The first President of the National Speakers Association Bill Gove. He said, “The seminar comes from the discipline of teaching and the keynote comes from the discipline of show business.” Another Past NSA President Don Thoren said, “As a keynote speaker, you are the star; in training or a seminar, you have to make the […]
Read More...Speakers Need To Know What Comedian Phyllis Diller Can Teach Them
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...How to Become a Better Public Speaker and Writer – Avoid This Bad Habit
As an executive speech coach I remind clients that though a speech can sound conversational, a speech is not a conversation. I always advise speakers in preparing their presentations to edit out the words that have no meaning. One bad habit in public speaking is starting a sentence with a meaningless “and” or “but”. I […]
Read More...How to Keep Your Audience From Going to Sleep
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...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. […]
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