Effective Communication and Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
May 12th, 2021
Doug Ford’s mis-management of the COVID-19 crisis has put the Ontario premier in the crosshairs of parents, teachers, restaurant owners and frontline workers alike; it’s caused health care leaders to publicly weep in frustration. Governing effectively in uncharted pandemic territory is like leading a country in wartime: the challenges are legion and unpredictable. Addressing them […]
read more...Four communication lessons from Doug Ford and Jason Kenney
Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
December 22nd, 2020
A woman once told me about having attended her thesis supervisor’s presentation at an academic conference. It took him almost 20 minutes to read his research paper aloud. When he looked up at the end, she was the only one remaining. Everyone else had bailed from sheer boredom — and he hadn’t even noticed. (She […]
read more...How to reduce your dependency on speaking notes
Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
December 2nd, 2020
“I’m trying to sound smart.” These words broke my heart when I heard them from a workshop participant last week. The young woman who uttered them is so accomplished that she earned a coveted academic research grant usually awarded to PhD students even though she’d just completed a bachelor’s degree. She also speaks three languages. […]
read more...4 incentives to liberate you from reading your speaking notes
Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
October 6th, 2020
“Find another profession.” That was the blunt assessment of one high school student who sat through a presentation I gave in Saskatoon 15 years ago. The youth-targeted media literacy book that had earned me the speaking invitation, In Your Face – The Culture of Beauty and You, was an award-winning Canadian best-seller. But my ability […]
read more...The value of candid criticism from reliable sources
Effective Communication
May 24th, 2019
These are just a few of the exchanges provoked by the Toronto Star’s recent publication of a commentary I wrote about the downside of filler phrases. Many of those who responded on Twitter took issue with my apparent ageism. (Although I referenced recent interaction with young people, I also mentioned that the habit isn’t confined to […]
read more...Clear speech advocate writes; Twitter sh*t storm erupts.
Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
May 15th, 2017
I undermined the impact of my opening. I relied on my notes too much. I failed to advance my slides as intended. Those are just three of the critical observations I made after watching a video of myself delivering a conference keynote in Winnipeg. That’s the bad news. The good news is that 1. the […]
read more...Storytelling and the power of visual feedback
Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
April 27th, 2017
Brilliance, without the capacity to communicate it, is wasted. I learned this in grade 10 chemistry from the intellectually-gifted, but communicationally-impaired Mr. Philipps. Sadly, that’s about all I learned (and it wasn’t the lesson he was intending to teach). Although my parents may have been disappointed that I dropped sciences in grade 11, I’ve never […]
read more...Five Steps to Overcoming Public Speaking Nerves
Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
November 22nd, 2016
By Rama – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, Link Leonard Cohen’s passing offered us all an occasion to re-visit his art and impact. In my fantasy of this singular man, he is introducing me. I don’t even have to be on the stage with him. Or even in the concert hall. I just […]
read more...You’re introducing a speaker: can you channel Leonard Cohen?
Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter
November 3rd, 2016
My cabinet minister client was a speechwriter’s dream: She had deep knowledge of, inspirational passion for, and a lifetime of stories relevant to her portfolio. She also had a great sense of humour, and a strong and unique voice, which I could hear in my head as I wrote. Because she was a minister, and […]
read more...Less is more (how your mobile’s stop watch will improve your speaking)
Effective Communication, Increase Your Impact as a Speaker and Presenter and Master Media Engagement
August 18th, 2016
As professional communicators who advise others on how to improve their ability to connect with audiences, colleague Sarah Neville and I have watched the astonishing ascension of political neophyte and insult-machine Donald Trump with dropped jaws. Here’s our conversation about the lessons to be learned from his fearless communication style, originally published on Huffington Post. SARAH: […]
read more...Trump’s Terrifying Communication Effectiveness
