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. […]

“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 […]

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? […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]