Growing To Be A More Professional Speaker

If public speaking is a regular part of your role as small business owner, and you are like many people, it may be one of your biggest fears. Fortunately, it do

Let’s say you’ve got a very important presentation that’s due this week.  The more you prepare, and the closer you get to the deadline, the more nervous you get.  How can you control your nervousness so it doesn’t sabotage your presentation?  How do you get those butterflies to fly in formation? 

This is a guest post by Patricia Fripp, executive speech coach.

It never ceases to amaze me how many talented and well-educated people attend networking events yet overlook their big chance to be memorable by developing a mini-presentation for audiences of one to five. Here are some strategies that let you walk into a room with quiet self-assurance, confident that people will enjoy meeting you and will recall you afterward:

I spoke at the Morning Mojo networking group held at Citibank about Communicating with Impact. Business is not about the numbers. Business is about communication and the numbers simply reflect how well you communicate.

The emcee has finished introducing you, and the audience is waiting. What next? Take these steps before you launch your presentation:

Here are the 25 most important tips you need to know to deliver a terrific presentation that your audience remembers and acts upon.

Useful tips for presenters and public speakers, which go beyond the usual stuff we all know already. 10 non-standard tips for public speaking.

Good morning! I realized this morning that the video did not appear in my "What do with my hands during a presentation" post from yesterday. My apologies! I'm not sure how that happened. Here it is...

"The best speakers are those who make their words sound spontaneous even if memorized."

The art of giving a great presentation has occupi

An astute reader of the this blog, David Meerman Scott, pinged me after Tuesday’s blog post and said, “Aren’t you going to provide examples?”  And that was such a sensible suggestion that I hasten to oblige.  So here is The Evolution of Public Speaking (and acting) Part 2.  I begin with the wonderful Sir Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet, the famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy.

Søren Kierkegaard was a super smart guy from Denmark who had some pretty interesting ideas about human existence. Like so many other deep thinkers, he wrote a lot of stuff that most people find sup...

I wish I could say I didn’t do it. I have spoken in a few thousand venues as a public speaker. You would think I could avoid them. I’m better than I used to be, but you are still likely to hear the...

Public speaking is hard: we've all heard that it's the most common fear, above and beyond death. Everybody in the ...

Remove possible problems with the location where you will be delivering a speech.

If you still are plagued by fear of public speaking, re-examine your beliefs and rid yourself of the following anxiety-inducing misconceptions: "I have to be perfect." No speech is flawless. Replac...

Jenny Kay Pollock cues up the 12 Most Pleasant Ways To Avoid Death By PowerPoint.

Audiences decide within the first 60 seconds whether to pay attention to your fascinating speech or daydream during your boring presentation. Don’t waste that time by stating your name, organizatio...

Presentation software can be a wonderful tool if used correctly. It can also be a dangerous distraction that interferes with communication rather than facilitating it. The line between the two is thin.

Appear calm and confident when speaking to a group. Make your presentation sound like a conversation, with these techniques: Know the topics cold. Practice until the words flow from you effortlessl...

With a little organizing, you can decrease the amount of time you spend creating your presentations.