Rehearsal doesn’t kill spontaneity — it gives you the confidence that lets you be spontaneous. You don't just know the material: you know its emotional and literal meaning,nd you've made your big choices about how you're going to convey it. If you want to make the most of your speech, you need to rehearse. And to make that rehearsal count, behold: The Ten Commandments of Rehearsal. Links: The elusive Episode 17, where I make my case for rehearsing Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license. Photo:  Photo ..read more

Before a speaker steps up to the microphone, there's usually somebody who introduces them. And that introduction could be helping to set the stage and prime the audience. But too many introductions are just tedious recitals of a speaker's biography. And they're so loooonnnng. Instead of revving an audience up, they put them to sleep. Let's kill those introductions off once and for all. This episode, we look at what an introduction can do for you and your audience, by promising some combination of six elements: authority, affinity, attraction, value, intrigue and entertainment. We'll talk about ..read more

Pick up a collection of speeches or quotations from history, and chances are most of those voices belong to men. That's changing. More women are claiming their time at the microphone. And it turns out the oratory of the past was a lot more female than many of its curators would have us think. One woman in particular, Dana Rubin, is working to change our understanding of public speaking history — and the role women have played in shaping it. And she's my guest on this episode. Links: The Speaking While Female Speech Bank — a tremendously useful resource for speakers, speechwriters and anyone i ..read more

You’ve probably heard the expression “stay in your lane.” And sometimes that’s good advice — but right now, we’re facing global emergencies on an unprecedented scale, and we need voices speaking out for truth, democracy, science and our very survival. If you have a platform, you can be one of those voices…even if you aren’t an expert. Here’s how to do it responsibly. Links: That Kris Straub cartoon about Internet "research" Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license ..read more

There probably isn’t a speechwriter or speaker alive today who hasn’t heard the advice “Tell a story.” But you want them to do more than listen. You want to tell the kind of story your audience will turn into their story. Crafting that story is the heart Tamsen Webster’s terrific new book, Find Your Red Thread. Tamsen joins me this episode to talk about the five steps of an effective Red Thread — which just so happen to be a great way to outline your next speech or op-ed. And we talk about how great stories can move audiences and create change. Links: Follow Tamsen on Twitter a ..read more

Well over a year into remote presentations as the norm, people are getting pretty good at it... but some mistakes are still cropping up again and again. Last time, we looked at four of the seven deadly sins of online presentations. This time we tour the final three... and then we'll look at how to flip those sins into shining, saintly virtues. Links: My wife Alexandra Samuel has co-written a terrific new book on making the most of remote work, called Remote, Inc. Highly recommended for making the most of the new workplace! Tamsen Webster's new book Find Your Red Thread is an absolute must-rea ..read more

Well over a year into remote presentations as the norm, people are getting pretty good at it... but some mistakes are still cropping up again and again. In this two-episode series, we'll meet the seven deadly sins of online presentations — from not looking at the camera to not knowing your platform. And then we'll look at how to flip those sins into shining, saintly virtues. Links: My wife Alexandra Samuel has co-written a terrific new book on making the most of remote work, called Remote, Inc. Highly recommended for making the most of the new workplace! Tamsen Webster's new book Find Your Re ..read more

Sure, you and I would never take someone else’s writing and pretend it was our own. But not all plagiarism is deliberate. It can be surprisingly easy to steal someone else’s words by accident. Plagiarism scandals have caught up leaders ranging from presidential candidates to university officials. They’ve derailed campaigns and ended careers. Here’s how to keep that from happening to you — by making sure your words, really are your words. Links: Care to jog your memory? Here’s the background on Joe Biden’s and Melania Trump’s plagiarism issues. And in case you missed last episode’s notes: My w ..read more

So many leadership communications mistakes come down to one thing: not having a clear goal and a roadmap to get there. That’s especially true when it comes to areas where leaders aren’t as familiar with the subject matter. This episode looks at a high-profile communications failure: an op-ed that blew up in CEO's face, damaged the company's reputation and forced an embarrassing public about-face. We'll look at what went wrong... and how you can keep your communications on track. The important thing: Don't let stories like this discourage you from speaking up! You can make a positive contributi ..read more

Public speaking has changed a lot in the past year, since conference halls and auditoriums went dark and we traded stages and amplifiers for webcams and video. But those changes can help us be better speakers, when the time comes to return to the stage. Links: My wife Alexandra Samuel has co-written a terrific new book on making the most of remote work, called Remote, Inc. There's a chapter on presentations in there that I got to advise on, and it covers some of what I talk about here. (Think she'd be up for an interview in an upcoming episode?) Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme m ..read more