Archive for the 'Distinctive Language' Category

If you’re looking for an example of someone who knows how to create a fire in the belly of an audience, look no further than President Obama’s speech last Friday in Urbandale, Iowa. There, Obama launched The Road to Charlotte Tour with a rousing rebuttal to the GOP convention platform last week.

There are numerous best [...]

I just completed a week’s training with the faculty at the University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry. This is my third year working with them, so we’re practically like family now. During one of the breaks we were chatting about speech preparation when one of the women present, Bernadette Alvear Fa, [...]

After two and one-half years as Yahoo’s CEO, Carol Bartz was let go last week. Since then, the media has been having a field day reporting on Bartz’s reaction to the decision. Granted, she may have said a few colorful words and called her former co-board members a less-than-flattering name, but we can’t let that [...]

When you’re preparing a presentation, who is the most important person you need to consider? The answer: Your audience.
You’ve likely experienced, at least once in your career, what happens when you forget about your audience. Here’s the scenario: You create the perfect presentation complete with solid transitions, compelling visuals, and stellar numbers. You have great [...]

I have been working with a recent college graduate who is seeking an entry level job in sales and he is finding that many of the positions available are cold calling, telemarketing positions. While I am not certain that sitting behind a desk, on the phone for 80-100 calls a day, is the best fit [...]

What do Samoan car thieves have to do with public speaking or speech writing?
On April 1st I received a phone call from my son.  “You’ll never guess what happened,” he said.  “My car got stolen…again.”
Since it was April Fools’ Day, I figured it was a joke.  After all, his car was stolen six months earlier [...]

Presidents’ Day, also known as George Washington Day, was the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen and was initially celebrated on Washington’s actual birthday, February 22. On January 1, 1971, the federal holiday was shifted to the third Monday in February by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. This date places the holiday between [...]

I love the pomp and circumstance of the State of the Union address. Anytime our leaders gather together to celebrate our history and our future, I am moved and inspired. I was especially so last night as I watched President Obama take control of the podium and deliver a well-structured speech that reiterated for all [...]