Yes, it makes me want to scream! Because “super” is not really super. It appears that a huge amount of the population has come to believe that everything even slightly pleasant, wonderful, important, revolutionary, impressive, or valuable is now super. How about super-exciting, super-good, or super-great? Our language is full of hundreds of descriptive words. […]

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Seven simple steps to your speaking success. You have probably complained about delivering virtual presentations and that you are much better speaking with a live audience. Now that you have the opportunity, you are terrified. In case we have not had the pleasure of meeting, I am presentation skills expert, Patricia Fripp. As your personal […]

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Tips on How to Give an Acceptance Speech Accepting an award is like walking a tightrope. You need to be gracious, grateful, and humble, yet not so humble or self-deprecating that the audience thinks you are trivializing the honor. In May of 2022, Dan Maddux, my best long-time client and Executive Director of the American […]

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Congratulations! You’ve been asked to moderate a panel. This is a great opportunity to build your reputation and add value to your customers. Moderating a panel can be more challenging than delivering a keynote speech. As you probably realize, when you moderate a panel discussion, you have multiple responsibilities and many more elements to stay […]

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The Importance of the Pause in Public Speaking and Executive Presentations can not be over estimated. Continuing my comparison with Hollywood..

Alan Alda says, “It is the stuff between the lines that makes it a great performance.”

(I know I hate that word stuff. However, it is an actual quote.)

When you pause the audience has time to digest what you have just said. The faster you speak, the more you have to open up your talk with silence.

Consider where you have a comma, period, paragraph, and exclamation mark, an underline or … Use this as a guide for pauses.

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Don’t Write Out Your Complete Speech I’m frequently asked, “What are the mistakes that speakers make?” One is thinking they have to write out their complete speech. What I recommend you do instead is follow a logical presentation preparation process. Think, what is the big idea of your speech, your premise, or your central theme?

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Frippicism: The key to career success is to learn to sell yourself and your ideas to your senior management. It’s no secret. The higher up the corporate ladder you go, the more important your public speaking skills become.  If you have your sights set on increased responsibility with the position and the salary that goes […]

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Great Advice…Act As Your Own Warm-Up Act I’m frequently asked, “Patricia, what are some of the mistakes that many speakers make?” One is not to act as your own warm-up act. Whenever it is appropriate, walk around and speak to the audience before you’re introduced and on stage.

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