Public Speaking & Presentations

January 13, 2009

Presentation Tips from Macworld and CES

Last week, some of the world's most prominent business leaders gave presentations at two major annual tech conferences, Macworld and the Consumer Electronics Show. As ...

December 30, 2008

Manage Your Fear of Public Speaking

Most people who fear speaking in front of groups simply avoid it or spend sleepless nights ahead of the dreaded event. But there are effective ways to prepare ...

December 16, 2008

More Important Than the Holiday Party

The number of companies holding holiday parties is at 20-year low, according to a recent survey from executive-search firm Battalia Winston. But whether you're simply ...

December 9, 2008

Making YouTube Work for Your Business

It took John F. Kennedy less than 18 minutes at Rice University in September 1962 to inspire a generation to land a man on the moon. It took Barack Obama 17 minutes at...

December 2, 2008

Bridging the Gap Between Boomers and Gen Y

The other day I walked into a local restaurant and listened as a fiftysomething manager lashed out at a twentysomething employee. Such interactions occur far too ...

November 25, 2008

The Four Elements of an Inspiring Vision

When a group of Wharton executive MBA students asked me recently to speak to their class, they told me they learn plenty about accounting, modeling, and supply-chain ...

November 18, 2008

Five Ways to Win Over Customers

On a recent weekend this November, dozens of strangers wished my daughter a happy birthday. The strangers were employees at the Disneyland Resort (DIS) in Anaheim, ...

November 11, 2008

Bringing Obama-Style Inspiration to the Workplace

As the global financial markets plummet and pink slips fly, workers are facing a crisis of confidence. They crave leaders who command respect and make them feel better...

October 21, 2008

Financial Crisis: Communicating with Employees

When New York's Twin Towers came down on September 11, I was hosting a show for a now-defunct national television network based in San Francisco. What happened over ...

October 14, 2008

10 Signs That You're an Uninspiring Boss

This Thursday, Oct. 16, is National Boss's Day. I have to admit it wasn't on my radar screen until a Hallmark ad reminded me about it. I'm my own boss, so it's ...

October 7, 2008

Your Company's Best Sales Tool

Customers are cutting back and scrutinizing their budgets. That's the reality facing small-business owners today. An October survey by the PNC Financial Services Group...

September 19, 2008

How to Deliver a Presentation Under Pressure

Last week, dozens of entrepreneurs pitched their startups and technologies to influential investors and members of the tech community in hopes of raising money and ...

September 12, 2008

Use Storytelling to Strengthen Your Presentations

Telling personal stories makes presentations stronger. Politicians have long understood this. They know that forging a connection with an audience on an emotional ...

September 5, 2008

Why Your Business Should Be Your Passion

If you start a new business today, you stand a reasonably good chance of surviving for two years. But after two years, success rates drop. According to the Small ...

August 29, 2008

Five Magic Words to Boost Morale

I recently gave a keynote presentation at a conference of Texas school administrators. One particular school district had some of the most enthusiastic employees I ...

August 15, 2008

Four Ways to Improve a Presentation

This July, Barack Obama gave a speech to a large audience in Berlin in which he deliberately repeated the phrase, "This is the moment." For example: "This is the ...

August 8, 2008

Winning Tough Conversations at Work

Anyone who runs a small business knows that getting the most out of employees, vendors, and customers requires having uncomfortable conversations and dealing with ...

August 1, 2008

Speaking Up with Donny Deutsch

I recently appeared on CNBC's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch show. The topic was "speaking your mind to get what you want." The CNBC producers asked me to outline ...

July 18, 2008

How to Boost Your Energy on the Job

The leaders featured in this weekly column are typically those who have the ability to energize their employees, customers, and colleagues by the way they communicate....

July 11, 2008

Copying Kinko's Success

Paul Orfalea started Kinko's in 1970 near the University of California at Santa Barbara. Today it has grown to more than 1,700 locations. Although its owner, Fed-Ex ...

July 7, 2008

How Your Audience's Brain Works

Your brain has a tendency to tune out after 10 minutes, ignore "boring" subjects, and require a lot of pictures to retain information. Those are three of the ...

June 27, 2008

Secrets from JFK's Speechwriter

In his new book, Counselor, Ted Sorensen, adviser and legendary speechwriter for John F. Kennedy, describes the events that shaped the Kennedy years along with his ...

June 20, 2008

Making Your Point Through Numbers

To motivate listeners, your ideas must be memorable. Statistics and numbers can act as supporting points for your key message, but numbers and statistics aren't ...

June 13, 2008

Three Steps to Calming Angry Customers

Niceness is now arriving at major airports. At John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, 500 employees are being taught to be, well, pleasant. It's easier ...

June 6, 2008

Antonin Scalia's 10 Rules of Persuasion

Few presentations have more direct impact on the lives of millions of people than those argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. That's why I was intrigued to read the ...