I have done many public speaking engagements in settings where meals were part of the program. You may want to politely remind the program coordinator to consider some of the following points:

ROOM SET-UP

(Many of these tips work whether food is being served or not)

* Avoid spacing round tables widely apart in an attempt to fill the available space. Distance makes audience involvement and participation much more difficult. A better idea would be to space the...

You can use a quick comical definition to liven up a public speaking engagement. As always, make sure the word defined is relevant to the point you are trying to make. Here are some definitions I like:

Banker: A fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain. Mark Twain (similar quotation by Robert Frost).
You wouldn't use this one if you were talking to bankers, but if you are a banker talking to nonbankers you could...

In the research I did on my recent public speaking trip to Thailand, I discovered that a meeting or seminar custom is to seat VIP attendees in the front row. No one of a lesser status either socially or in business would think of sitting closer to the front than their boss, or someone of a higher social ranking. This is a very loose and largely ignored custom in Western meetings, and carries a significantly higher decorum in Thailand and Asia. Since many meetings are rather westernized...

Delivering humorous speeches involves a lot more than simply having good material. Take some time to incorporate these tips into your presentations and watch the fun and laughter factors rise.

In Fun

Sigmund Freud wrote: "The most favorable condition for comic pleasure is a generally happy disposition in which one is in the mood for laughter."

This concept is called "in fun." If you want your audience to laugh, they must be in fun. You, the speaker,...

The title of this article is the same as a famous book by Richard Bayan that is used by marketing professionals around the world. As I was looking through it the other day I realized that the same kinds of words could be used in public speaking to get the same kinds of effects.

We want to sell our ideas don't we? We want to increase our credibility don't we? We want to move people to action don't we? These are all the things that good advertising copywriters try to do in print...

Chances are you have seen a dodgy Best Man Speech, if you have ever watched a romantic-comedy movie. You know the ones, where the best man insults bride, angers the groom, and silences the crowd. Its fine for the movies, but in real life the aftermath will last for more than 97 minutes, and most likely be caught on video forever.

There are 7 common mistakes that are found in those Rom-Com-type situations. To give a good Best Man speech, its best to steer clear of them. Let me list...

You're half-way through your

presentation, and you realize . . .

"This is not working!"

by Darren LaCroix

You’ve prepared your presentation, you know your subject, and you know your audience. You have the presentation internalized. As you progress through it you have this bad feeling that starts to grow. You're halfway through, and you hear a little voice in your head that says, "This is not working!"

What do you...

Bridal speeches are highly important and one of the chief highlights of the wedding. Normally, Good Bridal Speeches should be funny to make people laugh and at the same time include stories and anecdotes that entertain the audience, while also containing thought provoking items. This is not easy to achieve.

You should also know how many more persons are going to speak at the wedding party, so that you would know how long your bridal speech should last. Depending on the...

The problem with communication is that when people converse and use language, they often times only consider the 'intellectual meaning' of their language, not knowing the unconscious effect their language has on the listeners.

We program ourselves with language, we program others with language. The 'programming' I'm talking about is the unconscious effect of language on a person's neurology affecting behaviors and emotional states.

This is often the reason for...

The Major problem that most people facing when comes to public speaking is the unnecessary stress created from their fears such as fear of loss, fear of the unknown, fear of embarrassment, fear of losing faces… these are the major causes of all the needless pressures that hinders their performances, be it a toss over the dinner table, business presentation or large scale social events. So how shall you get rid of all these pointless tensions and make a fear free public...