When I mostly taught seminars, I always had handouts. Pounding away on my laptop, I’d work late into the night fiddling with fonts, images, and graphics to make pretty handouts for my audience the next day. It was a lot… Continue reading
How to warm up a cold audience before you speak
There’s nothing worse than stepping on stage and looking out to 200 blank stares. Your content might be pure gold, but the audience isn’t warmed up. Just like firing up your car mid-winter and trying to drive right away -… Continue reading
How to win over any event planner
As a professional speaker you will work with event planners. In this post I’m going to save you some nightmares, disasters, and faux pas. Pay attention, Grasshopper, this will help get you referrals and make you money. First, an “event… Continue reading
What’s a speaker’s one-sheet and do I need it?
When I got into the speaking business, dinosaurs roamed the earth and speakers had one-sheets. Lot’s changed since then, and the question is, do you still need a one-sheet? When promoting your speaking business, your first line of attack should… Continue reading
Why you need a Speaker’s A/V check-list
Everything was going well - the event was on time, the audience was ready, the Emcee nailed the introduction and I was half-way into my keynote when the screen went blank. Nothing, no slides, nada. In a flash, 3 extremely… Continue reading
Do you pause in your speech?
In a presentation I attended about adding comedy to your speech, my friend, Ron Tite reminded us, “There’s so much after the punchline.” But, of course given his training from Second City, that’s not how he said it. This is how he actually said it:… Continue reading
