tips

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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
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I’ve found that when I prepare a presentation to teach something, I always end up discovering something new about the topic, no matter how much I knew before. 3 things that help that to be true: – I research a new source – keeps me on top of new information – I provide a handout
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2015 is bound to be a great year. If you’re the type to make a New Year’s Resolution and stick with it, the I imagine you’ve already decided on a course of action for 2015. But if you’re more like me, resolutions can sometimes lead to positive results, but not usually the wish you had
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It’s been nearly two months since my area contest win, and yesterday I competed in our Division Contest. I was representing my club in the International Speech Contest category. Again, I told the story from my club and area contest, about my experience joining the US Air Force after graduation from High School. I did
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Kidding! I was just reading Erika Napoletano’s recent post about how to do list posts, and it gave me an idea for one. Not so much about stealing, but more about how to use quotes or other content in your speeches. So here it is, my top 74 rules…no, wait. My Top 5 rules for
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Have you ever heard a speaker deliver an inside joke? Did you feel included? If not, did the joke make you feel left out? Now imagine yourself with the inside joke. You know it will be funny to a few people (or maybe just one), and you know it will be funny to you. Do you
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“Branding demands commitment; commitment to continual re-invention; striking chords with people to stir their emotions; and commitment to imagination. It is easy to be cynical about such things, much harder to be successful.” I recently saw this quote, from Sir Richard Branson. The second line is what caught my eye – it’s easy to be cynical…much
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Have you ever heard a speaker say, “Before I start…” (or something similar) when beginning their presentation? Are they using phantom time? Bad news – “Before I begin…” was, well, before…you…began… That’s right, once your introduction is complete, everything you say is counted against your time. If your boss asked you to provide 1-2 minutes
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