English Speaking Skills: The What and How of a 30 Second Elevator Speech

English Speaking Skills: The What and How of  a 30 Second Elevator Speech An elevator speech is used as a marketing tool since it lets those you meet know where you’ve been and where you’re hoping to go in the future.  Write that 30 second speech, and it is worth memorizing.  What’s not to like […]

Visual Aids

Visual Aids   Visual Aids Learning is improved up to 200%  (Study at University of Wisconsin) Retention is improved up to 38% (Studies at Harvard and Columbia) Time to explain complex subjects is reduced by 25% and 40% (Study at Wharton School of Business)

English Speaking Skills: How to Write an Elevator Speech

English Speaking Skills: How to Write an Elevator Speech   The term “elevator speech” first became popular during the early days of the internet explosion, when companies that won cash from venture capitalists were often those with a simple pitch.  The best could explain a business proposition in the time it took occupants to arrive […]

Part 2- Stand Up and Use Visual Aids

Part 2- Stand up and Use Visual Aids   The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania did a controlled study of a presentation in which they tried to persuade people to invest their money in a new business. Group A: told story sitting down, and  58% agreed to sign up for the […]

Stand Up and Use Visual Aids!

Stand Up and Use Visual Aids!   People who stand up and use visual aids are perceived as: -more professional -more persuasive -more credible -more interesting -and better prepared  

English speaking skills: Become a memory champion

English speaking skills: Become a memory champion   You’ve heard this great advice for doing an excellent presentation:  Memorize the first several minutes and the last several minutes. How to do that, you ask?   Under the pressure of the need to perform, you just know your mind will go blank. What to do? The answer– […]

Anxious?

Anxious? Most important strategy: Preparation My personal favorite: Rehearse out loud My newly found tip: Arrive one hour early and meet and greet people at the door.

Public Speaking Training: Great Exercises for Coping With Stress

Public Speaking Training:  Great Exercises for Coping With Stress Here  are some of my favorite “coping with stress” exercises. For some people, anxiety is a problem whenever they do presentations.  Are you like many people and also feel stressed out during your daily work or academic life?   These exercises are good training in your […]

Breath Pauses

Breath Pauses   One of my favorite strategies is to mark breath pauses in your narrative for a presentation.  Many people, especially nonnative speakers of English, polish their presentation by writing it out their script or narrative.  Many people forget to include pauses.  Listeners need the pauses to process what you are saying. Marking your copy […]

Public Speaking: How to Relax Before You Present

Public Speaking: How to Relax Before You Present   The beginning of a presentation is often a difficult time to maintain your focus.  Try taking a slight pause at the beginning and thinking of a word to help you focus.  That word might be “focus” or for me it is “twinkle” to remind me to […]