Archive for May 2009
A different way to look at your speech – Wordle.net
A good friend of mine and fellow trainer Stella Collins drew my attention to this unusual new application which creates a “word cloud” from any web page or piece of text. The frequency with which the words appear in your text determines how large they appear in the Wordle image. Apart from creating interesting graphics,…
Read MoreSpeechwriting lessons from Barak Obama
I recently read an excellent post by Andrew Dlugan where he draws some powerful lessons in speech writing from President Obamas inauguration address. We can all learn much from the study and deconstruction of effective speeches and this article is one of the clearest I have read for a while. I recommend that you set…
Read MoreImpromptu speaking tips – part 2
In my last post I focused on the delivery side of an impromptu speech but what about the content? How do I stop by brain going blank and running out of things to say? Well here are two further technique to help you wow your audience ; Use the PEP model Position – Start…
Read MoreImpromptu Speaking Tips – Part 1
Delivering a prepared speech can be nerve-racking enough, the thought of being put on the spot to give a short speech without any preparation or advance warning can seem to some people like their worst nightmare. other people cope remarkably well with these situations so what can we learn from them? Well for a start…
Read MorePlanning a speech – Try the aeroplane approach
Some people find it hard to plan and structure their speech effectively. There are lots of models out there but here is one of my favourites. It’s called the aeroplane approach and is particularly useful when you know how you want your speech to finish but are not sure how to get to that end…
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