Author: James Feudo

We all want our audiences to laugh with us, not at us and let’s face it — it just feels great to have the audience laugh at your jokes. Great speakers are able to entertain us while they educate us. There is also a perception that having the audience laugh with you throughout your talk means that it’s well received.

Humor is one of the best attention getting devices out there. If someone isn’t paying attention and the audience laughs, he or she will focus back on you to see what go the reaction. As a general rule, you want to put an attention getting device into your speech every three to five minutes to prevent losing your audience. In addition to humor, the other common ways to get attention include:  Read more... (707 words, 2 images, estimated 2:50 mins reading time)

It’s five minutes before your talk begins. You’ve prepared a great speech, worked out all the issues and practiced it several times. But for some bizarre reason, you still feel a bit nervous. Is something wrong?

These feelings are perfectly normal – many seasoned speakers still feel a bit nervous before a big speech. It’s your mind’s way of reminding you that you’ve got something important coming up. Nervous energy is a good thing; it helps keep us on our toes.  Read more... (557 words, 4 images, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)

Have you ever done a presentation with other people? In school, these are often known as group presentations but they also happen frequently in adulthood – a handful of people give a talk with each one doing a part of the presentation.  Read more... (853 words, 4 images, estimated 3:25 mins reading time)