When you receive feedback and advice on how to improve your presentation skills you need to ask yourself: Is the person giving this advice truly qualified to help me improve? Does the person giving me feedback have my best interests at heart? Am I seeking advice or are they motivated to give it to me? […]

Read More...

Public speaking instruction often focuses on eye contact, voice projection, and what to do with your hands while you’re talking. Equally important to mastering these physical techniques is developing and deploying good and original content. As an executive speech coach people ask me, “What do I talk about?” “How do I start my speech?”

Read More...

What should we do if we find ourselves in an audience listening to someone who has not yet learned how to structure and deliver an engaging presentation? “Every audience has a responsibility,” says my brother, the legendary guitarist Robert Fripp. Bill Gove, the first president of the National Speakers Association taught NSA members, “You are responsible […]

Read More...

Are you practicing your public speaking to improve…or to reinforce bad habits? We hear people say, “Practice makes perfect.” In reality, practice makes permanent. It is helpful to get an outside perspective on your presentation to reveal any areas in which you might improve your content or delivery. Practice in front of an audience. Ask […]

Read More...

Use technology to enhance your message, not to eclipse it. Two executives came to me to give a speech about a new product. They spent some time describing it, but their explanations were so complicated that it was challenging for me even to begin to understand what they were selling. I knew that if I […]

Read More...

John Palmer was the founder of the National Speakers Bureau and before that a well-known band leader. Brian Palmer, his son and now the President of the NSB is known as one of the most creative and ethical professionals in our speaking industry. As part of a recent interview with Brian these were his closing […]

Read More...

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...

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...

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...

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...