-
Jerry Seinfeld on How to Write a Joke
When you watch a great comedian tell jokes, it’s easy to assume that they’re just naturally funny. They seem to just go up there and talk, and everything they say is automatically hilarious. How do they do it? Jerry Seinfeld, a legendary stand-up comedian most famous for his sitcom “Seinfeld”, gives some great insight into…
-
Don’t Let That Smartphone Kill Your Confidence
Do you ever use your smartphone for public speaking? A new study would recommend against it. “When people use smaller devices, their posture contracts, increasing stress and decreasing testosterone levels, say researchers Maarten Bos and Amy Cuddy of Harvard Business School.” Several years ago, I tried using my new Palm Pilot (remember those?) to write…
-
The Fear and the Power of Connection
A discerning speech mentor recently pointed out that when I give a speech, I look towards the audience, but I don’t really look at them. My gaze scans the audience, but never really make eye contact with anyone. Why do I avoid eye contact? Speaking to a crowd, launching words into the air, is safe…
-
Jump Before You’re Ready
Several years ago I went skydiving. After four hours of on-the-ground training the instructor and pilot took us up to 2500ft and dropped us out of the pane, one at a time, to have our 2 seconds of free fall and 10 minutes of floating our way down to the ground. It was incredible. Can…
-
Focus on the Hero
A couple weeks ago I had the chance to give a presentation for the sales team at Golden West’s Steinbach centre about how to give more effective presentations. Yes, a presentation about presentation. Yes it got all crazy and Inception-like. Check out the video here or below: If you haven’t yet, make sure you check…
-
Take Your Eyes Off Yourself
If you’ve ever gotten up to make a speech, you likely know the nervousness and anxiety that comes in the moments before you actually start talking. In a speech I heard last week, Doreen pointed out the real problem of these nerves: when you’re nervous, you’re only focused on yourself. When all you’re thinking of…
-
Slides Are Harmony
Funny thing about this thing we call a “presentation”. Usually our first thought when we’re getting ready to give one, besides the possible dread or stress, is the visuals, the slides that will be on the screen. The PowerPoint guys have convinced us that visuals are what makes the presentation, that no presentation is complete…
-
Free eBook: 10 Tips For Your Next Presentation
Presentations are a powerful way to spread your ideas and make them stick. Any time you give a talk, you have the opportunity to draw your audience into a compelling story, to persuade them, change their minds and help them grow. Unfortunately, we’ve all sat through a lot of really bad and ineffective presentations, where…
-
Stories from the Christmas Tree
The Christmas season is filled with symbolism and memories. It’s always interesting to learn about the various Christmas traditions that families have. Now that we have a family of our own, Anna and I have been discussing what kinds of traditions we want to incorporate into our own family’s tradition as well. Growing up, one…