Sunday, October 5, 2025
If You Believe, They Believe
Sure, Dean, but HOW? Prep. Make sure you do know what you're talking about. Be ethical enough to give the audience enough accurate information to leave your talk or presentation informed or persuaded beyond doubt. Be prepared enough to present in a lively, interesting manner. This is one of the reasons that putting in the work well before a speech helps calm your nerves. Yes, you will still a bit jittery but that is not the same as feeling lost because you are not ready to go on stage. Prep early, then your last-minute rehearsals actually remind you that you can recall and deliver your material like a pro. Everything will come naturally, intonations, gestures, eye contact will all flow. Don't think your audience won't notice. If you know that you know, they will too.
Need proof? My favorite example is Ashley. She was leaving the Resource Center on her way to a speech class when she passed my office with about 10 minutes to spare. I asked her how she was doing and she told me she was very nervous. I asked her a couple of questions about her speech and she could see that she really did have her presentation down cold. I gave her a couple of hints, but she had done her work well and realized it. She instantly calmed down, and of course told me later that she did a great job.
I cannot tell you how many times as a magician I have to convince a volunteer to follow my directions exactly. The way I gain trust and cooperation is the same way you will get the confidence of your audience. Be assured that you are worth listening to.
Sunday, September 28, 2025
Take Notes! (To Your Presentation)
This happens because they rely too much on the pages in front of them. Don't make the same mistake when you speak. Take your notes with you as a last resort and a prop. I like to write out a thesis sentence at the top of a 4x6" card in Sharpie, then write the keyword from each of my main points below, and finish with a sentence from my conclusion at the bottom. This gives me just one card to carry with big letters I can read even if my glasses are smudged. I sometimes prop this on something near me and the audience does not even know I have it. Once in a while I will take my glasses off while turning to face the other side of the auditorium, and I can still glance at the card long enough to remind myself of my next point.
Here is my recommended way to use notes: Make sure you know your material, then boil it down to a few notes you can read with a quick glance. Even if you do forget a bit of your speech, you want create a long pause trying to find your place in copious notes. This kind of confusion only creates more stress for you, and makes your presentation seem choppy or disjointed. There is no substitute for knowing your material, but notes that are ready to move you along are a great confidence booster.
Sunday, September 21, 2025
Release Your Mind from Unrealistic Goals
Sunday, September 14, 2025
In-depth Resource
Let me start off by saying that I am an not Amazon Associate.
This is a book that was sent to me for review by the publisher when I was teaching communication at a private college, and I was able to compare this text to others.
Speak Up! has gone through several editions. It is conversational in style, with many line drawings as illustrations and examples. There is a lot to learn from the illustrations alone. I found myself drifting from one to the next and picking up concepts quickly. Yes, It is easy to read, but does go in depth into technical details. If you would like to get into the technical details of speaking with a book that is clear, this is the one.
Speak Up! contains a lot of practical material, and if you want to buy just one book on speaking then move on to other things, this is the one.
Sunday, September 7, 2025
The Sweaty Palms
Sunday, August 31, 2025
Make it Stop
“See,” said the applicant, “there are three ways to do things. The right way, the wrong way, and your company’s way. I have to figure out what the right way is and tell them that. They have to know what really works.” He was interviewing for a job introducing a company’s latest commercial line of climate control microcontrollers.
“Yeah, a week, I’ll know your product, whichever one you
guys train on.” The company has a full line of scaled climate systems, plus ancillary
lines of humidifiers and air filters.
He was not invited to a second interview.
I am not sure why, but many people interview for a job as if
they don’t need one. This is just one example of several a professional acquaintance
of mine could tell you about.
In a couple of instances the answer to tell me about yourself
and why you would be a good fit for the company turned into a three-minute
monologue, with no connection to the job opening.
A job interview is a series of questions and answers, but
you can help yourself by thinking of it as a set of small speeches. Every speech
should have a main idea, and for these speeches the main idea should be “Here’s
why I would be great in this job.” You are not in the room to tell the
interviewer how the company should be run. You are not there to show how much
wiser you are (see the examples above).
Now it is very possible that the people I am referring to were
not interested in the jobs they were interviewing for, but let’s assume they
were. How could they have easily improved their answers? By thinking of their job
interview as a sales pitch in miniature. How would that work?
Very simple – ask the customer what they want
and demonstrate that you have it. Working through a recruiter usually gets the
first part. A job posting sometimes has enough information, but there is no
reason not to ask for clarification during an interview. The rest is just a
matter of finding parts of your skills, training, and experience the meet the
job requirements. Formulate your answers as clear two- to three-sentence speeches.
Longer answers are okay occasionally, but limit them. And above all, keep it
brief. I flipped through an old notebook the other day with notes from an
interview in which the candidate would quiz us, almost literally tell us he was
smarter than us, then proceed to lecture for three minutes at a pop. This went
on for forty minutes. The last line in my notes on the candidate? “Make it stop,
make it stop, make it stop!”
x
Sunday, August 24, 2025
The Power of "I"
Thursday, August 21, 2025
Yeah, so..Interviews
Sunday, August 17, 2025
Gentle Persuasion
Sunday, August 10, 2025
Oh What a Feeling
Sunday, August 3, 2025
Say Something
Sunday, July 27, 2025
This Blog's for You
I was standing at the back of a room, shaking, sick to my stomach, distracted with fear. What horrible thing was happening to me? My dream was coming true.
You see I had been hired to perform one of my first professional magic shows and I was terrified. I knew my tricks, and I knew what I planned to say to my audience, but I was scared of them. I wanted to die, and I vowed that I would never try to become a paid entertainer again. Fortunately, I found a better solution. I powered through the show that night, then discovered the principles that allowed me to present successfully in spite of the nervous energy that creeps up on even the most experienced speakers. Learning these has enabled me to speak in front of hundreds of strangers, appear on camera, and lead seminars that last for days. I taugh these principles to hundreds of college students in public speaking classes. I would like to share them with you here.
This blog is for you if:
- You are afraid to speak in front of people, or on camera, but you want to.
- You don't have large reserves of time or money to spend on training.
- You want tried-and-true methods that will help you speak confidently.
Great candidates to follow this blog are: the "mompreneur" who wants to sell on-camera, or the would-be Bible study leader who gets the shakes when more than two people are listening in.
In the upcoming weeks I will publish posts that will show you how to change the way you think about speaking situations, and change your approach to them. We will work through some of the homework you should do before you stand in front of a room, and show you how simple it can often be. Speaking should not be a burden, and preparing for a speech should not be drudgery. You will see why one of the sayings I will use is "Be bold. Be heard." Get started by following to keep up with the upcoming posts.