When you structure your sales presentation, remember you start strong and close high. Your last words linger and you don’t want them to be “thank you” or “out of time.”
Read More...Do You Want to Be A Speaker And Author?
Patricia Fripp wrote this article to answer the question “How did you get started and build your business?”

Only In America – Advice for the Would Be Author and Speaker
You just never know what life has in store for you. I never dreamed of writing a book, keynoting hundreds of conventions or perfecting the presentations of CEOs and Presidents of the Fortune 500. Of course, I was born in England during a time when no one expected much of girls. The focus was on the boys. My brother was brilliant, and good grades came easily to him. I, on the other hand, worked quite diligently just to bring home average marks. I don’t regret the average status because the good news is that I developed excellent working habits which have turned out to be the keys to my success.
Read More...Upgrade The Caliber of Your Stories within Your Sales Presentations
Speeches and sales presentations are not memorable without fascinating stories. I want you to upgrade the caliber of your stories. Practice telling stories. Utilize what I call the “Hollywood Model” – character, dialogue, and dramatic lesson learned; which is, of course, that doing business with you is the best way to go.
Read More...How to Increase Sales – Improve Your Sales Presentations
Use Fewer Words
First let’s learn what Jerry Seinfield says – because after all if you can learn from a marquee comedian who gets millions of dollars a year, well, it’s going to help with your sales. Jerry said, “I will take an hour to edit an eight-word sentence down to five.” Now in his case, he knows the fewer the words between the set-up and the punch word, the bigger the laugh.
Read More...Are You Using Stories to Enhance Your Presentation?

You often hear there is real power in telling true stories to a live audience. One frequently used strategy for using stories during a keynote speech is based on personal tales of triumph over adversity.
Read More...When Does Your Sales Presentation Start? A Sales Presentation Tip
Here is an important sales presentation tip I shared with Long & Foster, the largest real estate company in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. This is something that anyone giving a sales presentation should keep in mind.
Read More...Do You Want to Be A Popular Speaker?
Then here is some advice from Patricia Fripp, THE Executive Speech Coach

Never waste your audience’s time with trivialities. I heard a speaker addressing a San Francisco audience. He started with how nice it was to be there, how great the weather was, and how he loves our restaurants. Who cares? I didn’t race across town to hear him talk about weather and restaurants.
Read More...Speakers, to Persuade, Get Concrete …to Inspire, Be Abstract
Speakers: To persuade, get concrete. To inspire, be abstract.
Reposted by Patricia Fripp and the content is from Denise Graveline.
Should you try to inspire your audience–or persuade them? Are you speaking about why your audience should do something–or how to pull it off? New research suggests that decision depends on the timing of your message and what the audience has to do next, whether that deadline is in the future or next week.
Read More...You Want to Learn to Be a Better Speaker? Top Screenwriters Give You Ideas

The masters were Syd Field, John Truby, Linda Seger, Christopher Vogler, and Michael Hauge. Michael is a long-time friend of mine and will be at 2013 Lady and the Champs!
You may not have heard of them, even though they’re each outstanding representatives of the industry we call Hollywood. They teach and coach screenwriters much like World Champions’ EDGE teaches and coaches presenters.
As Darren wrote in his newsletter Stage Time, “In a lucky conversation with a famous Hollywood star (who asked me to not use her name), she had advised me to get Syd Field’s The Screenwriter’s Workbook. I knew of Michael Hauge from Fripp’s interview with him for the EDGE community (find their conversation at WorldChampionsEDGE.com). Each of them has too many distinguished credits to list here.”
Read More...Do You Want to Appeal to Your Audience?
Darren LaCroix reminds all speakers to periodically ask ourselves if we are are “…appealing or appalling?”
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