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Latest blog posts from Speak Schmeak

Christmas gifts for speakers
Andrew Dlugan at Six Minutes posted an excellent list of Christmas gifts for speakers. Make sure to check it out for gift ideas for your favorite speaker -- or for yourself!I thought I'd piggyback on his post to add some of my favorite tools that I've mentioned in the past. Countdown...
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Published 6 hours ago

You don't have to prove how smart you are
I recently came across a blogger who wants to follow "smart people" on Twitter. His definition of smart is that you teach him something. Fair enough.This brought up a typical insecurity for me. I'm smart. At least I think I'm smart. Smart enough, anyway. But what if my audience doesn't think I'm...
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Published a day ago

Favorite analogies
Having talked about stories and analogies many times as one of the most effective ways to get your audience engaged and understanding your topic, I thought I would dredge up some of my favorite Speak Schmeak analogies.The taste of flavorPlay for the peoplePublic speaking touchdownConcentrating or...
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Published 2 days ago

See, hear and taste your audience
"When the mind is not present, we look and do not see; we hear and do not understand; we eat and do not know the taste of what we eat." ~ Confucius, "The Great Learning" Have you ever been driving, and suddenly realized that you were at your destination and you didn't remember the journey?Have...
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Published 5 days ago

A 90-minute show in two minutes
For those of you celebrating today, Happy Thanksgiving! Here's some holiday fun from a real performing pro. Whether or not you like his music, he's got his comic timing down. And did you know he could do impressions? Impressive!Justin Timberlake hosts an entire episode of Saturday Night Live in...
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Published 6 days ago

How to give directions
This post on giving directions stirred up a little controversy, so I'm happy to share a new study that clears up the question of east/west vs. left/right a little.We each have different preferences for how we like to give and receive directions, but a combination of both "route perspective" and...
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Published a week ago

Are you canned or fresh?
We can talk all day about logistics, like notes or no notes, lectern or no lectern, PowerPoint or no PowerPoint, props or no props. We can talk all day about the fine points of delivery: authenticity, eye contact, crutch phrases, humor, stories and whatnot.But if your content is not relevant to...
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Published a week ago

Is public speaking back in fashion?
According to this article, a survey on voter influences in the recent U.S. election found that "public speaking skills are back in fashion."Hold the phone. Let me get this straight. Public speaking was once in fashion. Then it went out of fashion? And now it's back?I'm not sure how this survey...
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Published a week ago

Interview on Communication Steroids
Tim "Gonzo" Gordon graciously invited me to be his guest on his Communications Steroids Podcast. I had a great time chatting with Tim about the coaching biz and my philosophy of public speaking.And check out Tim's voice. Isn't that the kind of voice we'd all love to have as speakers?
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Published 2 weeks ago

How's your packaging? Continued...
Following up on the post about what's considered proper appearance for a speaker, Lee Potts sent me a link to this article, "What Sneakers Say About Your Soul."Once again, the comments add depth and spice to the discussion, so don't skip them!
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Published 2 weeks ago

Thought Trap #5: Jumping to conclusions
Thought Trap #5: Jumping to ConclusionsYou make a negative interpretation even though there are no definite facts that convincingly support your conclusion.Now, let's be honest, people. This is something most of us do on a daily basis. You don't hear back from someone you e-mailed last week, and...
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Published 2 weeks ago

How's your packaging?
Lee Potts, over at Breaking Murphy's Law, pointed out this interesting post on Strategic Guy's blog about a presentation gone wrong due to the speaker's appearance and alleged lack of preparation.Except that some of the people who responded in the comments were at the presentation and didn't find...
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Published 2 weeks ago