Authenticity
The temptation to be like others is strong. But if we always try to fit in, we will never stand out. We become just one more slice of bread in one more bland, homogenized loaf. And there are millions of bland loaves of bread out there. Good luck getting noticed while sitting on the same […]
Association of Speakers Clubs Conference in Edinburgh
As regular readers of this blog know, I co-created a public speaking board game with my good friend and fellow speaker, Florian Mueck: Rhetoric – The Public Speaking Game™. It is available as both a traditional tabletop board game and an app. You can learn more about it here, here and here. On Saturday, 27 April 2019, I will be […]
A conversation with Conor Neill
I have just returned home after my annual week teaching public speaking and communication skills at the IESE Executive MBA Programme in Barcelona, Spain. It was my 7th year working with fellow speaking professionals — and good friends — Tony Anagor, Florian Mueck, Conor Neill and Tobias Rodrigues. During the week, I sat down with […]
Quotes for Public Speakers (No. 307) – Tyrion Lannister
“When you tear out a man’s tongue, you are not proving him a liar; you’re only telling the world that you fear what he might say.” Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones
A giant leap forward in your public speaking
There is a lot to learn about public speaking. The fact that I have been writing this blog for 10 years is testament to that. And no matter how much you learn, no matter how good you become, you will never reach perfection because there is always room for improvement. But there is one thing […]
Quotes for Public Speakers (No. 306) – Theodore Roosevelt
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, […]
Three ways to rethink your title slide
Your title slide occupies prime real estate in your slide deck. It is the gateway to your presentation. You can either spend time thinking how to use it to maximum advantage or miss an opportunity to grab you audience’s attention from the start. Titles slides often contain such details as the date of the presentation, the […]
Quotes for Public Speakers (No. 305) – Christopher Vogler
“As the polarized nature of magnetic fields can be used to generate electrical energy, polarity in a story seems to be an engine that generates tension and movement in the characters and a stirring of emotions in the audience.” Christopher Vogler Photo courtesy of Etan J. Tal
How to handle public speaking nerves
On 3 June 2017, professional rock climber Alex Honnold accomplished something that few people thought could be done. He climbed the 3,000-foot granite wall of Yosemite Park’s famous El Capitan, the vertical wall in the photo above. Alone. Without ropes or any other safety apparatus. This achievement has been celebrated as one of the most […]
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