On this day of speeches, I’m reminded of something I wrote a couple of years ago about how Martin Luther King essentially winged major parts of his I Have a Dream Speech: When Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, it electrified the audience gathered on Washington’s mall and inspired the nation. Almost … Read more
Whenever I’m involved in a big conference with multiple speakers I make the point that “it’s all one speech.” That is, it’s one big message and each speaker is telling a different part of the story. In real life, of course, that doesn’t always work out. But for any company that’s serious about reaching an … Read more
Wanna know the super-secret magical ingredient that can make or break your presentation? It’s energy. Without it, your speech is doomed. With it, you may be able to compensate for a talk that’s light on insight. It took me a while to figure out what energy is. I remember a rehearsal for my very first … Read more
It seems one of the greatest anxieties people have about public speaking is coming up with something funny to say in the introduction. But here’s a crazy secret the comedy professionals won’t tell you: you don’t have to be a funny person to be funny. (And you don’t even have to be funny, of course. … Read more
When it comes to public speaking, nobody put it better than Jerry Seinfeld: According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than … Read more