For several years now, Apple has been delivering its product launches in a distinctive style. Instead of speaking live onstage before an audience, it produces meticulously polished launch videos, perfected down to the last detail. NVIDIA—widely regarded as one of the world’s most cutting-edge companies today—takes the opposite approach, sticking …
It’s helpful to think of presentations like movies. The narrative in both formats should be dynamic, the characters interesting, and the plot full of twists and turns. That way, we have a chance to truly engage the audience in the story we’re telling. Today, let’s talk about how to introduce …
Recently, I’ve noticed an increasing number of generic presentations. Generic, meaning those generated by AI—not just the slides, but also the script. I even witnessed a live event where several presenters stared at their laptops, reading notes written from start to finish by ChatGPT. Long, unnatural sentences, zero eye contact …
On August 9, 1940, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill, published a memorandum titled “Brevity.” In this one-page document, he urged all officials to write shorter reports. This memorandum has never aged. What exactly did Churchill include in this document? Here is Churchill’s memorandum “Brevity”: —— …
What is anadiplosis? It is a rhetorical device that is all about beginning a sentence or line with the last word of the preceding sentence or line. I will give you an example: “The market was filled with uncertainty. Uncertainty created hesitation. Hesitation led to missed opportunities. Opportunities, when seized, …
What happened to the words YES, NO, I DON’T KNOW – that they are becoming less and less common in discussions of all kinds? How not to communicate? I must admit, this has gone too far. Every radio interview I’ve listened to recently sounds something like this: Question: Do you …
I get this question in every other training session I conduct. But before I give you my answer, I have a question for you. Which option would you choose in response to the question: How many slides should a good presentation have?A. Fewer than 5B. Between 5 and 15C. No …
When I think about passion in the world of presentations, the words of Carmine Gallo (author of several great books on communication, including Talk Like TED) come to mind: “Passion is everything. You cannot inspire others unless you are inspired yourself.” This is the essence of passion. Passion is the …
I’ve spoken many times at various events, training sessions, and conferences about the importance of pauses in presentations. Yet, I still feel that for most speakers, silence is seen as the enemy. They think every second must be filled with some kind of sound—this is why, in so many presentations, …
It is rare for a book release to become an event in itself. But that is precisely the case with this book. Say It Well: Find Your Voice, Speak Your Mind, Inspire Any Audience by Terry Szuplat is the first book in 20 years written by a former White House …
