Can humor skills be developed? Yes, absolutely.
I’ve had a strong sense of humor since I was a child. I would sometimes get in trouble for making witty commentary in class, causing the room to bust out laughing. In fact, I still do this today in group situations. But this always came to me as a natural skill […]
I had a great time at the motivational seminar yesterday. While I can’t share a full day’s worth of information in a single blog entry, I’ll share some of the highlights and the things I learned.
The seminar took place in the Mandalay Bay Events Center, a gigantic indoor stadium with a raised speaking platform […]
As you may already know, over the past year and a half, I’ve been working hard to build my speaking skills to a professional level. I’ve also been creating a mountainous volume of original content on personal development, much of which you can access for free via this web site. Based on the […]
Tomorrow I’m going with some friends to a Get Motivated motivational seminar at the Mandalay Bay hotel here in Las Vegas. Speakers include Zig Ziglar, Steve Forbes, Peter Lowe, Tom Hopkins, Michael Powell, Joe Montana, and Rudy Giuliani.
I’m especially looking forward to seeing Zig Ziglar speak. I’ve heard his audio programs and read […]
One of the best pieces of advice for improving at public speaking is to videotape yourself and then watch the video, looking for ways you can improve. This technique is commonly used by the best speakers in the world.
But this idea can work for any kind of performance, not just public speaking.
If you’re a […]
Darren LaCroix is the Toastmasters International 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking. Last night he gave a free presentation here in Vegas called “Learning From a Dead Frog,” which I attended eagerly along with about 150 others. During his presentation Darren dissected his 7-minute championship speech (titled “Ouch!”) and explained how he developed, […]
I recently bought an Olympus WS-100 digital voice recorder. This particular recorder was recommended by a contributor to SpeakerNet News.
I like the Olympus WS-100 for several reasons:
It uses flash memory, so I don’t have to fuss with microcassettes or mini-CDs.
It only weights a couple ounces and is about the size of two packs of […]
One of the communication skills Toastmasters teaches is to eliminate verbal pauses when speaking, whether giving a speech, talking on the phone, or having a face-to-face conversation.
Verbal pauses are when you say um, ah, uh, you know, etc. While your brain is searching for the next words to say, your mouth keeps on going […]
John Richardson of Success Begins Today made an excellent observation about how the “You Have the Right to Be Wrong” concept applies to Toastmasters.
I was at a Toastmasters meeting on Monday, and since we had five guests that evening, we all did a round of introductions. One of our members introduced himself by saying […]
Several readers have informed me they’re experiencing tremendous difficulty with the issue of selfishness vs. selflessness. Deep down they want to live a live of greater service to others (STO), but they note that their current lives are designed almost entirely around service to self (STS). This in turn often leads to feelings […]
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