Speak in pictures

The less you try to impress your listeners with your knowledge, the more they'll respect you.

Cut out specialized vocabulary and speak to your audience in their language.

Speaking to an audience is like feeding apple sauce to a two-year old. The more you spoon out, the more ends up on the floor. Include on the slides and in your spoken text only the information necessary to support your points. Cut everything else. You’ve finished writing your speech when t...

If you use slides, sentence headlines are better because they make a point. 

Phrase headlines just create a category of items and labels and will most likely be forgotten.

Your listeners want variety. That means broad truths buttressed by homely examples; solemn purpose marbled with humor; a voice that is animated and varied. 

... to defeat stage fright. Fear comes when you fixate on the possible problems rather than on the goal you want to achieve or the process you’re using to reach it. 

In tennis, you don’t look at the net. In golf, you don’t look at the sand trap. You look at the ball and focus on h...

Your audience will find it hard to listen if they’re trying to read slides filled with text. To help them listen, show them what to look at: point out what you want their eyes to see while you fill their ears with your explanation.

As Mrs. Humphrey said to her husband when he was running for President in 1968, "Hubert, for a speech to be immortal, it need not be interminable."

Before you speak, look at your audience with a slight smile and take 3 quiet, deep breaths. 

Then, when the silence becomes the blank canvas on which you will paint your masterpiece, begin.