A few months ago, I received an email: “I am a great fan of yours. Could I interview you for my blog?” I was busy, and my first instinct was to reply, “Please contact me again in three months.” However, before I hit “send” I thought twice and decided to click on the link to […]
Read More...Sri Lankan Wins Toastmasters’ 2014 World Championship of Public Speaking
Congratulations to Dananjaya Hettiarachchi, the 2014 Toastmasters World Champion of Public Speaking! On August 23rd, Hettiarachchi, a human resource development (HRD) specialist from Colombo, Sri Lanka, won the world’s largest speech contest, the Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking, with a humorous speech titled, “I See Something.” Below is a clip from his speech. Along […]
Read More...Fripp Virtual Training Members to Compete at Toastmasters International Speech Contest
As you read this, the Toastmasters International Convention is being held outside North America for the first time – in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Before I became a professional keynote speaker and long before I became an in-demand speech coach… I joined Cable Car Toastmasters in San Francisco. Toastmasters International is a non-profit educational organization that teaches […]
Read More...How to Treat Your Sales People Like Real Business Operators
Leadership traditionally comes from the top down, and paradoxically leadership is also necessary from the bottom up. My friend and fellow speaker, Lee B. Salz is a sales management strategist who very wisely recommends giving sales people the responsibility of creating their company’s sales business plan. In taking on this responsibility, sales people become leaders […]
Read More...Public Speaking – How Many Hours of Rehearsal?
A successful presentation requires you to devote much more time to preparing your presentation than you will spend in delivering it. Even experienced speakers must prepare for a presentation; this includes rehearsal. My friend and colleague, Rob Biesenbach names inadequate rehearsal as one of the “11 Deadly Presentation Sins.” In his recent book with this […]
Read More...Use Outstanding Presentation Techniques to Improve Your Videos
My friend Pat Ferdinandi is a video strategist who helps individuals and organizations demonstrate their value and establish client trust through video. More than one billion unique users visit YouTube each month. Whether your videos are posted to YouTube or created exclusively for is specific clients, video is one of the most effective ways you […]
Read More...Inside Secrets of Powerful Persuasive Sales Presentations
Discover the strategies behind effective sales presentations, as I share the Inside Secrets of Powerful Persuasive Sales Presentations. Presentation skills are critical, because being perceived as a dynamic, inspiring, and persuasive communicator is no longer just a nice skill to have. It is a necessity that can mean the difference between business and career life […]
Read More...Do You Know How to Deliver A Wedding Toast? Toastmasters’ Tips for The Perfect Toast
In 1924, Ralph C. Smedley held the first meeting of what would eventually become Toastmasters International, created to train young men in “the art of public speaking and in presiding over meetings.” In those days, the word “toastmaster” referred to a person who proposed the toasts and introduced the speakers at a banquet. Smedley named […]
Read More...Practice Does Not Make Perfect – Are You Reinforcing Bad Habits?
Are you practicing to improve? Or are you inadvertently reinforcing bad habits? Sure, the old adage says that practice makes perfect. But in fact, practice makes permanent. Practice can help you become a better speaker, but it can also make you more comfortable with your public speaking mistakes – unconscious language or gestures that detract […]
Read More...Toastmasters’ Golden Gavel Award
Before I became a professional keynote speaker, before I had the honor of serving as the first female president of the NSA (National Speakers Association), and long before I became an in-demand speech coach… I joined Toastmasters. Toastmasters International is a non-profit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network. […]
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