You’ve heard it said over and over again: It’s not what you say, but how you say it. Body language (voice, gestures, and eye contact) are essential to effective communication and presentations. Those who present with energy and enthusiasm often have a greater impact on their audience. Most important and powerful is the quality of […]
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Take the Challenge – Become an Author!
Taking a challenge made me an author! After 30 years as a communication consultant and public speaking coach, I am now available on Amazon and B&N! Here’s the story behind my success. I was having coffee with a colleague, a peak performance coach, who was working on his second book. When I said I was […]
The Science of Public Speaking
By speakingthatconnects in Blog, Leadership, Non-verbal Communication, Presentation Skills, Relationships
One of my business’s taglines is “the art and science” of presentation excellence. Recently someone challenged the “science” aspect. Thinking “performance”, “stage presence”, “microphones”, “PowerPoint”, they felt speaking was more the “art.” But speaking is a complex neuromuscular activity (I learned that in Speech 101 many years ago) . Our thoughts are transformed into energy […]
The Counterproductivity of Counting Uhs and Ums
I recently attended a well-known public speaking organization, Toastmasters, to learn more about their structure and strategy in developing speakers. While I appreciated their focus on strong organization, the building of vocabulary and the pursuit of grammatical accuracy, I found the practice of counting “ums” rather counterproductive. Telling a speaker they have 7 ums and […]