Category

Public Speaking

Want to Hook Your Audience? (Of Course You Do!)

What’s the most important part of a presentation? You guessed it, it’s the opening. It’s at that moment that you either hook your audience or you lose them.

How Stories Can Change Our Lives

If you’ve read even a few of my writings (books, blogs, newsletters) you know I’m really big on storytelling. The truth is, our brains are wired for stories. Science is now proving what life experience has always shown: we feel before we think. It’s stories that attract us, stories that help us learn the most, stories that get us to buy, or click, or act.

Meet Nimisha Ladva.

Stop Mumbling & Pronounce Words Clearly

Why We Mumble and Slur Words
“How do I stop mumbling and pronounce words more clearly?” is a very common question I’ve heard from clients over the years. But before I directly answer the question about better diction, I think it’s important for you to first think about why you mumble.  So here are the primary reasons people mumble.

1.  “I’m focused on something else.”  It’s pretty simple.

How To Project Your Voice

Project Voice and Increase Volume

Project My Voice Step One: Test
“How do I project my voice?” is a very common question I’ve heard from clients over the years. To them, they think they are speaking way too loudly–as if they are screaming, when they really are speaking quite softly.  To find out if this is you…ask a trusted friend to stand in the back of a room. You say, “This is test A of my volume.

Public Speaking Skills for Academics

My birthday is this week and it’s hard for me to believe that I started delivering public speaking program for academics (engineering, biotechnology, and medicine) in 1992 — over 20 years ago! When I first started all of the faculty and even the students were older than me, now, as much as it pains me to admit this, I am older than the postdocs and even sometimes even older than the faculty!

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How Fast Do I Speak? (Update)

I answered a Quora Question:

For the average person speaking at a normal pace, what is the typical number of words they can say in one minute?

I am a professional speaker and podcast host and I speak at approximately 145-160 words per minute (wpm), while many sources state that average American English speaker engaged in a friendly conversation speaks at a rate of approximately 110–150 wpm

Michael Bay Meltdown Teaches What Not To Do

Oh my gosh, I was stunned.   What happened to Michael Bay? A very well respected communication professional, director Michael Bay, was thrown off when the teleprompter failed during a live presentation at CES 2014 in Las Vegas.  He was there to promote a new television from Samsung and unbelievably he chose to leave the stage leaving behind the executive from Samsung alone on stage.

I Will be Speaking at the New Media Expo 2014!

I will be a speaker on the topic of “Ladies, Start your Microphones: By Women Podcasters, For Women Podcasters” on Sunday, January 5 from 2.30pm to 3.15pm.

How to make incredible presentations? – Referenced by Juventud Kehila

I’m thrilled to be referenced by Juventud Kehila in his article about presentations called, “How to make incredible presentations?”. The article was written in Spanish. If you’re non-Spanish speaker, the 5 main points are the following.
1. Identify your anxiety
2. Be brief
3. Listen to critics
4. Prepare for the unknown
5.

Public Speaking Lessons from Candy Chang

Although talking about death is generally considered taboo, this TED talk from Candy Chang, titled, Before I Die, I Want To… was an inspiration. She explained  the powerful way that death clarifies life and through her art, she wanted to bring that same clarity to her local community.

Copyright Lisa B. Marshall ©2012-2016. All Rights Reserved. Photo of Lisa B. Marshall by Joan Ford Photography.