Be Brief!
Centuries ago great speakers often spoke two hours and more. But today when sound bytes on television news are the norm and serious problems are solved in an hour on a television drama, audiences are most interested in speakers that …
Speaker Blog
Ponder To Prepare
One of the principles we talk about in our book, From Dull to Dynamic: Transforming Your Presentations, is to spend time pondering what you plan to say in your next speech. Just thinking about your speech while driving your car …
Need To Know Versus Nice To Know
One of the most challenging parts of preparing a speech is deciding what to include. You are an expert on the topic and thus you want to tell the audience everything you know, but you only have 20 minutes in …
Scripting Out Key Messages
Have you ever considered how often you deal with similar problems or situations? In most occupations, you don’t have 200 unique messages to communicate each day, but rather maybe a dozen similar situations. These occur in various contexts in which …
Speaking On Short Notice
Although our new book, ATTENTION! The Art of Holding Your Audience in the Palm of Your Hand, goes into great detail about the importance of preparation, you may not always have adequate time for such thorough preparation before you …
May I Quote You
A Purdue University student walked into a public relations class wearing a T-shirt that read, “You can never relive a party, but you can always retake a class.” I’ve gotten lots of smiles from people in my audiences as I’ve …
Think Before You Speak
I read recently of a husband who cleaned a living room fan with bleach. When he turned on the fan, bleach sprayed all over the room and spattered the blue sofa and curtains. The divorce was final three months later. …
When Less Is More
Often a person says too much instead of too little. For example, a little boy went to his mother and asked a question. She said, “Why don’t you go ask your dad?” His response: “I don’t want to know that …
Pay Attention To The Words
One of the most famous lines in U. S. history was delivered by Franklin Roosevelt in his Declaration of War speech the day after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He began the speech with, “This is a …
Courage Under Fire
“COURAGE DOESN’T ALWAYS ROAR. SOMETIMES COURAGE IS THE QUIET VOICE AT THE END OF THE DAY SAYING, ‘I WILL TRY AGAIN TOMORROW.’”
– Mary Anne Radmacher
He knew she would call on him. First the old nun glanced left, then …