The Deconstructed Speech: Speech Writing Techniques Revealed

I’m going to be a little vulnerable here and let you see a video of me giving a new speech for the first time, practicing in front of a Toastmasters Club. It’s material that I will be developing into a longer keynote. If you watch the video (9:51), and then read the annotated speech below, […]

Learn from Speech Evaluations

One of the most valuable aspects of participating in Toastmasters is getting feedback. At every meeting, speakers are evaluated by a peer. The video below (3:54) is an evaluation I did of a presentation at PowerTalk Toastmasters recently. This is also a short “showcase” of my skills as a presentation coach. The speaker wanted me to give […]

The Best Self-Evaluation Tool in Speaking

You probably already have the best self-evaluation tool in speaking . . . your cell phone (or tablet), assuming you can use it to take videos.Last week, I held a presentation skills workshop for a small group, in which each of the six participants gave a 5-7 minute speech, which I video-recorded on my iPad.  Immediately […]

Free ebook–Public Speaking Lessons from TED Talks

Free until Saturday, March 8, 2014 Get your free Kindle version of the short e-book, Public Speaking Lessons from TED Talks: The Good and the Bad from the 10 Most-Viewed TED Talks Imagine giving a powerful, TEDTalk-Style Presentation.  You can learn insightful tips from this ebook, a compilation my past 10 posts on the top 10 most-viewed TED Talks.  The […]

Speaking Tips from TEDTalk #7: Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are (Amy Cuddy)

Video and transcript here The Big Idea:  Amy Cuddy shares how “power posing,” standing or sitting in a posture of confidence, even when you don’t feel confident, can affect testosterone (dominance hormone) and cortisol (stress hormone) levels in the body, causing you to feel and be perceived as more confident.  It’s not “fake it till […]

Speaking Tips from TEDTalk #9: The SixthSense Interaction (Pattie Maes)

Video and transcript here The Big Idea:  An inexpensive, wearable device (SixthSense) can interact with our environment to give us easy access to relevant information to help us make better decisions. The overall construct of the speech:  A demonstration, mostly via video.  The demonstration was of a device that functioned somewhat like Google Glass, but […]

Speaking Tips from TED Talk #10 The Puzzle of Motivation (Dan Pink)

This is the first in a series of 10 posts, looking at the public speaking lessons from each of the top 10-most viewed TED Talks. Dan Pink:  The Puzzle of Motivation video and transcript here The Big Idea:  Science has proven what business is only slowly realizing: Using incentives as rewards in business doesn’t work […]

How to Self-Evaluate Your Speech

Do you want to greatly improve your presentations? I could just say, “hire me,” but you can improve your presentations all on your own, too.  You can self-evaluate. A good self-evaluation is a journey of awareness.  A great self-evaluation is one that starts with preparation and planning well before you give your speech. To prepare […]