Public Speaking

Steve Jobs in 1980 – Conversational Style in Public Speaking (video)

Steve Jobs’ superior skill with presenting and public speaking was a key factor in his success. There were many bright and talented people in the computer field in the 1970s and 80s. But few had the presence, confidence and verbal ability of Steve Jobs. In this video, just 4 years after the f...

April 29, 2017
Communication Skills , Leadership , Public Speaking
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They Don’t Need Your Data, They Need You

There are three main skill levels in public speaking, identified by our inner dialogue: At the beginner level, we think “how do I look?” This is the most basic mindset, where we are most concerned with how we look to the audience and whether they are judging us or accepting us. Most pe...

Reduce Public Speaking Anxiety by Accepting it

Have you ever felt your heart beating faster right before giving a speech or presentation? It’s common, especially when there is a lot of anticipation and buildup. For example, when you are scheduled to speak at 10:15 AM and there is a roster of speakers before you at 9:30, 9:45, 10:00…...

April 23, 2017
Body Language , Persuasion , Public Speaking
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Power Body Language in the French Presidential Debate (video)

There are a few interesting moments in this clip from a recent presidential debate in France. You don’t have to speak French to see the body language at work: 5:04: Marine Le Pen chastising Francois Fillon Le Pen is very good at exhibiting a wide vocal range. She shows that again here (gettin...

April 19, 2017
Public Speaking
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How to Tell When a Presenter Doesn’t Care About the Audience (video)

This hilarious video demonstrates almost every bad quality a presenter can have: I don’t know if the video is real or a joke, but it’s a great illustration of what not to do regardless. Her presentation is disorganized and confusing. She skips through the whole thing without really sayi...

April 18, 2017
Public Speaking
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3 Minutes to Make an Impact on the Crowd

I went to Tech Day today here in NYC, a huge convention for startups and tech companies big and small. In one corner of the venue they had companies giving brief presentations to the crowd. I was interested to see each speaker’s overall presentation skills (including body language, verbals, ...

This is The Simplest Way to Overcome Your Fear of Presentations

Lack of preparation is one of the biggest reasons why we struggle or fail in our presentations. It’s a relatively simple problem to fix. Just take 10 or 30 minutes to practice at some point before actually getting at the front of that room. So why don’t we do it? In a word: fear. The ...

Do You Really Need to Obsess Over Filler Words?

Ideally, you should have no filler words when you speak. Words like “um” or “uhhh” or “so… yeah…” weaken your communication. But in reality, filler words are all but inevitable. We all use them when we speak. Through practice, I have massively reduced...

October 22, 2016
Communication Skills , Negotiation , Public Speaking
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What Makes an Awesome ‘Shark Tank’ Pitch Different from the Rest (video)

Vanessa Van Edwards looked at all Shark Tank pitches to see what the successful ones did differently. One thing I really like about Shark Tank, among many things, is that it shows us how rich people think. Pay attention to what they ask, the basic direction of their questioning. That indicates what...

September 27, 2016
Communication Skills , Persuasion , Public Speaking
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Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Have Almost Polar Opposite Communication Styles (video)

In the first presidential debate, we saw two very different communication styles. You can see a clip below. Donald Trump’s style was brash, aggressive and pushy. He consistently tried to take extra time to speak, and interrupted Hillary Clinton way more times than she interrupted him. Trump ...