Every year, I challenge myself on my birthday by doing consecutive push-ups push-ups to match the birthday I’m celebrating. As you can imagine, the the task becomes more difficult every year. Last year, I felt fortunate

Should you say “thank you” when starting a speech? Some “experts” will tell you it’s a public speaking sin that will bore your audience and not give any momentum to your speech. Some presenters believe you should thank everyone and their grandmother’s cow. So what’s the answer?

Are you looking for ways to take your pubic speaking skills to the next level? Here are 10 tips to help you get there. 1.) Research your audience You can give the exact same speech to two different groups, but you shouldn’t expect the same results.

I’ve often said that one of the best ways to get better at writing speeches is to read and listen to successful speeches of the past. You can find many of these speeches on the American Rhetoric website. I received an email today from Amber

Like it or hate it, President Obama’s inauguration speech has been analyzed six ways to Sunday. Some thought it was just right, but others thought it lacked the punch they were expecting. Though I don’t agree with all the opinions, I respect them. If you haven’t had a chance to read

TED has earned a lot of attention over the years for many reasons, including the nature and quality of its short-form conference presentations. All presenters lucky enough to be asked to speak at TED are given 18-minute slots maximum (some are for even less time such as 3- and 6-minute slots). Some who present at TED are not used to speaking on a large stage, or are at least not used to speaking on their topic with strict time restraints.

Exposing ourselves to traditional Japanese aesthetic ideas — notions that may seem quite foreign to most of us — is a good exercise in lateral thinking, a term coined by Edward de Bono in 1967. "Lateral Lateral Thinking is for changing concepts and perception," says de Bono. Beginning to think about design by exploring the tenets of the Zen aesthetic may not be an example of Lateral Thinking

Most people do not really think about design and designers, let alone think of themselves as designers. But what, if anything, can regular people — teachers, students, business people of all types — learn from designers and from thinking like a designer? And what of more specialized professions?

Presenting while people are tweeting is challenging – but also adds a new dimension to the presentation experience for your audience. Gradually tools are being developed to make it easier for you as the presenter to manage the backchannel. I

People often ask if technical or science-related presentations can be as compelling as presentations covering other less technical topics. Now, not every presentation has earth-shattering, Nobel-Prize winning significance, but I assume if you are talking about your research or current issues in your field, etc. that your words have a benefit for someone else.