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. […]
Top 7 Most-Desired Public Speaking Skills
Do you relate to these public speaking concerns? In the video below, I address the top 7 responses to my recent survey question, What do you most want to improve in public speaking skills?
How to Guide Your Audience’s Attention in PowerPoint
Don’t be THAT presenter. You know, the one who does a data dump on their audience by using slides full of text or complex diagrams. Your audience may get confused or frustrated, and not focus on what you want them to. They may not listen to what you are saying as they try to take […]
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, […]
Speech Zero to Hero–Step 4: Support Points
Time limit: 15 minutes Now we have come to the meat of your presentation, supporting your points. A few common ways to support your points include: Anecdotal evidence: essentially telling a story or offering a case study—make sure they are relevant! Empirical evidence: research and statistics Logical: reasoning based on facts Demonstration: show how something works […]
Speech Zero to Hero–Step 3: Main Points
Time limit: 5 minutes If you are preparing to give a speech in an hour, you don’t have time to figure out a lot of main points, so keep it to 2 or 3. By limiting the number of main points to 2 or 3, not only will they be easier for the audience to […]
Speech Zero to Hero–Step 2: Big Picture
Time limit: 5 minutes The big picture is knowing your purpose for the presentation and your overall approach to presenting it. #1 Select ONE Specific Purpose (keeping in mind your audience) Decision 1: What is the main general purpose of your presentation? Pick one (you may include all three, but pick a MAIN one): To […]
Speech Zero to Hero–Step 1: The 2 “Knows”
Time limit: 5 minutes Before you plunge into creating your speech there are a couple of critical things you should know to save time and frustration later: #1 Know: The requirements These may be obvious, but these are things you don’t want to overlook! Date: Time: Location: Length of presentation: Topic: What you are expected […]
Speech Zero to Hero: Create a Presentation in an Hour that Will Wow Your Audience
Do you need to create a presentation in a hurry, but you are feeling a little overwhelmed? Do you want to “wow” your audience with your confidence and clarity? Do you just want to get your presentation done? You can get your presentation done in an hour if: You are knowledgeable about your content You […]
Engage with Passion
My husband and I recently had a photo shoot with our 4 grandchildren. As you can see from the above photo with two of them, this was not the typical posed photo shoot. It was wild, with an overwhelmed 17-month old, who had just arrived with her mother from New York that day, almost-3-year-old twins […]
Re-engage Your Audience with a “Snowy Owl Moment”
The audience was losing interest quickly. They were shifting in their seats. They were talking. Some were even crying. Of course, more than half the crowd was under the age of five. Yesterday was Member Monday at the Minnesota Zoo and I had brought my twin two-year old granddaughters to the bird show. One, Zoe, […]
Tailoring Your Presentation to the Audience
Even if you have a “canned” presentation, you will want to tailor it for each audience, to better connect and engage the participants, and to specifically address topics related to your presentation that the meeting planner deems important. Through a discovery process of asking questions of the meeting planner and of conducting short, informational interviews […]
Grab Your Audience! 3 P’s of Speech Introductions
Do you want to hook your audience right at the start of your speech? Do you want to have them leaning forward with interest? Do you want to have an approach to introductions that you can apply to many speeches? Today you will learn an effective, time-tested pattern for speech introductions that will grab your […]
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 […]
The Eyes Have It: How to Improve Eye Contact When Giving a Speech
Eye contact is the number one way to increase your engagement with an audience. A few additional benefits include: Increased credibility (people who don’t make eye contact seem nervous and possibly dishonest) Reduction in crutch words (um, uh, er). I’ve noticed that people are more likely to use crutch words when they look up or […]