When you go to a seminar or speech, you want the speaker to give a good performance. But do you do your part to make the event a success? Having an audience that is involved and responsive not only makes the speaker feel better, it creates positive energy that makes the experience better for everyone. [...]

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Some speakers absolutely dread taking questions after they have presented a talk. Although you can carefully script your presentation, you never know what questions will come up when you open it up to questions from the audience. Will someone ask something you don’t know? Will there be questions you don’t even understand? Or, perhaps worst [...]

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Are you asking your customers to buy? This is one of those “duh” things that many of us miss. It’s so simple we often overlook it. And sales will suffer as a result. The fact is that in order to make a sale, you’ve got to ask someone to buy. It’s not being pushy, it’s [...]

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Giving free speeches to professional and community organizations is an easy way to improve your credibility and build your reputation as an expert. More than that, it is also a way to make money—directly and indirectly. First, create or obtain products you can sell after your talk. The fastest way to do this is to [...]

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At an industry conference, I heard a speaker who has a reputation as someone knowledgeable in his field. He even talked about the high fees he charges for speaking and consulting, such as $15,000 for a speech. But he couldn’t get through a sentence without at least one “um” or “uh,” he went off in [...]

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I recently posted a list of Don’ts for Public Speakers from a book published in 1916. Some things do not change much over time, and the characteristics that made a speaker great in 1916 will make you a great speaker today. Take a look at the following list–do you do these things when you speak?

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I discovered these tips for public speakers in a book from 1916. Although this list was written more than 90 years ago, these suggestions are still good today. It seems that good speaking habits are timeless.

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