Many of us spend a great deal of effort promoting our webinars. We send invitations, write compelling descriptions, and persuade people to attend. Have you noticed that once they arrive, many presenters make a common mistake? They begin with an agenda slide. An agenda does not inspire curiosity. It does not create anticipation. If you […]
Read More...Rehearsal Is the Work: Why Mastery Creates Your Presentation Confidence
The Professional’s Guide to Preparation That Pays Off One of the most frequent questions I receive from coaching clients, audience members, and even professional speakers is: “Patricia, how do I stop worrying about forgetting what I want to say?” Many executives believe their presentation is finished when they complete their script and slides. They are […]
Read More...How I Turned One Executive Conversation into Six Clients
Several years ago, after a presentation to professional speechwriters, John, the head of corporate communications at a large technology company, walked over and said, “I am going to set up a conversation with my boss, an executive with a Fortune 500 company. He is a good speaker. However, in six weeks, he has the biggest […]
Read More...How to Use a Teleprompter Without Sounding Like You’re Reading
When I coach executives and high-level conference speakers, one of the most misunderstood tools on stage is the teleprompter. Many of my clients speak at major conferences, where their speech is fed to a teleprompter positioned high enough that the audience barely notices. That is very different from staring down at a confidence monitor. In […]
Read More...What a Story Contest Really Teaches You About Speaking
Recently, I had the pleasure of giving a rehearsal coaching session for the National Speakers Association Northern California (NSANC) Last Story Standing contestants. Six speakers. Six powerful stories. Five minutes each. And every single one of them was well-scripted. Let me say that again. Every. Single. One. The level of thought, structure, and emotional intelligence […]
Read More...Do You Have the Talent and the Patience for Great Success?
As a seasoned professional speaker, I am frequently asked for advice by up-and-coming speakers. They enjoy my programs on How to Open Your Presentation with Impact and Under the Magnifying Glass: Good to Great Presentations. However, there is one piece of advice they do not always like. “You may not lack the talent to become […]
Read More...Enjoy the Results When You Maximize the Power of Well-Chosen Words
Recently, I was interviewed by my NSA colleague Shannon J. Gregg, PhD, for her Life Sciences Sales Lab podcast, and she asked a question that took me straight back to the early 1990s. “Patricia, when was the first time you coached a scientist?” That honor goes to my next-door neighbor, Mike Powell. In the mid-1990s, […]
Read More...You May Be Shocked at What the Sales Manager Admitted
A few years ago, during a presentation-skills training session, the sales leaders sat in the room and heard what I was teaching. After the first lunch break, the national sales manager walked to the front of the room, looked at his sixty top associates, and said, “At lunch, the executive sales team and I decided […]
Read More...The Appalling State of Applause
The Appalling State of Applause At the National Speakers Association, we joke that everyone—including the salad chef—gets a standing ovation. Funny, yes. Accurate, no. Most conferences are far more restrained. My other association family is the Professional Speechwriters Association, and this year’s conference was one of the best I have ever attended. Early on, we […]
Read More...When You Open Your Presentation This Way It Is a Certain Crowd Pleaser
Do you want your audience to lean in from your very first sentence? One technique that works with many presentations is to begin with a surprising statistic or a little-known fact that makes your audience think, “Really? Tell me more.” Many of my speech coaching clients are leaders, engineers, and technical experts. Buried deep in […]
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