Opening and Closing your Speech with Jokes
Wouldn’t you love to get your audience laughing at the start of your speech or leave them laughing at the end? Jokes can do the job, but use them with caution! If you are using someone else’s material, you need to give credit. The joke needs to be relevant to your presentation (I hate it […]
Stories: Opening and Closing Your Speech with a Story
Stories are my personal favorite way to open a speech. Stories touch our emotions and linger in our mind. Stories are a powerful way to captivate and connect. Stories captivate us because we think in stories. We can’t help it! “Stories fill our lives in the way that water fills the lives of fish.”~Steve Denning […]
How to Use Quotes and Poems to Open and Close Your Speech
The audience gazed in anticipation as I stood before them holding a large black cloth draped over my arm. Then I threw the black cloth over my head. After a brief pause, I quoted the opening lines of an Emily Dickinson poem: “I’m nobody. Who are you? Are you nobody, too?” I then paused, and […]
Instant Teleseminar on Business Storytelling
“Get Naked” Business Storytelling for Leaders: For Stronger, Memorable Communication and Presentations On Demand Learning–Learn at your convenience! Download the presentation and materials to learn on your own schedule! (if you want to “attend” at noon on a Wednesday, you can, but you don’t have to!) Would you like your message to be remembered and repeated? […]
Wake Up Your Audience with Startling Statements
Bambi vs. Jaws. No contest on which is deadlier, right? It’s . . . Bambi. A deer is 20 times more likely to kill you than a shark. Every year in the United States, deer-car collisions kill more than 200 people. The above startling statement, especially if accompanied by a visual, could open a presentation […]
Extra: Resources for Aspiring Professional Speakers
There are a lot of resources for aspiring professional speakers! Here are a few of my favorites: Favorite Professional Development (mostly Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN area): 1. Toastmasters, a world wide organization dedicated to leadership and communication developmentPowerTalk Toastmasters, a monthly Toastmaster club specifically for Professional and Aspiring Professional Speakers. I’m a member of this club […]