Month: March 2008

I’m often asked to speak to student organizations about public speaking and how it can help them succeed once they graduate. I tell them that communication skills in general are often as important as the technical skills required for a job, but public speaking in particular has so many benefits.

It Increases Your Confidence:

The biggest advantage of being effective at speaking in public is that it will increase your confidence in your abilities in other forms of communication. In my classes, I teach the concept of small successes that you can build on. Success is like a snowball rolling in the snow. Every time you have a success, it’s like rolling that snowball a few feet in the snow which the makes the snowball (your skills and area of influence) larger. The more you roll it, the bigger the ball.  Read more... (679 words, 2 images, estimated 2:43 mins reading time)

When people who speak hear the phrase “speech introduction,” they often think of the introduction portion of their speech as opposed to the introduction that is given to them prior to their talk. While most speakers spend a significant amount of time on the former, very few put a lot of effort (if any) into the latter.

It’s too bad because a speech introduction is a great opportunity to make a great speech even better. An effective introduction sets the tone for your speech. It provides the audience with a background on you and your expertise and a well written introduction can help create interest in you and your speech.  Read more... (632 words, 2 images, estimated 2:32 mins reading time)