I first had the honor of speaking at the Ragan Speechwriters Conference in 2003. It was an exciting experience and I made many new friends, including John Howze who kindly allowed me share his “best of” conference notes with my readers. Consider how you might incorporate some of these ideas into your public speaking and […]
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...Want to Become an Effective Public Speaker? Ten Intriguing Rhetorical Devices
Ragan Communications is a great source of information for communicators. They hold various conferences including the Ragan Speechwriters Conference that I have been honored to keynote. The more you study writing and public speaking the more you realize there is to learn. This list is challenging me and certainly teaches me new information. Hope you enjoy!
Read More...Want to Improve Your Public Speaking? How about Awesome?
As an executive speech coach and frequent presenter on “How to Go From Good to Great to Awesome” I was interested and amused by this article from Ragan.com. Ragan first came to my attention when they booked me to speak at the Ragan Speechwriters Conference. Their newsletters are always amazing.
Read More...You Want to Learn to Be a Better Speaker? Top Screenwriters Give You Ideas
The masters were Syd Field, John Truby, Linda Seger, Christopher Vogler, and Michael Hauge. Michael is a long-time friend of mine and will be at 2013 Lady and the Champs! You may not have heard of them, even though they’re each outstanding representatives of the industry we call Hollywood. They teach and coach screenwriters much […]
Read More...12 Myths about Blogging & The Truth from An Expert
Blogging is a great way to serve your professional community and expand your marketing reach. Thank you for reading mine! For the years, I’ve had the honor of keynoting the Ragan Speechwriters Conference several times. I met amazing people who write for history – presidents and corporate leaders. Since then, when a Ragan Communications notice appears […]
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. […]
Read More...So You’re Going to Make a Speech
Congratulations! You’ve been chosen (or drafted) to deliver a speech. Don’t panic — Fripp is here! What Do I Talk About? Start by asking yourself three questions: Who is my audience? (What do I know about the corporate culture or collective personality of the group?) What do they want or need to know from me? […]
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