There is nothing worse than sitting in the audience, checking your watch as you wait for the speaker to close, knowing your presenter still has 8 more main points to cover and you have already heard 14 of them!  When this happens it is interesting to note that the speaker usually seems totally unaware that the audience has lost interest.

A good presenter knows his limitations; a mediocre presenter does not.

The advice given by all who write on public speaking, from...

I finally finished reading a book written by a magician. No, I am not switching careers. More importantly, Steve Cohen who is famously known as the Millionaire’s Magician (for obvious reasons) writes about his secrets to a winning delivery of his magic performances in his book “Win The Crowd”

Reading the book, I was pleasantly surprised that even as a magician and performer of his calibre, he still religiously practices the techniques that I have often shared...

Terrorism, the deliberate creation and exploitation of fear for bringing about political change. All terrorist acts involve violence or—equally important—the threat of violence. These violent acts are committed by nongovernmental groups or individuals—that is, by those who are neither part of nor officially serving in the military forces, law enforcement agencies, intelligence services, or other governmental agencies of an established nation-state.

Terrorists...

When you practice your material for your speech or presentation, do you record yourself by means of a camcorder?  If not, then you should definitely consider this important step in the process of preparing for your delivery.  Camcorders today are not that expensive.  Look at the purchase of this piece of equipment as an investment in your future if you are serious about a career in public speaking, are required to speak for your job, or just want to hone your presentation...

All the talk about eliminating your nervousness, putting a stop to nervousness, or defeating your nervousness, misses the boat on one basic fundamental:  nervousness is a bonus.  It can give you an edge that is an asset if you learn how to control it.

Early in my career, one of my clients disagreed with me about that statement.  This woman, who was marketing herself as a professional speaker, had been in business for 2 years.  Had I been quicker in my response,...

Allow me to begin by asking you a few questions.

1.  Do you believe that the image you project has an impact on your life, either professionally or personally?

2.  Have you heard your voice on your voicemail, answering machine, or camcorder recently?

3.  Do you like what you hear on that recording equipment?

You probably do believe that the image you project is important.  You may even feel that your visual image is as important as your...

To persuade, a speaker must talk fluently with courage and confidence. When fear or timidity becomes evident, an audience loses confidence in a speaker's ability to persuade.

Obviously, if he cannot control himself how can he hope to persuade others? The fear of public speaking is common to most people around the world. It is very often one of the top three fears of people in surveys. However, stage fright must be learned because people have only two natural fears at birth —...

by Philip Yaffe

Let me confess that I am an American and l used to speak very badly. Now I speak very well, at least that is what everyone tells me. The fact is, my change from being a poor speaker to being a good speaker happened virtually overnight. Here's the story.

I was a student at UCLA in the 1960s. After graduating, I spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania, East Africa. When I got there, of course...

If you are reading this article then it is very likely you familiar with the fear of public speaking: "The day has come!, you were not sleeping well last night and your appetite was quite bad in the last few days (for some of us the opposite is true means - eating compulsively). You still didn't even started your day and already feel sweat in your hands. You smell your own anxiety – a speaking anxiety.

In days like this, you have the feeling that your whole body betray...

(Note: Determine if this is politically correct for your audience.)

You can throw in a cute diversion to a boring public speaking engagement by attributing a saying to an ancient Chinese philosopher. Since these sayings are not attributed to anyone in particular, feel free to change or update them to fit your situation and to enhance their humor.

(The term 'original' here means as original as something can be after being recited and translated for several hundred...