Book Launch Special $0.99 thru May 8, 2020

Get your confidence on!Get my latest book, 100 Tips & Tricks to Appear Confident in Presentations: Public Speaking Success in 5 Minutes or Less! for only $0.99 for the ebook on Amazon. The paperback is $9.99. Practical, Illustrated tips, one to a page, will boost your skills and confidence! Editorial Review: An easy to read, […]

Gift Books for Presenters

With the holidays fast approaching, you may want to gift yourself a book on public speaking skills.  I’ve read many books on public speaking, but only a few more than once. Consider adding to your library (physical or ebook) one of the 5 books on public speaking that I own and have read more than […]

How to Deliver a TEDTalk: The Catchphrase

Would you like to know the secrets of the world’s most inspiring presentations? In his book, How to Deliver a TEDTalk,  Jeremey Donovan shares nuggets of wisdom mined from studying the most popular TED Talks.  Just in case you are somehow unaware of TED Talks, TED is a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading worthy ideas […]

Ending Your Speech with a Call-to-Action

When you give a speech, you want your audience to think, feel or do something differently than before, right? Even if your speech is primarily informative in nature, don’t you want your audience to do something with the new information? Don’t you want them to consider your ideas and apply them in some way? In […]

How to Engage Your Audience with Questions

Why start and sometimes end your speech with questions? Questions engage your audience by causing them to think.   Questions can tap into prior knowledge.  Questions can challenge assumptions.  Questions can be used as a bridge to the next segment of your presentation. Questions take your audience from passive listeners to engaged participants. Here’s the top […]

Master the Metaphor

“The greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor.” –Aristotle Metaphor is the last rhetorical device in the acronym SCREAM (Simile, Contrast, Rhyme, Echo, Alliteration, and Metaphor).  Metaphor is the comparison of two UNLIKE things without using the word “like” as in a simile.  In  a previous post, I briefly explained the […]

Polished Presenters Use Awesome Alliteration

Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Bugs Bunny, Fred Flintstone,  SpongeBob Squarepants. All cartoon characters. All examples of alliteration. Alliteration is the repetition of the same sound at the beginning of nearby words. It is the fifth rhetorical device in the acronym SCREAM (Simile, Contrast, Rhyme, Echo, Alliteration, and Metaphor).  Use the techniques of SCREAM to capture […]

The Echo Technique in Presentations

You may have heard people say that giving a speech is simple: Tell them what you’re going to tell them.  Then tell them.  Then tell them what you told them.  That’s one basic, boring use of repetition. A more exciting use of repetition is the echo technique.  Echo is the repetition of a word or […]

Prime Your Audience with Rhyme!

Rhyme builds rhythm, momentum and memory. Rhyme is the third rhetorical device in the acronym SCREAM (Simile, Contrast, Rhyme, Echo, Alliteration, and Metaphor).  Use the techniques of SCREAM to capture your audience’s attention with colorful language and anchor your points the minds of your audience members. Short rhymes can be very effective in foundational phrases […]