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The first few seconds of your speech or presentation are setting the tone for the rest of what you’re going to say. Unfortunately, many speakers rush through the first few sentences, in a hurry to get to the main point of their talk. The beginning of your speech is crucial time for the audience to ... Continue Reading
When an actor auditions for a role in a play, one thing the director wants to discover is how well they take direction. This can mean various things to different directors, but for me, “taking direction” means: Can this person see a different perspective? Can they approach this moment with curiosity? Can they put the ... Continue Reading
In some important ways, all communication is the same. We are always speaking in order to fulfill a need. The need might be small and transactional: “Please pass the salt.” It might be life-changing: “Will you marry me?” And of course, most of what we say in our lives falls somewhere in the middle of ... Continue Reading
Many clients come to me because they want to be great public speakers. Typically, they are people who are already really good, and they’d like to get to the next level: the “wow, they’re terrific” level, the “get paid to give keynotes” level. I love working with people like this because they’re motivated, and they’re ... Continue Reading
We are creatures of habit. For the most part, this is a good thing. Habit lets us avoid having to make a million tiny decisions every day, like the route you drive to work or in what sequence you wash your hair, face, and body in the shower. But some of our habits don’t serve ... Continue Reading
Our bodies and voices are the vectors for our thoughts and messages. When we talk to other people in person, we use our bodies to do it. And generally, we know exactly what to do without really thinking about it—we angle ourselves toward someone we’re interested in talking to, we make eye contact, we modulate ... Continue Reading
Some popular advice for budding public speakers is, “Watch how so-and-so does their TED Talk, and copy them!” This…isn’t great advice. We never want to just try on someone else’s speaking style—it’s like putting on their suit. It might look kind of okay, but it doesn’t fit right, and you might trip over the cuffs. ... Continue Reading
In theatre, sometimes we talk about not “playing the homework.” What this refers to is when an actor tries to bring all the work they did in rehearsal into a scene. “Wait,” you may think, “isn’t that what all that work is for?” Yes and no. We spend days of rehearsal talking about the play, ... Continue Reading
Typically, I don’t like my clients to present while standing behind a podium. It constricts their ability to connect with the audience, it literally places furniture in front of the speaker, and it limits their movement, making them stiff. However. I had occasion recently to watch a video one client sent me of a presentation ... Continue Reading
There is a common misperception about public speaking. People think that if they feel comfortable, they’re good speakers. In fact, I’ve had people tell me, “That’s great that you coach people to be better speakers, but I always feel comfortable in front of an audience!” What I want to ask them is: “Okay, and how ... Continue Reading
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