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I know – getting up to speak in front of an audience is a big accomplishment in itself!  You crossed the first hurdle of deciding your topic, jumped over the next hurdle of creating the content, soared towards the finish line by practicing, and dived over the finish line to victory by presenting your speech. […]

Speaking Tips

January 30, 2017

10 Public Speaking Mistakes to Avoid Now

“I don’t even know what her speech was about.”  This is what my mother said to me about the keynote speaker at the breast cancer survivors’ luncheon she recently attended.  I wasn’t sure if my mother meant that the speech wasn’t memorable, or that she didn’t get it.  I asked her to clarify a bit […]

Speaking Tips, Writing

November 7, 2016

Are you laying the foundation?

I must admit something. This article could just as easily have been called “The Quickest Way to Annoy Roquita.” However, this personal pet peeve of mine is certainly not unique to me.  It’s a sentiment shared by many an audience member who’ve attended a presentation. How do you annoy your audience in no time flat? […]

Speaking Tips, Speaking Tools

September 5, 2016

The Quickest Way to Annoy Your Audience

Many moons ago, I worked at the happiest place on earth. No, not Disneyland. Another magical place where parents and children abounded called Babies R Us. I had been a college graduate for all of two years and was ecstatic to finally land a job in the marketing field.  As Store Promotions Coordinator (or SPC […]

Speaking Tips, Uncategorized

July 19, 2016

How Babies R Us Helped My Public Speaking

One evening, I was listening to a guest speaker at my Toastmasters club meeting.  He was an extremely charismatic speaker who engaged the audience with energizing activities, captivating anecdotes, and memorable analogies. In fact, his analogies were so memorable that I started feeling like I was having a case of Déjà Vu.  Much of his […]

Speaking Tips, Writing

February 15, 2016

Have you ever had Speech Deja Vu?

Remember that iconic song by Carly Simon about a self-absorbed ex-lover? “You’re so vain, you probably think this song’s about you…” You’re singing the words in your head right now, I bet. Unfortunately, I’m sure we’ve all met someone like that before! Lover or not. But what about the self-absorbed speaker? You’ve probably crossed paths […]

Speaking Tips

November 29, 2015

You’re so vain, you probably think this speech is about you