I’m a big fan of being authentically yourself when you speak in public — so much so that I wrote a book on the subject, along with this blog post… and this one… and this round-up of blog posts… and, well you get the picture. So What Is This “Avatar” Thing? Your Avatar is a streamlined version of your best Read More
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Public Speaking Tip 47: Fear of Public Speaking? Use YOU Language and an Avatar to Create Distance from Fear
How do you create distance from fear of public speaking? One way is to talk to yourself in the “second person,” as YOU. You may remember from high school that: When you talk about yourself (“I like ice cream”) you’re speaking in what’s called first person; When you talk directly to someone else (“You like ice Read More
Public Speaking Avatar 2: Iron Man
One of my favorite things about The Avengers is Iron Man’s suit. Not because it’s red and shiny and allows him to fly up to the stratosphere and shoot laser beams, but because it comes when Iron Man calls it. In one of the movie’s most satisfying scenes, Iron Man a/k/a Tony Stark (played by Read More
Public Speaking Avatar 1: The Black Widow
I’ve been a fan of Joss Whedon since I was introduced to him by master training writer Rose Rubin Rivera. (What actually happened was that Rose wanted to quit smoking, so we locked ourselves in a friend’s house and watched Firefly episodes for four days straight while she went through withdrawals.) Even so, I was Read More
Be Your Super Self: Call On Your Public Speaking Avatar
Sometimes you need a little extra juice to get the public speaking job done right. And when that’s the case, it’s wonderful to know that you can don the Public Speaking Avatar of your choice and instantly bring extra pizazz and power to the proceedings. What’s a Public Speaking Avatar? Your Public Speaking Avatar is you… but Read More