President Barack Obama failed to mention God in his Thanksgiving message to the nation, and he caught flack for it. He did say “God bless you” at the close of his remarks. But other than that, he didn’t mention thanking God on Thanksgiving. As a Christian, I can honestly say I’m not offended by the [...]
No one is born a great speaker. Not to sound cliché-ish, but it takes work and dedication to earn the adjective “great” in the public speaking world. Even high profile people like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg have found that out. At the beginning of his term in office shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, [...]
…and the Nittany Lions As a former reporter for United Press International, I was enthralled with this account from fellow Unipresser Doug Page on the day he rode with Joe Paterno in a parade celebrating Penn State’s national football championship. It was a frigid day in January 1987 and Page’s legs were nearly frozen when [...]
First Rick Perry and now Herman Cain – it seems that going blank on the presidential campaign trail is contagious. We’ve all had “senior moments” where we can’t remember what we planned to say. But when you’re in the public eye, and especially when you’re running for President, it’s embarrassing and damaging. Most speakers don’t [...]
There’s more than one way to put yourself out there as a public speaker. Take Herman Cain for example. There’s been speculation that his bid for the presidency is nothing more than an attempt to raise his profile. That way he can sell more books and command higher speaking fees. That seems to be what [...]
…Or, how to do your homework in six easy steps Research — it is, without doubt, the flesh and blood of great speeches and presentations. A well-researched speech gives a speaker greater authority, credibility and power. The more thorough the background work, the more lively and interesting a speech is likely to be. A little [...]
Here’s a conundrum. When people are polled on what they fear most, they often rank public speaking as being more terrifying than death. In other words, people would rather die than give a speech. Teddy Roosevelt, on the other hand, proved the opposite. The one-time President would rather give a speech than kick the bucket. [...]
I was at an event not long ago in which a speaker was introducing the keynoter. The speaker kept saying to the keynoter, who was sitting on the front row, “Correct me if I’m wrong about this, but…” I wanted to stand up and scream: “Didn’t you do your homework? Don’t you know whether the [...]
Want to give punchier speeches that move quickly and flow rhythmically? Want to sharpen your delivery and engage your audience? Most speakers do. They know that droning on with long sentences, multi-syllable words and complicated phrases is guaranteed to turn the auditorium into the snooze section. You have something important to say. So keep your [...]
Think back on all the speeches you’ve heard in your lifetime. Do you remember anything other than what the speaker looked like? Do you remember what he/she said? Were there any memorable lines? I remember two speeches well – or rather, I remember lines from two speeches. The first was from a preacher who kept [...]
