What to do when you’re losing your audience… Are there a lot of yawns and sleepy eyes in your audience? Use these tactics to pep up your talk and keep your listeners’ attention. Audience members’ attention will fade over time unless you take specific steps to keep them engaged.
Read More...How to Follow Up with Potential Clients – Give Benefits to Earn Business
We all have to discover the best way to follow up with our leads. “What is your sales process?” “How do your leads come in?” “What do you do with your leads?” “How do you follow with prospects?” “What process do you use to get to a formal presentation?” An example of my process with […]
Read More...Giving a Speech? What is Your Main Point?
If you follow my blog you probably have heard me mention before that I have spoken at the Ragan Speechwriters Conference in past years. Ragan Communications publications are a wonderful source of information on communication – both in writing and speaking. The first time I spoke at their conference the opening speakers were Bill Clinton’s speechwriters. As […]
Read More...Public Speaking Tip from Patricia Fripp and President Obama
Don’t you love it when your public speaking seminar and coaching camp students so internalize a message that they continue to send you specific examples that can be used in blogs, talks, and seminars? Coaching Camp alumna, Roxann Andersen shares this observation on the effective use of concrete language in public speaking: Dear Patricia, I […]
Read More...Improve Your Writing & Speaking – Be Aware of These 7 Errors
Whether you own a business, report to a boss, or are searching for a job, it is important to sound intelligent in all your business communications. Never underestimate the power of your words. I share this article from Ragan Communications by Shanna Mallon describing seven errors you should avoid in your writing; many of these […]
Read More...Developing Good Original Content… What on Earth Do I Talk About?
Whether your goal is to deliver an effective business presentation… or to become an in-demand professional speaker your presentations must contain great content. Public speaking classes are full of tips on what to do with your hands, how to stand, and how to make eye contact. As important as mastering all of these public speaking […]
Read More...Have You Considered Collaborating?
Frippicism: It is difficult to be creative in isolation. Collaboration is beneficial in much of what we do. Collaboration works for speakers, especially when we are trying to come up with new or improved speech ideas. I often brainstorm with copywriting genius David Garfinkel and the two of us used to collaborate with the San Francisco […]
Read More...Want to Be an Effective Speaker? Eliminate Pointless Phrases
As an executive speech coach, I recommend that in preparing your presentation you record yourself and then listen carefully to find and eliminate all non-words, clichés and redundancies from your talk; these will only dilute your message and bore your audience! Lisa Braithwaite wrote this great article on “filler phrases” which appeared in Ragan Communications. […]
Read More...Connecting to Your High Stakes Audience in 8 Minutes: Emotionally and Intellectually
Are you confident your sales presentations are more compelling than your competition? Do your sales presentations connect to your audience intellectually AND emotionally? My friend Joe, a sales manager for the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, called me for help. He was confident in his one-on-one salesmanship, but he’d lined up an eight-minute presentation to […]
Read More...The #1 Best way to Make An Impact With Your Speech – Customize
If you are looking for the number one best way to make an impact with your speech – the answer is simple. Customize! Be aware of your audience’s needs and concerns as you develop every aspect of your speech. Here is an overview of top techniques to customize your presentations. These techniques are used by […]
Read More...