Yeah, yeah, PowerPoint sucks. This has become a kind of business meme in the last few years, but come on, folks: Why hate on PowerPoint just because people use it badly. (And by “PowerPoint,” I mean Keynote and Prezi, too.) PowerPoint is just a tool. I mean, would you hate on a hammer because you saw somebody drive a Read More
Writing a Speech or Crafting Remarks
How to Give a Commencement, Valedictorian, or Graduation Speech
A graduation speech is part entertainment, part inspiration — and the best way to win over any audience is to show your understanding of what entertains and inspires them. So start to prepare your commencement or graduation speech by thinking about your audience. Step One: Know the Graduates You’ll Be Talking To If you’re the valedictorian of your class, Read More
How to Prepare Great Speeches, Messages, and Pitches: Don’t Just Wing It!
Whether you’re public speaking happens on stage, at a pitch, in a meeting, or at a networking event, success involves preparing, practicing, and presenting. These posts, from 100 Top Public Speaking Tips, will help you PREPARE speeches and messages that you can deliver with confidence because they’re ‘re well-organized, easy to understand, and persuasive. Public Speaking Tip Read More
Public Speaking Tip 36: Use These “Three Audience Questions” to Make Sure People Know What You’re Talking About
Most of my one-on-one speaker coaching clients are smart, ambitious people. No surprise there, because smart, ambitious people are the ones who want to become better public speakers. But sometimes being smart can work against you — and the prime example is when your audience doesn’t know what you’re talking about. I mean, really doesn’t know. An example that Read More
Public Speaking Tip 28: Use Templates for Public Speaking
I just signed up my novel, The Tattooed Heart, for Amazon’s e-book promotion program. But before I could do that, I had to describe the book. This would have been torture — Sure, I can boil six years of work down to three paragraphs! —if I hadn’t used a template. What are Templates, and Why Do You Care? Read More