I just witnessed several clients reading scripts. There was something very unsatisfying about the experience for me. They lacked life and expression. They didn’t appear to mean what they were saying. Yet scripts are often useful and necessary. So what… Read More »Reading a speech vs. giving a presentation
A good speech has a voice. It sounds like an individual—specifically, the individual who is delivering the speech. It should not sound like the speechwriter. And yet us speechwriters are often given only a brief time with the speaker to… Read More »Your speechwriter: How to get the most out of him
Under the shadow of Armando Galarraga’s stolen perfect game, and umpire Jim Joyce’s human imperfection, I am moved to ponder the word pitch. In baseball, when a pitch comes at you, it is meant to either intimidate, bamboozle, or go… Read More »The Perfect Pitch
When she was a year old, I held my daughter Georgia at the closed window of our 30th floor New York City apartment so we could look out over Times Square. Across the street, stretching the full length of a… Read More »Public speaking as empathetic assertiveness
When preparing a talk, ask yourself if your audience wants to solve a problem or capitalize on an opportunity. Maybe they want to do both. Whatever the case, they’ll want to calculate the risks. Solving the wrong problem wastes time… Read More »Presentation Pointer: Second-guess everything
If you don’t want to talk about it, don’t put it on the slide. Knowledgeable people in the audience notice small details and ask penetrating questions. Less knowledgeable people lob random questions to probe for weaknesses in your argument and… Read More »Presentation Skills: Keep it simple