When I heard Daniel Shore on NPR blame the listeners for the implosion of the Don Imus show, I felt a little ashamed, because I tuned in, I listened, and I laughed at Imus. I liked how he insulted his colleagues and… Read More »Speech Training: Don Imus and Insult Humor
A professor in Nanjing, China had the bright idea of getting his students to put on a play with Japanese students. This was a bright idea because most historians tell us that the Japanese army massacred 300,000 civilians in Nanjing… Read More »Persuasive Speaking: Trust is the Cornerstone of Presenting
People make fun of engineers–ribbing them for their introversion and poor communication skills. I don’t feel that way. Whenever I work with them on their technical and scientific presentations, I find them to be eager and open to new ideas. … Read More »Technical and Scientific Presentations: Engineering Better Talks
Last week I went to the third and last day of a meeting for engineers. After lunch, one of their senior leaders stood up and summarized every presentation they had experienced during the past three days. As he began to speak… Read More »Public Speaking: A Stunning Moment of Authenticity
I recently bought a book called The Craft of Scientific Presentations by Michael Alley, which begins with a quote from Isaac Asimov. On March 21, 1949, I attended a lecture given by Linus Pauling… That talk was the best talk… Read More »Scientific Presentations
You will have noticed, if you’ve read through these postings, that I am a fan of Henry Ward Beecher, one of the greatest speakers in American history. Even Lincoln looked up to him. Here is a description of Beecher written by… Read More »Presentation Skills: The Bang at the Beginning