The Power of Gestures
For a great example of how gestures can be used to increase the effectiveness of a presentation, watch the fascinating TED Talk below by Bonnie Bassler. She is a molecular biologist at Princeton University. In the video, she is speaking about a very exciting discovery in the field of bacteriology. Effective speakers understand the power […]
Make no apologies
“It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them.” – P. G. Wodehouse In a previous post, I wrote about apologies and thanks. Now I am saying “Make no apologies” – what’s going on? The Parker […]
What Yanni can teach us about public speaking
I have been writing this blog for a little over eight months now. I recently looked back at some of the posts that I have written. Most of those posts contain advice about things that we should, or should not, do as speakers: look at the audience; don’t read your notes; use the stage; don’t […]
Why Too Much Data Can Be Bad
Seth Godin is the author of ten books about marketing, change and work that have been bestsellers around the world. His blog is one of my favourites. The post below appeared on his blog on 21 January 2010. In a previous post, I quoted Margaret Thatcher who said that a statistic should tell a story. The problem with […]
Speaking with Passion
As Garth Reynolds says, when delivering a speech, being passionate about your topic is one of the most important things you can do.
The pause that refreshes
Today’s post is inspired by a 1929 ad from Coca-Cola. In that year, the company came up with a truly great slogan that you still sometimes hear today: “The pause that refreshes.” As speakers, we can learn a lot from that slogan. Knowing when and how to pause is a great skill, and one that will […]
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