Effective speaking has many enemies. A partial list would include a speaker’s lack of experience, stage fright, lack of training, no clear point, too much information, and finally, no clear flow, or structure. We could go on. But the items… Read More »Public Speaking Training: The Dreaded just-after-lunch Slot on the Program
What should you do when the lights are so bright that you can’t see your audience? 1. Make sure you know where the audience is and look in that general direction with focus and confidence. The audience won’t know that… Read More »Presentation Tips: Blinded by the Light
You’ve been invited to moderate a panel. The question is: How can you do it really well so that the meeting is rated highly, you look good, and your chances of being invited back are good? First, you should look at the… Read More »Facilitation Skills: Making the Most of Your Role as a Panel Moderator
Dividing the Dais Sharing a podium is a frequent method for by-passing yet another dry presentation and (we hope) generating heat and light between two or more people seated on stage engaging in friendly verbal exchanges. In my experience, each speaker prepares and delivers… Read More »Business Communication: Sharing the Podium
I recently sat down to interview myself on the subject of speaker evaluation forms. Here’s the transcript of the interview. What’s the use of a speaker evaluation form? First of all, I prefer the term assessment to evaluation. It sounds… Read More »Public Speaking Tips: A Really Useful Speaker Evaluation Form
I just returned from an engagement during which I was asked to give partners in a professional service firm 10 minutes to pitch the firm to a brand new prospect, played by another partner sitting across the table. Most partner/presenters… Read More »Presentation Tips: Listener-centric Messaging