Five Quick Tips to Handle Q and A Successfully

BLOG | May 09, 2012

Too often speaking undercut the success of a great speech with simple blunders during the Q and A. Here are 5 quick rules for handling Q and A successfully. more

How to Craft Your Elevator Speech

EBOOK | $0.99 | Apr 20, 2012

Attention spans are shrinking, the pace of life is accelerating, and no one’s job is completely secure. As a result, everyone who lives on the planet and works in a job needs at least two elevator pitches – one that tells the world who you are and the other that tells the world what you do. This digital short shows you how to create pitch-perfect elevator speeches and how to use them. more

Giving a Presentation? Don’t Tell ’Em What You’re Going to Say

BLOG | Apr 2, 2012

The oldest chestnut in public speaking advice is to “tell ’em what you’re going to say, say it, and then tell ’em what you said." The idea is that repetition will hammer things home to your audience and help them remember. Unfortunately, that’s bad advice today for a number of reasons. more

Your First Speech, Kate Middleton, President Obama, and the Teleprompter

BLOG | Mar 23, 2012

Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, who is currently half of England’s most adorable royal couple, gave her first public speech recently. Don’t envy her! Where the rest of us have an audience of maybe a score or a hundred for our first speeches, Kate had the entire world. How did she do? more

What’s the best way to end a presentation?

BLOG | Mar 22, 2012

A speaker asks a lot of an audience. Understanding, enthusiasm, support – and inactivity. Speakers expect audiences to be passive most of the time. That’s unfortunate, because if a speaker does a good job, pouring out lots of energy into an appreciative crowd, the audience is soon ready to give that energy back. A wise speaker gives the audience an opportunity to express that collective energy in the form of action. more

Can you present sitting down?

BLOG | Mar 20, 2012

We live in an era of flattened hierarchies, informality, and collegial behavior. And so naturally enough, many clients ask me if they can present sitting down. The answer is, unfortunately, not always. more

What’s the single most important secret for good public speaking?

BLOG | Mar 15, 2012

When I’m asked about the secret to good public speaking, my first instinct is to respond, “It’s a journey you take the audience on, both intellectual and emotional, involving both content and delivery, and it’s a complex process, an art form, involving lots of moving parts.” But if I’m pressed for one rule only, it would be this: have fun. more

How do you decide what to say in a presentation?

BLOG | Mar 13, 2012

You've been asked to give a speech. Perhaps you're expert in some topic, or you've headed up some organization, or you've done something wonderful recently, or you've made the news. You've got an occasion, an audience, and an opportunity. How do you decide what to say? How do you pick a topic and narrow it down? more

When is rehearsing a presentation a bad idea?

BLOG | Mar 8, 2012

Winging your presentation isn't a good idea – but there are times and kinds of rehearsals that are counter-productive. Here are 3 ways it doesn't pay to rehearse. more

How to have a conversation with your audience

BLOG | Mar 6, 2012

Audiences long for presenters to be real with them, and just have a conversation. Sure, they want a focused, smart conversation, not a rambling, pointless one like so many real conversations. But they want an authentic connection with their speakers, and the way to achieve that is with a conversation. more

The art of storytelling

BLOG | Mar 1, 2012

In our latest newsletter, we provide all you need to know about the art of storytelling. more

The 10 Commandments of presentations

BLOG | Feb 29, 2012

Nick provides his updated list of the most important rules for public speaking. more

Being open is risky business – but the alternative is riskier

BLOG | Feb 27, 2012

When you stand up to speak in front of others, you're risking a great deal. You can fail to engage the crowd, you can make a fool of yourself, you can attempt too little or too much and miss the mark. And while the risk is almost always greater in your own mind that it is in reality, it is a real risk nonetheless. more

5 stupid speaker tricks

BLOG | Feb 17, 2012

Speakers do stupid things, like any other group of people. The problem is that they subject whole audiences to boredom and, yes, pain as a result. So it's not only the speakers themselves who suffer. In an effort to mitigate the suffering, here are 5 of the most egregious stupid speaker moves. more