How to Create a Killer Keynote
If you’ve ever wanted to captivate a room with your words, impel your audience to action, and maybe even get paid to speak, you need a speech that engages. You need to create a Killer Keynote. In the video below, excerpted from a longer workshop, you will learn the steps to create YOUR Killer Keynote. […]
Mini-Workshop: Make a Great First Impression Online
Make a great 1st impression online! Learn how in this Mini-Workshop (29 minutes). -Look Professional Online -Wield Tools of Engagement (online or in-person) -Tame the Technology Monster This presentation was in front of a live, virtual audience for PowerTalk Power Club (some of the audience interaction was edited out). RESOURCE PAGE MENTIONED IN THE VIDEO […]
NEW! Group Program: Virtual Presentation Success
“Thank you for the outstanding job on facilitating the Virtual Speech training. I learned multiple things, some of them I had an idea, others were new. It provided great value for our time”–training participant Live, online group training + individual coaching Download the complete program description Build fundamental skills essential to presenting in a virtual […]
Speak with Confidence and Credibility Webinar (practice session)
In this 51-minute webinar practice video (I’m giving a webinar for the TCSHRM–Twin Cities Society for Human Resource Management in a couple of weeks), you will learn 6 Power Tips to Speaking with Confidence and Credibility (it’s not perfect, but I am modeling my belief in practice & dress rehearsal!): Structure with PREP Create Catchy […]
Speech Zero to Hero–Step 7: Focused Practice
Time limit: 5 minutes Ideally, you would have time to practice your presentation both in parts and as a whole a few times, but if you are truly in a hurry, you will need to focus your practice on the 2 parts that will make a first impression and leave a lasting impact: your opening and […]
Speech Zero to Hero: Speech Delivery Tips
1. Don’t read. Don’t read your notes. Don’t read your slides. Follow the rule “Talk to People Not to Paper.” If you speak from an outline or brief keyword notes (in a large font), pause, stop speaking, mentally grab the next point, look up at the audience and then speak. When you read, you lose […]
Speech Zero to Hero–Step 6: Speech Notes
Time limit: 5 minutes If you are running out of time, you can simply take your notes from steps 4 and 5 and use them as your speech notes. However, I suggest that you condense your notes onto one page Make sure to write or type your notes so that you can easily read them at […]
Speech Zero to Hero–Step 5: Open, Close
Time limit: 10 minutes The opening and closing of your presentation are critical components, and the only parts I suggest memorizing. Your opening is the first impression and your closing is the final impact. By memorizing them, you will sound and feel more confident. You want to open in a way that gets the audience’s attention, […]
FREE Public Speaking Class Jan 11 (Twin Cities)
Date: Monday, January 11, 2016 Time: 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM Location: Ridgedale Library (Minnetonka, MN) Link to reserve your seat (free event presented on behalf of District 6 Toastmasters) Speak with conviction and confidence! No matter the subject, you can capture your audience’s attention and keep them engaged. In this FREE, interactive class, you […]
The Call-Back: A Comedy Technique for Speeches
Would you like a simple speech technique that will create a closer connection with your audience, help them remember your material, and possibly get a laugh? Try using the “call-back.” The call-back is a stand-up comedy term that means to refer to an earlier joke that got a laugh. For example, at a recent Humor […]
Create Winning Speech Habits: Don’t “Tell on Yourself”
After finishing his speech, the young man, a high school senior in his school’s senior speech contest, rolled his eyes, shook his head and pursed his lips in that self-loathing attitude that communicates to others “I’m a little disgusted with how my speech went.” He clearly knew that he hadn’t given his best performance. And, […]
Killer Keynote Speech Structure
Want a solid way to structure a keynote presentation that will be memorable and get you asked to come back? Click this link for a pdf of the diagram below: Killer Keynote Structure Do you need to create a presentation in a hurry? Do you want a repeatable method for presentation creation. Sign up for […]
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 […]
It’s a Wrap: Concluding Your Speech Completely
“Umm . . . I’m out of time. So, I guess that’s all. Thank you.” We’ve all heard conclusions like that. Maybe you’ve even done it yourself. I call it the “aborted conclusion.” Maybe that phrase, “aborted conclusion,” makes you feel uncomfortable because of the usual connotations of the word, “aborted.” Good. If you terminate […]
Bookending Your Speech: Tying the Introduction to the Conclusion
Bookends are designed to “buttress, or to support an upright row of books.” Usually, bookends also are a matched, mirror image set, providing visual balance. Bookending your speech means that your speech introduction and conclusion support your speech in a way that provides balance. You “close the circle” for your audience, wrapping up your speech […]
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 […]
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 […]
How to Start and End Your Speeches
People remember best how you start and how you end! Do you know what parts of a presentation are best remembered? The interesting parts, right? Well, yes! And some parts are remembered better because of their locations in the speech. Numerous studies have shown (with lists of items) that people recall the items near the […]
13 Tips for Handling a Question and Answer Session
Do you dread the question and answer (Q&A) session? To calm your nerves and come across as a confident presenter, try these Q&A session tips at your next presentation: 1. Practice responses to questions that you think might be asked. Role play questions. 2. Plant a question or two in the audience before you start. […]