[VIDEO] How To Start Your Talk Or Speech

This is a video from my former site for professional speakers, but there are great tips in here for anybody that has to give a speech, talk, or presentation of any type.

Q & A: Get a Degree in Motivational Speaking?

Q: What kind of college courses would I take my freshman year of college in order to become a successful motivational speaker like you? -student, Georgia State University

Public Speaking Tips 4: Where are your eyes?

continued from part 3

There are thousands (maybe millions) of tips on the web for improving your public speaking skills. Some are absolutely garbage, like:

“Don’t really look at people. Just find a spot in the back of the room and focus on that.”

Huh?!

Public Speaking Tips 3: An Over-Looked Secret for an Awesome Opening

continued from part 2

It’s a packed house. The audience is waiting to hear from you and you have prepared an outstanding talk. You’re ready to hit them with an opening that’ll make‘em say “Wow!”

And then…

Before you even have a chance to open your mouth, things start to fall apart.

People in the audience are getting restless and bored. You see too many yawns to count. Others are getting irritated. It’s killing you, but you can’t do anything about it right now.

Why?

What The Ancient Egyptians Said About Public Speaking

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers the number one skill across the board that employers are looking for is the ability to communicate effectively.

Suggested Reading:

Public Speaking Tips
Soft Skills – Why all the fuss?

Q & A: Public Speaking Tips Pt. 2

continued from part 1

Be Brief

Recently, I was the keynote speaker at a welcome back dinner for the African-American Cultural Center at the University of Connecticut.

I was supposed to deliver a 90 minute talk, but the students were so engaged and had me so fired up that before we realized it, an hour and 45 minutes had gone by!

You might be thinking, “Al, an hour and 45 minutes is not brief. That’s a long time.”

Actually, it depends on the context. That’s the interesting thing about time; two hours can seem like ten minutes or ten minutes can seem like two hours.

Have you ever been stuck listening to a lack-luster speaker? Have you ever been trapped in a mind-numbing lecture or boring conversation? Ten minutes of this torture is excruciatingly painful, right? The point is:

Q & A: Public Speaking Tips Pt. 1

Q: As a motivational speaker and thought leader, do you have any suggestions or experience that you want to share? I understand that practice makes perfect. Do you have specific tips for improving public speaking? —Yue L., School of Management, Syracuse University