Let’s think of the mind of an audience as having two basic types of material–old impressions and memories of events actually experienced, and imaginative rearrangements of parts of these actual experiences which never really existed. For instance, remembering how your uncle looked when he… Read More »Presentation skills as personal development
In a recent op-ed piece in the New York Times, Stanley Fish, a professor at Florida International University, grabbed readers by the collar with the importance of first sentences. Here’s the situation he posits. You’re at the mystery section of an… Read More »Effective Presentation Skills: The First Sentence
People make fun of engineers–ribbing them for their introversion and poor communication skills. I don’t feel that way. Whenever I work with them on their technical and scientific presentations, I find them to be eager and open to new ideas. … Read More »Technical and Scientific Presentations: Engineering Better Talks
If you haven’t already gone to www.squidoo.com you should give it a try. It’s a great site to find just about anything, including my “lens” (a Squidoo word) on High Stakes Presentations: click here. High Stakes Presentations are those when… Read More »Persuasive Speaking: Winning Business
My sun sign is Libra–the scales. Whether my need for balance derives from the accident of my birth, or my experience as a speech coach is hard to say. But from where I sit, most presenters are out of balance.… Read More »Public Speaking Skills: Oh balance, where art thou?
Let the pageant begin. The dignitaries, Secretaries, and adversaries, enter, stage left. The attendant lady and lord, Sergeant-in-waiting and Sergeant-at-arms, say the ceremonial to introduce the President of the United States (POTUS), who looks small and determined. I check out his… Read More »Public Speaking Skills: Inner dialogue during the State of the Union (SOTU)