As a professional speaker and speaking coach, I rarely refer to notes while I’m actually speaking, and that’s for three reasons: First, it’s my job to know my content inside and out. Second, because my presentations are interactive, I have multiple opportunities to check my notes while my audience is doing an activity or having a discussion.…Continue reading How to Use Notes When Public Speaking Without Losing Your Audience
Category: Speaking
Don’t Worry, Nothing Will Go Wrong . . . Go Wrong . . . Go Wrong
The other day in my (Ellen’s) Jazzercise class, the instructor suddenly had a problem to confront: One of the songs in her 60-minute set of routines had been suddenly sucked up into “the cloud” and would no longer play on her iPhone. What were her choices? Try for a sing-along? Do a lot of whistling?…Continue reading Don’t Worry, Nothing Will Go Wrong . . . Go Wrong . . . Go Wrong
The Best Public Speakers Do This 1 Thing Regularly (and You Should Too)
For many people, making presentations is fraught with a fear of being judged (which, let’s face it, you are), concerns about being caught unprepared, and the risk of ruining your reputation. As British judge Sir George Jessel once remarked, “The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops…until you stand up to…Continue reading The Best Public Speakers Do This 1 Thing Regularly (and You Should Too)
It’s Not About You
One of the good things about an election year campaign (or, in the case of the U.S., an election two-year campaign), and perhaps the ONLY good thing about the endless coverage of candidates, is that we all get the chance to see a lot of people making speeches. If you want to improve your public…Continue reading It’s Not About You
Ask This 1 Question to Read Any Room Like a Pro
You’ve spent hours, days, and weeks making sure that you have all of the data, facts and statistics exactly right for your big presentation to the boss, and two minutes into your remarks, she says, “Let’s skip to the end. What’s the bottom line here?” You’re in a meeting where your colleague is animatedly sharing his bold new approach…Continue reading Ask This 1 Question to Read Any Room Like a Pro
Don’t Fidget
Some years back, Ellen was teaching a two-day presentation skills class and one of her students had a big moustache. A really big, “handlebar” moustache. A lighter-hued version of this: Now, the moustache itself was not a problem. The problem was that the student (let’s call him Snidely Whiplash) liked to twirl the ends of…Continue reading Don’t Fidget
The Standup Speaker
Before you read any further, take a few minutes (5:46, to be exact) to watch this YouTube video of 14-year-old standup comedian Dylan Roche. Isn’t he hilarious? He also provides very good examples of three elements that standup comics and public speakers have in common. 1. They both perform in front of a live audience.…Continue reading The Standup Speaker
The World’s Worst Presenter
One of our favorite TV shows, Whose Line is it Anyway?, frequently includes a bit called “The World’s Worst . . .” in which the players must come up with various examples of the worst characteristics of a variety of professions. The world’s worst surgeon, for one example: (Player mimes performing an operation.) “Am I…Continue reading The World’s Worst Presenter
Saying These 2 Words During a Big Presentation Could Damage Your Credibility
Every presentation is an opportunity to demonstrate your confidence, competence and character. You have the chance to prove that you understand your audience’s concerns, and show how you can meet their needs. And, when you do it well, you also get to boost your personal and professional credibility. Until you say, “I’m sorry.” Saying, “I’m sorry”…Continue reading Saying These 2 Words During a Big Presentation Could Damage Your Credibility
10 Presentation Myths and Realities
1. Myth: You won’t have stage fright if you imagine that your audience is naked. Reality: If you think your audience is naked, you won’t be able to look at them at all. (Or you won’t be able to stop laughing.) 2. Myth: There’s nothing you can do to hide your nervousness when you get…Continue reading 10 Presentation Myths and Realities
You Need Both the Steak AND the Sizzle
Recently we read a most interesting account (on a wonderful site called Futility Closet) of an experiment conducted in 1970 at the University of Southern California School of Medicine that proved that, if the speaker is enthusiastic and displays engaging body language, the audience will give him/her a high approval rating, even if what she/he…Continue reading You Need Both the Steak AND the Sizzle
Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are (We See You Hiding Behind that Lectern)
We were amused to read in the Albuquerque Journal that the new governor of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan-Grisham (described as “diminutive” by the Journal), joked in her inaugural speech that one of her first acts as governor would be to order all lecterns in New Mexico to be lowered. This got us thinking about how…Continue reading Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are (We See You Hiding Behind that Lectern)
Anything That Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong
Ah, good old “Murphy’s Law.” Examples of this adage abound in real life: Whatever line you choose to stand in at the grocery store, the OTHER line will move faster. If you drop a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the floor, it will always land jelly side down. The minute you buy a new…Continue reading Anything That Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong
A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to this Presentation . . . .
It never ceases to amaze us how many people think that telling jokes is the best way to add humor to a presentation. Where they get this idea from, we don’t know, but we have seen quite a few people try to be the Jimmy Fallon of presenters, only to find themselves using the podium…Continue reading A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to this Presentation . . . .