Paint Your Personality with Props
Do you ever use props in your presentations? (PowerPoint slides don’t count) In the entertaining and educational video below, Jim Emery, voice and speech coach (vocaljim.com), demonstrates why and how to use props in your presentations. This training was recorded during a PowerTalk Toastmasters meeting. If you seldom use props, you may want to consider […]
10 Uses for Sticky Notes in Speaking
#1: Storyboard your speech #2: Plan your book or blog content #3: Reminders #4: Clean your keyboard #5: Brief speech notes #6: Practice eye contact #7: Stage movement #8: Mark reference to read in speech #9: Audience activities #10: Have fun! Be creative
Presentation Skills from a Tour Guide in Mexico
I just returned from a vacation to Cancun, Mexico, where I enjoyed fun, food and . . . learning presentation skills from unlikely sources: timeshare sellers, tour promoters, street vendors, restaurant servers and a tour guide! It was the tour guide at the Mayan ruins, Chichen Itza (the picture above, using an app called Waterlogue) […]
6 Ways to Use a Flip Chart in Training
Flip charts are a fun, engaging way to provide participant involvement that leads to understanding and retention. Last week I attended a two-day Bob Pike Group “Train-the-Trainer” Boot Camp seminar and learned several easy ways to incorporate the use of a flip chart in training. Six of my favorites were: Ground Rules Road Map Agenda […]
Speaking Tips from TEDTalk #4: My Stroke of Insight (Jill Bolte Taylor)
Video and Transcript TEDTalk Countdown: the #4 most-watched video on TED (2008) The Big Idea: Spend more time choosing to “run the deep inner-peace circuitry of the brain’s right hemisphere.” The overall construct of the speech: A story of insight arising from tragedy. Jill Bolte Taylor, brain researcher, had the opportunity of a lifetime when […]
Speaking Tips from TEDTalk #8: Underwater Astonishments (David Gallo)
This is the third in a series of 10 posts, looking at public speaking lessons from each of the top 10-most viewed TED Talks. video and transcript For five and a half minutes, I was transported to the wonder years of my childhood. Mesmerized by the biodiversity of undersea life just as I was as […]
Tips for Presentation Handouts
To have a handout or not? That is the question. Almost any presentation could be enhanced with a handout. Handout benefits to the presenter: Your presentation will be more memorable Audience members can easily contact you Establishes your credibility Shows that you care about the audience You can have additional information on the handout A […]
Speech prop idea: Balloons
The full-size red ladder was an impressive prop. It was unique and it helped make the speaker’s point that to have a competitive advantage you not only have to be better you have to be different. Props can differentiate you as a speaker, making you and your concepts more memorable, giving you that competitive advantage. […]