Twenty to thirty years ago, humor was commonly used to sell low-priced products. We remember Mr. Whipple squeezing the Charmin and Clara Peller asking “Where’s the beef?” Today, when you watch TV, you’re likely to see humor being used to sell automobiles. Over the years, advertisers have gained a greater appreciation of the value of […]
Read More...Show Me the Funny!
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in 30 years of studying humor, it’s this. You CAN learn to be funny. Some people think you need to be born funny, the class clown. I’m a laid-back, serious, Norwegian from North Dakota and I’ve won humorous speech contests at the Toastmasters District level four times and three […]
Read More...Public Speaking Tips for Webinars
Add Impact When You Present Through Webinars No matter what you level of public speaking experience, whenever you open your mouth, whether you’re talking to one person or a thousand, you usually want to get a specific message across. Anyone who sets out to present, persuade, and propel with the spoken word faces pitfalls. And, […]
Read More...Public Speaking Advice: Avoid Clichés Like the Plague
Have confidence in your own viewpoints. Tell your story on paper or record. Then go back and prune out any clichés that have crept in. Replace them with invigorating new phrases, forceful enough to make your message memorable and your audience riveted.
Read More...How to Build Your Organization’s Reputation and Yours
Even if you are NOT the CEO of your company, every time you open your mouth at a networking event, call a client’s company, or speak up at your own meetings, you are enhancing—or diminishing—both your own reputation and that of your company.
Read More...Public Speaking Tips: Speak To Be Remembered and Repeated
Public Speaking Tips: Edit your sentences to a nub. Remember, Jerry Seinfeld said, “I will spend an hour taking an eight word sentence and making it five.” In comedy, the fewer the words between the set-up and the punch word, the bigger the laugh.
Read More...Powerful Public Speaking: Personal Connection Edge
• Bottom Line: Everything else being equal, you’re way ahead of any other speaker or sales professional when your audience of one or one thousand relates to you, likes you, and trusts you. Remember, they must first trust you before they can trust the message.
Read More...Capturing Your Audience: (Part II)
Previously, we discussed the components of speech preparation and delivery that will make your presentation shine when you are addressing your association audiences. However, the speech only becomes truly vibrant when you tie all of the pieces together and package them into a compelling presentation. Remember humor helps freshen content, movement keeps the audiences’ eyes […]
Read More...Preparing Your Talk: Developing & Delivering Your Speech
One of the best ways to promote your product or service and expand your customer base is also one of the cheapest. Interested? It’s public speaking. I know this from first hand experience. When I started out, I had no public speaking experience, but I studied what the professional speakers did. What I learned from […]
Read More...Avoid Clichés – Like the Plague
Whether you’re writing or speaking, clichés will weaken your message and cause your audience to tune out. Here are Fripp’s Four Foolproof Tips for making your point: You MUST use original material. The audience will forgive you ANYTHING but being boring. If someone else has already said it, say it in a completely different way. […]
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