Burning the ships and sailing away
The legendary Alexander the Great built an empire that, at its height, stretched from Ancient Greece to India. One of his strongest and most formidable enemies was the Persian Empire of Darius III. In 334 BC, Alexander led a fleet of Greek and Macedonian ships across the Dardanelles Straits and into Asia Minor. When he reached the shore, Alexander […]
"The Power of Public Speaking": An Interview
Dukascopy Bank is a Swiss online bank that provides trading services, particularly in the foreign exchange marketplace. One of its subsidiaries, Dukascopy TV, broadcasts taped and live shows about business matters on the Internet. power of public speaking The people at Dukascopy are interested in public speaking and presentation skills as business people have to […]
My TEDx Talk
It was an honour to be invited to speak at the 2014 TEDxLausanne. I had always wanted to speak at a TED event. The members of the organizing committee were professional, hard-working and enthusiastic. The other speakers were passionate and supportive. And the audience was terrific! Here’s my talk:
The Mark of a Champion
The past several weeks found me very busy preparing for the Toastmasters District 59 International Speech Contest. The final was held in Poznań, Poland and I was one of the eleven finalists. It was a terrific event with great educational sessions, exciting contests and terrific people. It is wonderful to come together with 300+ individuals […]
Quotes for Public Speakers (No. 75) – John Zimmer
“It’s been said that music is what happens between the notes. I believe that a great speech happens between the words, during the pauses when an audience can reflect upon and internalize the message. Never forget the impact that a well-timed pause can have.” John Zimmer
Quotes for Public Speakers (No. 50) – John Zimmer
Are we up to 50 quotes already? Time flies. When I began this series, I decided to limit the quotes to those that were directly related to public speaking (as opposed to quotes on general topics that are often used in a speech). Soon afterwards, I began to wonder whether I would run out of […]
Anatomy of a Humorous Speech
Following my victories at the Toastmasters District Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contests in Hamburg, many people have asked me how I go about preparing for a contest. In particular, they have asked how I crafted my humorous speech once I got the idea for the subject. I’ve given the matter some thought and decided […]
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