Many people own a BlackBerry, iPhone or other mobile device that allows them to check email, surf the web, check email and update their status on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter from virtually anywhere. Of course that anywhere could be the car, the airport or even while sitting in the audience when you’re giving a speech.

Using these devices all the time is a new, yet increasing, trend – I remember sitting next to a woman at an awards dinner that ignored everyone else at the dinner because she couldn’t put her BlackBerry down. It’s no wonder that these devices are referred to as “CrackBerries” because some folks simply can’t resist checking them every couple minutes.  Read more... (944 words, 20 images, estimated 3:47 mins reading time)

If you want to put your audience to sleep then go through the typical motions of putting together a speech without thinking much about why you’re there and who you’re speaking to. If you want breathe life into your audience and capture their attention, then you need to add one critical ingredient to your talk – passion.

No, not that kind of passion – the passion I’m talking about is an excited interest in what you’re talking about. Passion and excitement are contagious – just try it out in everyday conversations. When you add it to your speeches, it has a similar effect on your audience. If you’re excited, some of the people will become excited and start paying closer attention to you. Then, almost like a virus, that excitement and interest spreads to the other people in the audience. As people starting paying close attention to you, the people sitting around them subconsciously think to themselves “hmm. if that person is listening, maybe I should as well.” So as more and more people in the audience notice the people around them paying close attention, the effect spreads until it reaches most (if not all) members of the audience.  Read more... (639 words, 20 images, estimated 2:33 mins reading time)

In part one of this article, we talked mainly about the opportunities that exist within your own Toastmasters club to push yourself as a speaker. Most people that join Toastmasters don’t venture beyond their clubs, so they’re missing a whole new world of opportunity in Toastmasters for improving their speaking skills.

So here are some ways to flex those speaking muscles outside of your home club:

6. Visit other clubs  Read more... (675 words, 19 images, estimated 2:42 mins reading time)

Last year, I did a presentation at a Toastmasters District Conference about how one can take their speaking to the next level. I’ve since been invited to give this talk to various Toastmasters Clubs (if you’d like me to speak at your club, please contact me) and I’ve learned that a lot of folks within Toastmasters are surprised at how many opportunities they have within the organization to push their limits as speakers.  Read more... (688 words, 19 images, estimated 2:45 mins reading time)

There’s nothing worse to a presenter than a snoozing audience – we take it to mean that what we’re saying is uninformative, irrelevant or even worse, downright boring. But your speeches don’t have to be that way – you have a lot more control over how your audience perceives you than you may think.

Boring speeches are often due mainly to by the presenter’s delivery style. However, there are a few things beyond the control of the speaker that can cause a tough or despondent audience such as:  Read more... (777 words, 21 images, estimated 3:06 mins reading time)

• Consuming a big meal and/or alcohol

Last night when I was doing my cardio workout, I found myself getting tired towards the middle of it. Since it was my 12th day in a row of cardio, I started to wonder if it might be okay to do a 20 minute workout instead of a 40 minute workout. After all it was a Sunday night and I had had long day. But as I thought more about it, I decided that it was in my best interest to finish my workout.  Read more... (818 words, 20 images, estimated 3:16 mins reading time)

Ever catch yourself muttering something negative about yourself under your breath? I’ve caught myself doing it a lot and it’s something I’ve been to working to stop doing. It usually happens when I make a mistake – I’ll say something like “that was really dumb of me.” What I didn’t realize at the time was that when I said things like that, I started making more mistakes because I was essentially convincing myself that I was dumb.  Read more... (899 words, 20 images, estimated 3:36 mins reading time)