Your Everyday Presentations -- How to Add Pizzazz

We spend an inordinate amount of time and effort preparing for a scheduled speech and/or meeting, but we often don’t consider the importance of daily relationship building through presentations. In this article, I discuss the many ways we can add pizzazz to our everyday interactions with others.

The Effective Emcee -- Five Tips for Success

Once you are known as someone who handles him or herself well in front of a group, you will be asked to lead a meeting and/or introduce the speakers. As the emcee, you will want to not only present those on the program professionally, you will want to orchestrate the occasion in an exemplary fashion. In the following article, I share five tips that will guarantee your success as an emcee.

Overcoming Stagefright

Stagefright is most commonly experienced as a fear of public speaking.

How to Boost Staff Confidence and Performace with Public Speaking

How to use improved public speaking skills to improve staff performance, confidence and productivity

Use Community Storytelling to Enliven Your Surroundings

When we know someone’s story, we can’t help but like them. It doesn’t matter what ethnic, cultural, or material differences we have, we all have stories in common. In days gone by, we sat on porches telling and listening to stories. Today, I don’t see many people telling stories on their porches, which is a shame. But we can enliven our communities and neighborhoods by forming storytelling groups. Here are some suggestions.

The Secret of Persuasive Presentations - It's In The Voice!

In making a presentation, speaking isn't enough. You need to be able to be heard AND understood. And you need to be persuasive. Learn about the 4 Ps for persuasive presentations.

Public Speaking: Glossary F - J

Flipchart: Large pieces of paper either bound or loose that are supported on an easel. Flop sweat: 1. Fear of performing 2. Perspiration while fearful of performing or while bombing. Fluff: Normally lighthearted information in a ...

Public Speaking: Storytelling DO's

Use stories during public speaking engagements to illustrate points and state the point in addition to telling the story. Always make your story relevant to the subject at hand.

Public Speaking: Room Setup Makes a Big Difference

The arrangement of chairs, the sound system, the lighting and the overall climate of the room can make a big difference in the way a public speaking engagement is received. You may not think you have much control over these items, but think again, because you do.

Public Speaking: Bribes

I don't believe in penny pinching when you get in a pinch...

Tie One On (for men only)

I got this tip many years ago from speaker Paul Radde. After shooting one of my first major videos, I noticed that my tie was crooked for most of the video. It looked bad in person, but it looked TERRIBLE on video...

Give 'em What They Want

As a professional public speaker you don't mope around crying because your product sales would suffer or because your ego is suffering. You give it your all whether there are 3 or 3000 in the audience.

Time of Day Matters

Public speaking has aspects related to time of day that you must know about. The first speaker of the day for an early morning (7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.) program should not expect hearty laughter. People are not conditioned to laugh a great deal in the early morning. Many won't even be awake yet. Use more information and less humor. I was asked by a sales speaker to open up an early morning public seminar. He said, 'I just want you to get them laughing before I start speaking.' I told him that it was not a good idea, but he insisted. I opened up the seminar with some sure-fire humor to test their responsiveness and got little response. I cut my material and brought the speaker on stage. He couldn't get them laughing either. I sat in the audience and watched. By 10:15 a.m. they were laughing at just about anything...

Public Speaking: Be Careful

I was doing an event for 3200 people in California and it was a really big deal. I had a two stage managers with headsets counting down 30 seconds till show time, a personal assistant and complete video crew for tape and image projection. Everything was hustle and bustle and rush, rush, rush.

Public Speaking: Gimme Three Steps

Do you remember that song by Lynyrd Skynyrd? 'Gimme three steps, gimme three steps mister, gimme three steps towards the door.' I try to remember that song when I am moving on stage during a public speaking engagement.