A Lesson in Career Planning from Steve Jobs

Career Planning

Are you feeling lost or directionless in your career? Like you’re on the wrong track or you’re wasting your time? I can assure you you’re not alone. Practically everyone has felt that way at some point in his or her life. I can also assure you that it’s going to be okay. Take it From … Read more

Rehearse Your Speech, Early and Often

Practice Your Speech

How long should you rehearse that big speech? How long have you got? The short answer is you should practice your presentation as much as you possibly can. Know your content backward, forward and sideways. There is no such thing as over-rehearsal. Here’s why and how. A Lesson From a Wedding My wife and I … Read more

How to Talk to Customers: A Tale of Two Companies

How to Talk to Customers

Companies update their privacy policies all the time. Sometimes the changes are innocuous, and sometimes they’re downright alarming. So it’s a good idea to pay attention to them, even if they’re written in a way that seems to deliberately obstruct understanding by a typical consumer. This weekend I received email notices from two companies announcing … Read more

I Am Not a Motivational Speaker

Bad Motivational Speaker

Why would anyone ever hire a self-described “motivational speaker?” Would you hire a motivational accountant? One who makes you feel great about your vital role in the economy but may or may not help you avoid an IRS audit? How about a motivational plumber? Somebody who gets you fired up about drainage systems but can’t … Read more

5 Advanced Public Speaking Tips from a Master

Public Speaking Tips

Last week I attended one of the best presentations I’ve ever seen in person and came away with some really important public speaking tips. Some of these are for advanced speakers, but they’re skills anyone can aspire to achieve. The occasion was a local chapter meeting of the National Speakers Association, and the speaker was … Read more

How to Cut the Fat From Your Speech: 7 Tips

Cut the Fat from your speech

One of the best ways to surprise and delight an audience is to leave them wanting more. After all, nobody ever left a room saying, “I wish that speech had been longer!” So your first priority is to trim the fat and keep your presentation focused. The Incredible Shrinking Speech Slot In the age of the … Read more