In a piece originally written in the late 1860’s, but published in The Atlantic many years later, Henry James Sr., the father of Henry James the novelist and William James the philosopher-psychologist, sought to explain just what it was about… Read More »Presentation Skills: The Magic of Ralph Waldo Emerson
If you work for a company, and your job entails public speaking, you are paid to speak. That’s right, you are a professional speaker–in the same business as Anthony Robbins, Jack Welch, and Malcolm Gladwell. Your company is paying you… Read More »Business Communication: You Are a Professional Speaker
When working on scientific and technical presentations, I am often amazed by the wonders of the science being presented and, at the same time, shocked by the speaker’s lack of awe or appreciation for the mystery and power of his… Read More »Scientific Presentations and the Gettysburg Address
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
I grabbed my Blackberry when I woke up this morning and saw that Bnet was promoting a webinar called How to Change Hearts, Minds, and Actions: Guy Kawasaki Speaks on Enchantment. Guy Kawasaki, for those of you who don’t know,… Read More »From persuasion to enchantment
Right now I’m sitting in the back of a hotel meeting room near Washington, DC, where two dozen physicians are rehearsing for a presentation to the regulatory authorities. They are debating what point they are trying to prove. The question… Read More »What’s the point you’re trying to prove?