To Story or Not to Story
A client with no big tip to share, only a story about a jungle trip, got invited back anyway -- a short case for keeping a running story file.
Articles
On speaking well
28 pieces on preparation, delivery, audiences and nerve — written over fifteen years of doing this for a living.
Tips on Public Speaking: Creating a Dynamic Invocation
A three-part framework -- Research, Significance, Summary -- for building a short, meaningful opening talk out of almost no time at all.
Tips on Public Speaking: Cheat Clock
A $10 travel clock, kept next to the laptop as a discreet way to track time on stage -- a small, low-tech fix for a common presentation problem.
Tips on Public Speaking: True Eye Contact
The difference between glancing around a room and 'true eye contact' -- landing on one person and finishing a thought with them, as demonstrated by a Toastmasters speaker.
Tips on Public Speaking: Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking
Public speaking fear is treatable the same way any craft weakness is: clarify your objective, prepare your material, and practice under guidance.
Tips on Public Speaking: Going Over-Time
A hard rule from ten years on the circuit: always write a presentation five minutes shorter than your allotted time, because going over costs more than it seems.
Tips on Public Speaking: Resultant Words and Phrases
A vocabulary exercise for presentation writing: naming the concrete result the audience will get, not just the journey you're taking them on.
Tips on Public Speaking: Over Noting
Naming the habit of stuffing in too much content out of a fear of leaving something out -- and the discipline of cutting a good story to stay on time.
Tips on Public Speaking: Unresponsive Audience
What to do in the moment when a room full of people won't respond -- and why the answer is not to change your style to chase the few who won't engage.
Tips on Public Speaking: Practice
Even after two years of giving the same seminar hundreds of times, the habit that still matters most before walking on stage is running it again.
Tips on Public Speaking: The Use of Humor and Story
Watching Joel Osteen's use of self-deprecating humor and story to open and carry a talk, and why speakers should keep a running file of their own stories.
Tips on Public Speaking: What Is Your Message?
Most people insist they 'don't speak in public' -- while answering a question about it, out loud, in public. A short nudge toward naming your core message.
Public Speaking Tip: Seeding — The “Build”
A short technique for pre-selling from the stage: drop small, cumulative details about your product throughout the talk instead of pitching it cold at the end.
Using Eye Contact in Your Presentation
A first-person account of how faking eye contact -- gazing just over the crowd's heads -- quietly sabotaged an early speech, and the fix.
Golden Nuggets in Your Presentation
Don't bury your best points in the middle of a long presentation -- isolate them as short, memorable 'golden nuggets' the audience can walk away with.
Presentation Skills Training: Yes or No?
Presentation skills pay off whether you're a student, a job-seeker, or an executive -- the question is only which level of training fits you.
Public Speaking Tip: Taking a Pause
Racing through a speech loses the audience; a well-placed pause after a story or a point lets it land.
Charisma in Public Speaking
Charisma isn't a personality trait you're born with -- it's confidence, conversational eye contact, and passion, applied deliberately.
Executive Presentation Skills
Corporate-specific advice on the mechanics that trip up executives: slide balance, which hand to flip a chart with, and recovering from a blunder.
Preparation Is Key to Reduce Public Speaking Fear
Fear shrinks with preparation, and preparation starts with picking a topic you're genuinely passionate about and stocking it with real stories.
The Importance of Audience Participation
Why letting an audience talk back -- questions, exercises, cheerleaders -- is what turns a speech into a genuine connection.
Choosing a Public Speaking Topic
The topic is the first thing an audience knows about you, so choose one with a built-in call to action, not just a subject you know well.
Public Speaking Coach: Yes or No?
The case for working with a coach rather than learning solo: faster feedback on the small things that are hard to see in yourself.
Public Speaking Classes
What a public speaking class actually gives you beyond information: mock sessions, honest feedback from classmates, and practice reading a room.
Audience Participation in Public Speaking
How to find your 'cheerleaders' in a room and use them to build a live connection with the whole audience.
Public Speaking Seminars: Are They Worth It?
A case for in-person seminars over online tutorials: they build the shared realization that speaking fear is universal, not personal.
Finding Public Speaking Jobs
Practical, unglamorous first steps for turning a love of speaking into paid work: start free, get referrals, then work the directories.
Skills You Need for Public Speaking
The core skills set that carries a presentation: confidence, voice and tone, eye contact, body language, and a strong close.
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