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
public speaking tips
Public Speaking Tip 26: Uhm, Lose Those, Like, Filler Words, Y’Know?
To uhm is human; to pause, divine. —Shakespeare OK, The Bard didn’t quite say that. But he might have, if he’d been deluged with the uhm’s, uh’s, like’s, y’know’s, whatever’s, and really’s we all hear everyday. Sometimes, we even hear them coming out of our own mouths. Perish the thought — or rather, the uhm. What’s the Read More
Public Speaking Tip 24: Write an Email that Gets Read
Public speaking can take lots of different forms — and today, those include what you share on social media, and even the humble email message. How many emails do you receive each day? 50? 100? 200? Those numbers aren’t unusual — and everyone you write to is struggling with that same deluge of (mostly irrelevant) Read More
Public Speaking Tip 23: For Public Speaking Success, Help Your Listeners Hear You!
It’s Hard Work to Listen! Of course, sometimes that’s because the person who’s talking doesn’t have much to say. But even when you’re very interested in what another person is saying, it’s still hard work. To truly listen to someone else, you have to: Quiet the noise in your own mind; Follow the stream of their words and ideas; Read More
Public Speaking Tip 22: For Public Speaking Power, Breathe OUT, Not In!
Breathing is central to great public speaking, for lots of pretty obvious reasons. After all, without oxygen: Your brain will stop working Your body will weaken You’ll probably panic, and ultimately, You’ll faint. (So much for delivering your message!) But how do you get the air that you need to be your most powerful as a public speaker? Read More