Congratulations - you’re about to give a speech! Or maybe you’re speaking at your bi-weekly team meeting, or it’s a presentation at your company’s annual dinner. The problem is you’re boring. To be fair, it’s not so much you that’s the problem - it’s your audience. There’s lots of research on this, but when I present, I expect 12-18 minutes is the limit of my audience’s attention (guess what the length of… Continue reading
PowerPoint Primer – the only 3 slides you’ll ever need
I don’t know if I was more scared or excited. I’d been invited to speak to over 1,000 Rotarians - my biggest speech yet (by an order of 100). I had just under a month to prepare. Every evening I… Continue reading
How to change the world by teaching
Picture this — I’m asked to put together a 2-day workshop for company owners. I was in graduate school and had no idea how to create (let alone teach) a 2-day workshop. So, of course, I said “Yes!” That was… Continue reading
How to calm your nerves just before a speech
Welcome to my mid-week blog post. This is where I’ll be sharing quick tips on how to be a better speaker. I’m starting with about 40 topics that I’ll post every week that you can read in 5 minutes, or… Continue reading
15 Mistakes You Should Never Make on Stage
We’ve all been there - watching a speaker on stage and feeling nervously uncomfortable. Maybe their content is great - even brilliant - but we’re so distracted by that little mannerism, habit, or (dare I say) “unique” clothing choice we… Continue reading