I was watching some of the political coverage of campaign speeches this past weekend and was astounded by what I saw and heard. As someone who's in the field of public speaking, coaching people on how to do it effectively and having made my own fair share of speeches, I felt the need to apologize on their behalf. This has nothing to do with their parties, their politics or their policies. The approach of descending to juvenile ridicule for which we'd be admonishing our sch

When you are dealing with communication in general and public speaking in particular, words are an important tool. The ones you choose to use carry weight and power. Yet in many ways, perhaps because words seem so transitory, people often are careless with expressing thoughts to support what they want to have happen. Perhaps because we utter so many words every day, we lose sight of how important and impactful any one of them can be. Words have great power, and the thoughts t

Just before my recent trip to Italy I directed a stage production of a Neil Simon play called “Come Blow Your Horn” (the first Broadway hit of his illustrious career). I’ve been directing plays for over twenty years and doing that became a major reason I created Speak Louder Than Words and became a public speaking coach. I was seeing many entrepreneurs struggle with their presentations and knew that theatre skills could help them become more successful. Theatre has been a

Public speaking is the fastest way to connect with and gain new clients. The level of trust that you can develop with someone during a live presentation trumps any number of other ways we try to communicate in business. Yes, there are some advantages to videos, blogs and social media posts in terms of reaching more people in distant places. However those electronic means of communications don't capture the authenticity of having someone standing in front of you and address

When it comes to the art and craft of public speaking, simply getting up in front of people and talking doesn't equate to having a connection. In terms of reaching people strongly so you gain impact, much of that has to do with the flow of energy between the speaker and the audience. That flow needs to be something that connects effectively so that listeners receive what the speaker wants to send out. Sometimes speakers confuse being passionate about their message with speaki

They seem to be taking over. Our surrounding, our lives, the way we stay in touch. It's those gadgets, smartphones, apps. Things have changed quickly and opened up many new streams of communication. And if you wait just a little while, there are bound to be new ones being released and embraced. With all this impacting our lives and those of just about every one around us. Does public speaking matter any more? After all, when Socrates or Plato addressed the crowds in Ancient G

Value Matters No Matter What You Do! I recently attended an art gallery opening, something I hadn't done in some time. I was looking forward to it, not just for the social experience, but also because my college degree was in painting. Then add to it an exhibit called "Inspired by Italy" (to which I love to travel) had me looking forward to it. Arriving and being offered a glass of Prosecco made it start off enjoyable. La vita bella, right? The art was varied, some of which