NOTE: This post builds on the ideas discussed in Public Speaking Tip 98: For a Successful Presentation, Get Your Attitude Together Before You Prepare Your Speech and concludes with Public Speaking Tip 100: For a Successful Presentation, Go for What You Know with Your Audience. A lot of people don’t practice for big presentations because they “don’t have time.” But practicing doesn’t take Read More
Practice Makes Perfect
Public Speaking Tip 85: Put Down that Editing Pen!
One of the classic public speaking dilemmas is how to balance the time you spend preparing a presentation (i.e., planning, writing, and editing it) versus the time you spend practicing it. This is a tough choice, because you almost never have enough time to devote to either of these activities, let alone both of them. Read More
Public Speaking Tip 84: Learn to Tell Good Business Stories (Part II)
In Public Speaking Tip 83, I covered the basic structure of good business stories (they’re like good regular stories, with a few twists). Now it’s time to create business stories that will work for you. Here’s how: 1. Chose the Business Stories You Want to Tell Notice that I didn’t say “choose perfect business stories,” or “the world’s Read More
Public Speaking Tip 73: Build Your Confidence and Public Speaking Success in 15 Seconds, Twice a Day
What if you knew that you could build your public speaking confidence and skills by doing an exercise that takes just 15 seconds, twice a day? You would do that, right? Well, first, here’s the exercise — and then I’ll explain how and why it works. Try This Confidence-Building Exercise. It Only Takes 15 Seconds! Stand in Read More
Speech Practice: For Great Public Speaking, A Little Daily Practice Goes a Long Way
One thing I learned during my years as a jazz vocalist is that a small amount of practicing, repeated regularly, trumps the occasional all-out push. And this is also true when it comes to accomplishing other big task like writing a novel, tidying your home, or developing your public speaking style, For example: The first draft Read More