As my daughter (age eight) and I were driving to pick up my son from a sleepover this morning, she asked a very innocent question: “How many boys are there?”I answered, “Six,” even though I didn’t have the foggiest idea how many really were there but figured in my...
Now that the elections are a week behind us and emotions have abated (maybe?) somewhat, I’d like you to look at what answering questions can do for your message. I want to be necessarily anti-partisan in this discussion and evaluation. From where I sit, this...
Got a few more items for my “don’t ever say this” list from a speaker the other day.”Is it clear at all?” (Corollary: “Do you understand?” and “Got it?”) Realistically, what should the audience say? Half the...
Following up yesterday’s post about how to manage time in a speech/class/workshop, I was reminded of another tactic that has bad results.Multi-day classes are one of the greatest opportunities to manage time well. The speaker gets a rest midway through and a...
I spent a few hours last night in a most peculiar haunt (for me) — downtown Raleigh at a jam-packed nightclub. The event was IgniteRaleigh. 19 speakers — 15 of them elected by Internet vote — had (exactly) five minutes and 20 PowerPoint slides...
While I was planning for a keynote I gave this past week, I made a quiz about product brands and catchy phrases. Here are some of them — see if you can name who they stand for:Snap! Crackle! Pop!We do chicken rightQuality is Job OneDon’t leave home...
