Presentations are delivered to create results, or outcomes. Two common desired outcomes are 1.) a decision, or 2.) a prediction. Your presentation skills should make you more effective and efficient at achieving desired outcomes when you speak. In order to… Read More »The Image Theory of Decision Making
Last September, the malevolent toadstool you see in the picture on the left thrust its slimy head out of the familiar soil of my front yard. It got my attention. I have rarely had mushrooms in my garden, and never… Read More »Presentation skill #65: Getting attention for the right reasons
In Norman Mailer’s monumental novel The Naked and the Dead, a character named General Cummings gives to his troops a short talk that is an interesting example of leadership communication. The General addresses his troops during a storm on an… Read More »Leadership Communication
When we watch American Idol, we may talk about the competitors’ singing skills, but what we really care about is whether or not they created a little moment of magic for us. When we go to the symphony or the… Read More »The purpose of presentation skills
I am usually allergic to buzzwords. When storytelling became a popular metaphor for public speaking, influence, and persuasion I began to feel a little grumpy. But I have been released temporarily from my distemper by an article in the New… Read More »Public Speaking: The story about Obama’s lack of storytelling
Is developing yourself as a highly effective public speaker a journey into your inner recesses and resources, (what I call spelunking, which is technically the exploration of caves), or are presentation skills basically a set of techniques, tips, and tricks… Read More »Public Speaking: Tips and tricks, or spelunking?