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...

Choose Your Words Wisely - A Brief Look at the Dynamic Power of Language

This is written from a person who thinks Marvel'sDeadpoolstole his name, "The Maverick With a Mouth." These tips have been distilled from the mind of one of the world's foremost thinkers on the power of words: me.

(Don't bother Googling that one, it's purely based on the fact that my mother told me so.)

Words compose such a vast majority of our culture and life, yet we throw...

Presentation Mastery:Just like Hip Hop Abs, Musicians, and Me?

There I am, working on my new years resolution, my health, working out to the Hip Hop Abs DVD, and I found myself frustrated. I just can’t keep up even on the basic level. The routine seems so simple. Why do I keep making mistakes? Well duh, it is new to me! My body is just not conditioned to do these simple moves in these simple ways in a certain order. All of the people on the DVD have been...

Do you want to learn how to produce a Best Man Wedding Speech ? If you are preparing to deliver a speech at a wedding, it is important that you have your ideas written down and plan in advance of how you are going to deliver the speech smoothly to your audience. Writing down is an important component for calming the nerves that many people can tend to overlook. One website that helped me deliver one of the best wedding speeches with a step by step method is called Wedding Speeches 4...

Stage fright happens to even the most self confident of performers or public speakers and can often occur quite unexpectedly. In its worst form it can leave you completely and utterly paralysed in front of your audience.

The big problem is, once it has happened it becomes highly likely that it will happen again. It is important to take control of stage fright as soon as possible to stop it from forming a habit.

To be able to master your stage fright it is important...

It’s been said that when you open your mouth, you tell the world who you are. Like it or not people formulate opinions about us, based not only on our appearance but also on our communication skills. And while many people go to great lengths to look good, dress professionally and so on, very few people take any sort of action to improve their communication skills.

It’s no surprise that many of the world’s most successful people are also top notch...