beckysue 
If you want to learn to be a better presenter, be careful who you listen to. There’s a ton of advice for public speakers out there, and not all of it is good. In fact, much of it is outdated and just plain dumb. I was reminded of this yesterday when three interesting blog posts … Read more
A couple of weeks ago I was in New York on business and I went to see the new 9/11 Memorial Museum. It was, of course, a deeply powerful and moving experience. They did an amazing job of capturing the stories of that day. Not everyone will be ready to relive that awful time in such … Read more
I still don’t get it. Why do good, smart people still give bad speeches and presentations? It boggles the mind. It’s not like we haven’t been shown how it’s done. Examples of great speeches abound, from Martin Luther King to Steve Jobs to the latest TED Talks. But for some reason, we don’t absorb the obvious lessons. … Read more
I came across this cartoon the other day that shows what happens when a presentation goes off the rails. But I submit that the presentation as planned was doomed from the start anyway. Take a look at the “How You Planned It” section. If that looks to you like a solid blueprint for a speech then it just … Read more
Most presenters—the professional ones, at least—work hard on preparing a speech that will delight and enthrall their audience. Unfortunately, the people assigned to introduce them don’t always put in the same effort. Having been there myself, I really feel for the speaker who suffers a bad introduction—one that’s uninspired, poorly written and carelessly delivered. If you ever … Read more
When it comes to public speaking, the age of the one-sided lecture is dead. Audiences today expect more of a conversation. Here are five ways to spur the kind of audience interaction that will bring your speech or presentation to life. 1. Take Questions The most obvious way to create a conversation is to set … Read more
Everybody’s into email marketing these days, from big businesses to entrepreneurs, from musicians to writers. It’s no wonder—it’s one of the most effective marketing tactics there is. And with tools like Constant Contact and Mail Chimp, anyone can do it. And that’s the trouble—many people aren’t doing it right. Are You a Spammer? In fact, … Read more
Last week I was giving a really important speech and it almost went completely off the rails, due to technical and other issues. The only thing that saved me was my acting experience, which taught me how to recover from mistakes on stage. When you’re giving a speech or presentation, you have to be prepared … Read more
Storytelling has become one of the most overused, misused and abused concepts in business today. People play fast and loose with the definition of story. So what is a story? The first step in figuring that out what a story is, is understanding what a story is not. A quote from Winston Churchill is not a … Read more
I’m amused by old-fashioned notions about competition and how to deal with competitors. The old approach of putting up walls, guarding secrets and drawing strict lines between “us” and “them” may still work for companies holding truly proprietary information (like patents and such). But for service providers, where the difference in offerings among competitors is … Read more