This is the third installment of my reflections on public speaking (here are links to one and two) and I’m going to talk about stories today. Stories are amazing little things that help us frame the world around us. They typically explain the “why” of an event through a logical construction of events. Why did the jar break? Because my little brother broke it. Why did he break it? Because he was angry. Why was he angry? Because our mother punished him. Why did she punish him? … and on and on. Public speakers are a peculiar blend of storyteller … Continue reading →

Last time I started talking about problems with speeches and public speaking in general and now I’m going to tackle some of the main issues and simple solutions that will help you with your speech. As I said last time I recently attended a public speaking event as a member of the audience and had difficulty following the speaker for a variety of reasons. While the speaker was a professional and was certainly educated about the topic they were still difficult to follow. Why was it difficult to follow this excellent speaker? What could have improved the situation? I will … Continue reading →

I recently attended an event that had as its main attraction a public speaker. The speaker had all the trappings of a good speaker. They were cool and calm in the face of thousands of people hanging on their every word. They were still and stoic during their lengthy (often hour long) talks. They employed hand gestures infrequently (and usefully) to help demonstrate a concept or idea and this particular speaker (a male) also had a deep deep voice that somehow presented itself to be interpreted as authoritative (much like a British accent is, for Americans, a signal of intelligence … Continue reading →