Blog | Improve Your Business Presentations - Speaking Practically

Becoming a Great Impromptu Speaker

By Natalie Gallagher

The first time I was called on to give an impromptu speech in front of my colleagues, I was so nervous and unprepared that I rambled incoherently for 30 seconds, then spoke as fast as I could through my key points. Later someone told me I should’ve been an auctioneer instead of a professor. Does this sound familiar to you?

There’s much we can do to be great at delivering prepared presentations, but more often than not, we will be called on to deliver speeches on the spot. Every …

Monday, August 1st, 2016 Category: Business Presentations, Impromptu Speaking, Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking, Presentation Tips, Speaking Up at Work 4 Comments

Handling Flub-Ups Like a Pro

By Claudia Brogan

Dropping a microphone, forgetting the next sentence in your speech, noticing mid-delivery that the power point slide has a spelling mistake.

Each of these flubs— and many more—populate the dreams of those who do public speaking.

HIGHS AND LOWS
Lately, I have been observing speakers to watch how they handle the unexpected. I have learned a lot from watching pros handle mistakes with grace. In other situations, I have sighed with empathy when other speakers have …

Monday, July 25th, 2016 Category: Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking, Presentation Tips 3 Comments

Permission to Speak – Leadership Blog – Kelly Vandever Interviews Melissa Gordon on the Higher Purpose of Your Organization

Permission to Speak
Video Blog & Podcast
Hosted by Leadership Communications Expert Kelly Vandever
Permission to Speak is the video blog and podcast that loiters at the intersections of leaders who want their people to speak up, technology that facilitates connections, and results that serve an organization’s higher purpose.
Our guest for this episode: Melissa Gordon

Topics discussed:

– Melissa’s guilty pleasure TV show is the Night Manager (she mistakenly called it the Night Watchman when we talked)
– Bridge to Rwanda
– Child Voice …

Wednesday, July 20th, 2016 Category: Uncategorized No Comments

How to Create TED-Quality Visuals for Your Next Speech

Ron Finley delivered a brilliant TED speech by mixing sharp attitude, a passion for urban gardening and simple, powerful visuals.
By Tom Nixon

In February 2013, Ron Finley stepped to the center of the TED stage in Long Beach, California and delivered a masterful presentation describing his mission to bring gardening and healthy foods to South Central Los Angeles. Ron has a lot of rough edges to him — especially by the standards of a typical TED audience. His voice and gestures have the attitude and cadence of a hip-hop performer. His …

Monday, July 18th, 2016 Category: Notable Speakers, PowerPoint Slides, Presentation Tips 4 Comments

Permission to Speak – Leadership Blog – Kelly Vandever Interviews Kevin Monroe on Servant Leadership and Our Higher Purpose

Topics discussed:
– The importance of leadership to people’s lives

– Women leaders

– Living into your higher purpose

– The longing for significance

– What do you do that makes time just fly by

– What do you …

Wednesday, July 13th, 2016 Category: Book Recommendations, Company Culture, Leadership, Permission to Speak, Serving a Higher Purpose 4 Comments

Check, Please

by Bob Goodyear

Imagine that a friend stops by and asks you to come along to help with some kind of an errand. The first questions you may ask is where are you going and what are you going to be doing. Wouldn’t you want to know that?

When we present, we need to tell our audience the same things. We need to tell them where they are going and what they will be doing or hearing. We need to give them a road map of our presentation up front.

A road map helps …

Monday, July 4th, 2016 Tags: better presentations, business presentations, PowerPoint Presentations, presentation skills
Category: Analogies, Business Presentations, Presentation Coaching, Presentation Structure, Presentation Tips No Comments

3 Reasons Why You Need a Speaking Coach

by Natalie Gallagher

In the last few years, TED and TEDx Talks have rapidly become the gold standard of public speaking: the presentations are informative, witty, innovative, and demonstrate the best of what presenting can do. But did you ever wonder how they manage to maintain that level of consistency and quality in every Talk? Are all of these subject matter experts also naturally brilliant orators as well?

The truth is much more ordinary, and much more attainable: the secret is that every single speaker is required to have, and …

Monday, June 27th, 2016 Tags: better presentations, Improve Your Presenation, presentation coaching, public speaking
Category: Presentation Coaching, Presentation Tips, Training Tips 2 Comments

Permission to Speak – Leadership Blog – Kelly Vandever Interviews Jennifer Kahnweiler on Helping Introverts Speak Up at Work

Permission to Speak

Video Blog & Podcast

Hosted by Leadership Communications Expert Kelly Vandever

Permission to Speak is the video blog and podcast that loiters at the intersections of leaders who want their people to speak up, technology that facilitates connections, and results that serve an organization’s higher purpose.
Our guest for this episode: Jennifer Kahnweiler

Topics discussed:

Jennifer’s journey with introverts began with her marriage to her husband Bill
Introverts recharge internally, being alone, going within
Extroverts recharge by being around others
Another qualitied of introverts is they’re …

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2016 Category: Book Recommendations, Communication, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Permission to Speak, Speaking Up at Work 6 Comments

Getting (Creatively) Unstuck

by Claudia Brogan

“If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always gotten.”

One challenge for professional speakers who have varied topics and presentations is the creative act of coming up with new speech topics –or new approaches to topics—that they can use in training for their staffs and audiences. As a matter of fact, getting ourselves into “jams” for new ideas and new approaches can …

Monday, June 20th, 2016 Tags: better presentations, business presentations, presentation tools, problem solving, speech and presentation, spurring creativity
Category: Business Presentations, Conference Presentations, Presentation Coaching, Presentation Tips No Comments

8.5 Ways to Speak Up and Add More Value to Your Organization

by Kelly Vandever

Want to keep your job? Want to get a better job? Find ways to add value at work!

One of the reasons people come to this site it to improve their public speaking they can get better at speaking up at work. One way to show your value at work is to be able to present important information in a professional manner. But there’s more ways that are important to speak up at work. Consider these.

Tell your manager what change you want to make – …

Monday, June 13th, 2016 Tags: adding value, business relationships, career, professional goals
Category: Adding value to your organization, Leadership, Speaking Up at Work, Workplace Environment No Comments

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