Don’t Risk a Bad Start: Bring Your Speaker Introduction
Your speaker introduction is an important part of your presentation. It should get the audience leaning forward with anticipation of the topic and also set up your credibility (here’s a post on how to write your speaker introduction). Unless you have a video of your introduction played just prior to your presentation (which can be […]
Writing and Publishing Ebooks for Speakers
It was July 30, 2010 and I sat across from Mark LeBlanc, a business consultant and former National Speaker Association National president. He looked at me with his hound dog eyes and said, “You need to write a book. And you can do it next month” It wasn’t a suggestion. It was a “demandment.” I […]
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 #2: How Great Leaders Inspire Action (Simon Sinek)
TEDTalk Countdown: the #2 most-watched video on TED. Video and Transcript The Big Idea: People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it. The overall construct of the speech: Persuasive, using logic, research and anecdotes Not perfect: His opening rhetorical question took me off-track at the start. “How do you explain when things […]
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 […]
Preview: Public Speaking Tips from the Top 10 TEDTalks
Short, but powerful talks. Although typically fewer than 18 minutes long, TEDTalks pack a punch: unique ideas presented with passion. Inspired by a recent NSA-MN Chapter meeting speaker, Hayley Foster, who spoke about creating TED-style talks (post here), I decided that I (and you) could probably learn some public speaking tips from TEDTalks. For the […]
How to Create a TED-Style Talk: Advice from an Expert
Imagine standing on a TED stage, sharing your passion with the world. Maybe that’s not your dream. But, wouldn’t you like to have a powerful, TED-like presentation? TED-style talks aren’t just for TED events. They are becoming more popular at conferences, too. On Tuesday, the Minnesota Chapter of the National Speakers Association hosted a presentation […]
FREE KINDLE BOOK until 11/16: 12 Ways to Be a Confident Speaker
If you’ve enjoyed my recent tips on becoming a more confident speaker, you will want to get your FREE Kindle book, 12 Ways to Be a Confident Speaker. But, hurry! The book is only free through Saturday (and after that, it is available for only $2.99–It’s a short book!) And, I have a BIG favor to ask you! Will […]