Rhetoric

Obama’s Rhetoric – The Art That Conceals Art

30.03.2010

Something shocking happened to Barack Obama on Thursday the 5th of June, 2008. He was addressing a meeting of the local community in Bristol, Virginia, when in the midst of his usual rhetorical flow, the wheels of his speech suddenly flew off and he ground to an inarticulate halt. Here’s a transcript of Obama’s slip [...]

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The Secret of a Steve Jobs Sales Pitch

18.03.2010

This article is my contribution to the latest Angela DeFinis Blog Carnival which is on the topic of “The Impact of Public Speaking on Top Sales Performance.” Steve Jobs is a laid-back, softly spoken, jeans-wearing, middle-aged geek. So what makes him one of the best salesmen in the world? You could argue that he doesn’t [...]

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Drowning your story in a sea of detail

17.02.2010

Talking is a very ineffectual way of communicating detailed information – it’s like trying to collect water from a well with a colander. When you give a speech or presentation always imagine yourself writing with a thick waxy crayon, not a slender mapping pen. If you choose to make a point with a story, make [...]

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How to be an ‘interesting’ speaker

11.02.2010

Most speeches and presentations are dull affairs. Soporific experiences to be endured, rather than enjoyed. Part of the fabric of everyday life; like a visit to the dentist – but more frequent. But why should this be? After all, there are plenty of interesting, articulate people around. So how is it that so many of [...]

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How Martin Luther King’s words inspire us

18.01.2010

The words of a skilled speaker or writer create light in the minds of others. We instantly ‘see’ what they mean, we are enlightened. Their words grab our attention by stimulating our imaginations and touching our hearts. How is it that some people can do this while others leave us stumbling about in the dark [...]

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A Gift for Speakers and Would-be Speakers

17.12.2009

The holiday period is a time to relax and recharge your batteries for the challenges to come. If you’re a professional speaker, it’s an opportunity to think about what you do and how to do it even better. And if you’re someone who’s new to public speaking, it’s a time to seek advice about how [...]

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Saving A Speaker From The Death Sentence

10.12.2009

The professional speechwriter needs many skills, and chief among them is the ability to turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse. In this post I want to share a few ideas on what to do when the first draft of a client’s speech is so impenetrable, it makes your eyes water. It’s all too [...]

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Synaesthesia is the Communicator’s Greatest Ally

11.11.2009

Sometimes it’s possible to do the right thing for the wrong reasons. Take, for instance, the discredited theory of learning styles. It may have no basis in science, but its influence on communicators and teachers has surely been a positive one, hasn’t it? After all, doesn’t the theory ultimately boil down to the very useful [...]

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The Dangers of Co-opting Scientific Explanation

28.10.2009

As non-scientists plying our trade, I believe we should be wary of justifying our practice on the basis of scientific research. Don’t get me wrong, science intrigues me as much as it does the next layperson. But the problem for laypeople like us is that all our scientific knowledge necessarily comes predigested – usually second, [...]

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What PowerPoint can’t show you

18.10.2009

Why does PowerPoint Presentations that Changed the World rank so high on the list of books that will never be written? Perhaps the clue’s in the title. PowerPoint has been with us for over twenty years but during that time it has gained more of a reputation for sending the world to sleep than changing [...]

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