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.

Your posture, gestures, and facial expressions influence how you feel.

So stand up straight, weight on both feet. Keep your chin up. Chest out, Open up and smile. Those actions make you look and feel good.

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...

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.

Stick your ideas into the mind of your audience by being vivid and concrete.

 “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” is more memorable than, “The value of controlled assets exceeds by a factor of two those we pursue but do not yet possess.”

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.