A Lesson from Gordon Ramsay
While I am not a huge fan of Gordon Ramsay, I have, on occasion, watched an episode or two of Kitchen Nightmares and Hell’s Kitchen. I always thought that the shows were intentionally over-the-top in order to boost TV ratings, but I do admit that I laughed out loud on more than one occasion. However, after recently reading […]
Do this calculation every time you speak in public
Whenever you have a speech or presentation to deliver, there’s a calculation that you should always do beforehand. Multiply the time you have to speak by the number of people whom you anticipate will be in the audience. The result is the true amount of your speaking time. Because, however long you speak, each person in […]
10 reasons to walk the room before you speak
In November 2018, I spoke at an event in Genoa, Italy for a big corporate client. I arrived the day before I was scheduled to speak. One of the reasons why I went early, was so I could “walk the room” beforehand. I decided to shoot the video below so that you could walk with […]
Three key words for every speaker
There are three key words that every speaker needs to master. In many respects, they are the most important words that one can say on stage: “I”, “you” and “we”. Each has its place. “I” and its variants (“my”, etc.) “I” is all about the speaker and his or her perspective, ideas, experience, opinions and […]
6 posts for your public speaking in 2020
As the clock winds down on 2019 and we enter a new year and a new decade, I wanted to share six posts from the past to inspire your speaking in 2020. If you think that your speeches and presentations can’t have a major impact, think again. That’s what the ripple effect is all about. Public speaking […]
The Right Number of Slides
People often ask me, “What is the right number of slides for a 20-minute (or 30-minute, or 40-minute, etc.) presentation.” I always respond the same way: “I don’t know. Three, 20, 50, 17, none?” There is no right answer. It depends on a number of variables, including the audience, the subject and the context. However, […]
Making it Stick: Tell stories
The importance of telling stories in a speech or presentation cannot be overestimated. Stories make our speeches memorable. See a great example from Steve Jobs.
Preparation
Preparation is essential if you want to be a good speaker. There is an old public speaking story, attributed to different people, that essentially goes something like this: If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour, two days; if an hour, […]
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