Albums on which all songs sound more or less the same are boring. Speaking voices that lack variety in pitch, volume, and rhythm are boring. Watching grass grow and paint dry is boring. And so is listening to a business… Read More »Effective communicating: Not just the facts
I have found that if you go every summer to the same place, whether it’s the mountains, a lake, or the beach, every summer feels the same. They all bleed into one another, and when you sit around trying to… Read More »The curse of knowledge
Whenever you give yourself a compliment in front of an audience, you run the risk of being seen in a negative light. For instance, telling stories about how you won a big piece of business by being a super salesman may… Read More »Good speakers don’t boast
It is telling that the greatest presidential speech in American history begins with a sentence that summarizes 87 years of our national story. It is a sentence above the fray, in fact 30,000 feet above the fray. It describes, from… Read More »Public Speaking: Two sentences at Gettysburg
Is it possible for anyone to become a great presenter? Let’s define our terms. Anyone is a college graduate in the western world between the ages of 21 and 65. Let’s define “possible” as an 80% chance that after reasonable… Read More »Becoming a great presenter
I give the ClassAct Award for the best thank you speech at the Oscars to Christopher Plummer. The man is 82 years young. No wincing in pain as he rose from his seat. No creaky knees up the steps to… Read More »Public Speaking: A masterful performance