Okay, folks, one week until Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. One of the things I love about it is that so many people have giant dinner parties with lots of guests, some of whom have never met, and others who may know each other only too well. As we are reminded every … Read more
Seriously. If every speaker will remember that their job is to create an experience for their audience, you will never need to hire a coach. Here’s what that means in practice: Create your content with your audience in mind. What do you want them to walk away thinking about, talking about? Eliminate behaviors that distract … Read more
A recent NPR story ( http://www.npr.org/2015/07/23/425608745/from-upspeak-to-vocal-fry-are-we…) explored the idea that we “police women’s voices,” complaining when they use “vocal fry” and “up-speak” despite the fact that men also use both of these derided habits of speech. Since I make my living teaching people to present themselves powerfully, every friend who heard the NPR story posted … Read more
“This just doesn’t sound right.” “It looked good on the page, but when I said it during my presentation…” My clients often tell me how perplexed they were when the words that they polished so lovingly on the page failed to come to life when they said them out loud. The simple fact to remember … Read more
We’ve all heard the advice, “Just picture everyone in the audience naked!” I’ll just tell you now–this probably won’t work. Oh, you can look out at the audience and imagine them without clothes on, but then…you’re thinking about your audience with no clothes on. You’re not thinking about your presentation. (Unless you are planning to … Read more
One of the questions I like to ask coaching clients is “What do you do when you practice?” More often than not, I get a confused look in response. So I clarify: “Do you start at the beginning and go all the way through your presentation? Do you stand up? Do you use your PowerPoint … Read more
When we think about speeches or presentations we have seen that were terrific, we think about how the speaker made us feel. A great speaker can make us feel excited, motivated, intrigued, moved, or compelled. The same is true when we think about presentations we endured that weren’t so great—they make us feel impatient, bored, … Read more
“What’s the Point of PowerPoint?” It’s ubiquitous, everywhere from TED Talks to teachers’ classrooms. When done well, PowerPoint is a great complement to a speaker’s presentation. When done poorly…unfortunately, we can all finish that sentence. I just spent two days coaching the presenters for the Ignite Asheville event. The format of an Ignite talk is … Read more
No, you’re not. Sure, you may have occasional “knock-it-out-of-the-ballpark” occasions when all the stars align and you feel incredible about your performance. But if you want to be consistently effective and powerful, you have to, (I hate to say it), practice. “But when I practice, I sound rehearsed!” Yes, that can definitely be a danger. … Read more
For the longest time, I couldn’t understand why a few people I coached were so resistant to the process. After all, they had come to me to become a better, more confident and compelling speaker. They articulated the reasons why they needed and wanted to be better. They saw where their speaking skills needed improvement … Read more
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