As I was working on my speech for the Toastmasters International Speech Contest, I was listening to a storytelling lesson by Darren LaCroix, and he reminded me of a lesson that another World Champion, Ed Tate, teaches: Start your speech at the scene of the crime. He calls this the CSI opening – just like the […]
Category: Public Speaking Tips
Toastmasters vs. Business
Today I attended a half day session with FranklinCovey in Kansas City. One segment of the training was titled Presentation Advantage and obviously is a topic I am familiar with. I was curious what take FranklinCovey had on this topic, and how it would differ from Toastmasters. Purpose: This program defined a presentation as “The sharing […]
2016 Week Two: The next list
Last Week I posted about my first week of trying a one-week resolution. This was my alternative to the standard New Years Resolution. One thing I noticed last week – I started thinking about multiple week goals for the next few months. I had to stop myself from taking the dark path to some big-ticket […]
Attitude of Excellence
A while back, I heard Willie Jolley speak (in Nevada, MO), and learned about his 7 Principles for the Attitude of Excellence : 1. Don’t panic – remember, this to shall pass 2. Don’t buy into the gloom and doom 3. Don’t let your pride poison your prosperity. He told the story about having an […]
The value of coaching
What is the ideal outcome you’d like to experience? From Alan Weiss – Million Dollar Coaching (reviewed here) Have you ever had a speaking goal to achieve, such as winning a speech contest or speaking in front of a larger group? Worried that practicing in front of your mirror, or even your Toastmasters Club, may […]
Clear and Simple
Darren’s #10 Speaking Mistake was, Not Getting Clear on the Message. (more on his top 10 list here). I was asked recently, “What if I don’t have a point for my speech?” My reply…”Why are you speaking?” In Darren’s session, he made two points about this mistake that I felt were very important: 1. What […]
Don’t Dilute your Power
“Don’t Dilute your Power” One of the more interesting things I learned from Darren LaCroix last night was how using, or misusing, the stage could add to, or dilute, your power as a speaker. Darren demonstrated this by showing how a point made while moving across the stage comes off as less powerful than a […]
Darren LaCroix in Kansas City – 2016
Darren LaCroix delivered his remarkable presentation, Darren’s 10 Biggest Speaking Mistakes! (and how to avoid them) in Kansas City this evening. More than 50 Toastmasters and NSA members attended the event. I won’t spoil anything by listing out the 10 mistakes here, but I will share a link so you can get them directly from […]
Did you forget to start?
Okay…it’s January 2nd. Resolution check – how’s it coming? What?? You forgot to make a resolution? No way! Or…did you just forget to start? Or maybe you’re not a “resolution person”. That’s okay. Either way, January 2nd shouldn’t be the end of your journey to greatness. Just like January 1st didn’t have to be your […]
Welcome to 2016
If you’re an optimist like me,then 2015 was an awesome year. Want to know how to make 2016 an even better year? Coming on Monday January 4th, we have an awesome visitor coming to Kansas City. Darren LaCroix will be in town and is going to talk to us about The Top 10 Speaking Mistakes […]