contacts to view the private presentation. If you just want to see how a presentation will look in…

• A slide presentation is not a white paper

  Alessandra

  10 Nov 2009 | 6:52 am

  I followed a part of the Women & Technologies conference held in Milano today. Luckily it was broadcast live over the Internet.  The camera was generally focused on the speaker, only rarely did it zoom out and capture the slides that were behind the presenter.  As a presentation professional, I am always interested in seeing what styles and methods are used to build the PowerPoint slides. At one time the camera did capture the screen, and this is what I saw: The title of the projected slides was prefixed by “White paper”.  The previous and next slides were the same. If you…

• SlideCoaching – now featured in Alltop Speaking

  Alessandra

  31 Oct 2009 | 7:24 am

  Alltop is a “magazine rack” of of selected sites, grouped by subject. This initiative was launched in 2008 by Guy Kawasaki, a great speaker and presenter. I am very happy to be a part of the “Speaking” section and the “Italy” section. Take a look and you will find featured other great blogs on the topic of presentation design and public speaking. You can also define your own personal news rack, called “My Alltop” and include blogs and sites that you see in the Alltop pages. Once registered and logged-in, just click on the “plus” sign…

• Complete slide anti-imperfection treatment

  Alessandra

  27 Oct 2009 | 11:25 am

  Yes, you have read correctly, this is not a revolutionary skin treatment but a cure for your slide presentations. It’s what you need to visibly transform your slide presentations: a personal presentation checkup. When, for example,  might you need it? when you have been using a presentation full of bullet point and text and your audiences are getting bored; when you are working on a new presentation but lack inspiration to make the message stand out; when you have to present at an important conference and your presentation is not adequate. Go to the Services page, see what checkups are…

• Expo 2015 survey presentation

  Alessandra

  5 Oct 2009 | 10:00 am

  Over the summer a presentation appeared on the Expo 2015 website. It contains the results of an interesting survey conducted on the streets of  Milano to gather public opinions on the Expo 2015. The results are in presentation format, the program used to make it is undoubtedly PowerPoint, and the pdf is freely downloadable by the public. It is true they say a picture is worth a thousand words, but  “cut and paste” operations do not necessarily make a good slide.  I would like to share my opinion on the graphics and layout of one slide: Images with a white background should not…