For the past few years, I’ve had the honor of writing speeches with some of America’s greatest (American) football players. And I’ve also had the honor of being featured in a New York Times article about that work. How can that be? (you might ask), when I know almost nothing about football or, in fact, Read More
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Brevity (Being Brief) Isn’t Only for Speaking
The first time I heard the phrase, “Be brief, be bold, be gone,” I laughed out loud. It was that delicious. And if you’re reading this, I image that you also would prefer to communicate clearly, concisely, and at an effective length. When you’re speaking, using my Instant Speech format takes care of that for Read More
Filler Words Can Be Good for Your Public Speaking
And I, uhm, really mean that! Before becoming a public speaking coach and speechwriter, I was a jazz singer. And as a jazz singer, I spent a lot of time—arguably, too much time—developing a smooth-as-silk vocal style. Some singers growl (think Janis Joplin). Others beguile (Dolly Parton) or proclaim (Beyoncé). I wanted to float people Read More
How to Not Sound Like a Chatbot
We’re human, so let’s make that an advantage There’s a lot to “love” about the way AI chatbots sound (and that includes the sound of their writing): Come to think of it, isn’t that just what we human beings want to sound like? Smooth, well-informed, and confident? (“Come to think of it” is a phrase Read More
Did ChatGPT Help Write This?
The new technology is terrifying…and terrific! Taking ChatGPT Out for a Spin Today, I spent about an hour fooling around with ChatGPT for the first time. (Here’s the excellent YouTube tutorial I started with:) Then I wrote a newsletter about it. The newsletter briefly describes what ChatGPT is, gives a short list of things it Read More