No one likes to be pulled from a warm bed and thrust into a cold shower. And many people I’ve met feel the same about being plucked from the blanket of everyday life to stand alone on a stage with… Read More »Fear and Loathing of Public Speaking
I recently sat down to interview myself on the subject of speaker evaluation forms. Here’s the transcript of the interview. What’s the use of a speaker evaluation form? First of all, I prefer the term assessment to evaluation. It sounds… Read More »Public Speaking Tips: A Really Useful Speaker Evaluation Form
In the Jobs section of the New York Times, on Sunday March 30th, Phyllis Korkki has written an article entitled The Adroit Speaker Doesn’t Wing It. That’s true and not true. I believe wholeheartedly in preparing, rehearsing, getting feedback, even… Read More »Speaking Anxiety: Stage Fright
“What do I do with my hands?” is one of the most frequent questions I get from people striving to improve their public speaking skills. The answer is more complicated than you’d think. First of all, why is it important?… Read More »Effective Presentation Skills: Hang ‘Em in the Bat Cave
Recently, a client of mine, who is also a childhood friend, left me a voice mail saying that he did not think my short article on the power of gesture to create emotion was appropriate for the market I serve.… Read More »Speaking Anxiety: The Mind/Body Toggle
Science, like the rest of us, advances through trial and error, better known as dumb luck. One summer day in 1991, neuroscientists in a lab at Parma University wired up a monkey’s brain for a simple experiment. They wanted to… Read More »Public Speaking Skills: Mind Maps of Gesture