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 [...]
[This is the first in a series of intermittent posts on Speechwriting Pet Peeves.] If there’s one thing I have trouble tolerating, it’s seeing a speaker standing on a poorly lit podium. There may be lighting on stage, but it’s not pointed at the speaker. The lighting is pointed at the backdrop or in front [...]
When you build a reputation as a powerful speaker, people will take note. They’ll not only listen to what you say, they’ll critique your style and tone. That’s just what happened after President Obama’s jobs speech. It was the talk of the airwaves and the editorial pages. And it has been analyzed by public speaking [...]
“And so, this morning we come to bury Myke Judge’s body, but not his spirit. We come to bury his voice, but not his message. We come to bury his hands, but not his good works. We come to bury his heart, but not his love. Never his love. “ – Father Michael Duffy [...]
When last we met, I was singing the praises of Steve Jobs and his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University. He starts out by telling the graduates he’s going to tell them three stories. Let me stop right there. I like a speaker who tells an audience what’s coming up. Audiences like it, too. It [...]
Steve Jobs is a genius when it comes to technology. But if you listen to his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University, you’ll see that he is a genius at communicating. He does many things well in this speech, but chief among them are that he keeps it short and tells lots of stories. He [...]
We’re already in the thick of the campaign season for the 2012 presidential elections – more than a year ahead of the day Americans head to the polls. And that means we’re hearing a lot of speeches from the folks who want to get elected next year. As I told a friend over coffee the [...]
