The annual National Speakers Association Convention was held July 14 – 17, 2012 at the JW Marriott Hotel, Indianapolis. I was not able to attend this year’s event, but took the opportunity to follow along on Twitter. Over 1,000 professional speakers met for the four days and attended a series of main stage keynotes, break [.]. Public Speaking Social Media Conference National Speakers Association MORE

Kennedy's impromptu remarks at a 1968 Indianapolis rally, in which he informed the mostly black audience of the assassination of Rev. What would you say if you were the speaker and a crisis occurred? MORE

It’s time for the results of our Blended Cities joke writing contest. The contest theme was inspired by Sol Morrison of Santa Barbara. New Joke Contests are announced mid-month. New Cartoon Caption Contests are announced on the first of the month. Here are this month’s top lines: ** FIRST PLACE **. Maryland and Tijuana — Mary-Juana: A city Bill Clinton visited but didn’t inhaled once while he was there. Darin Thompson, Smithfield, Utah, USA. ** SECOND PLACE **. MORE

Indianapolis, Indiana. Invest In Yourself. – Have Fun. – Advance Your Career. – Expand Your Network. Here are some great professional development conventions I’d recommend: AATH’s 25th Annual Conference. Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. April 19-22. Chicago, Illinois. Humor Project Conference. The Positive Power of Humor and Creativity. June 1-3. Silver Bay, New York. Alexander Technique Workshops. MORE

It’s time for the results of our Blended Cities joke writing contest. The contest theme was inspired by Sol Morrison of Santa Barbara. New Joke Contests are announced mid-month. New Cartoon Caption Contests are announced on the first of the month. Here are this month’s top lines: ** FIRST PLACE **. Maryland and Tijuana — Mary-Juana: A city Bill Clinton visited but didn’t inhaled once while he was there. Darin Thompson, Smithfield, Utah, USA. ** SECOND PLACE **. MORE

On Sunday I was watching the AFC Championship game between the Indianapolis Colts and the New York Jets. Even if you are not a football fan, stick with me on this one. I like watching top performers in their fields and in this case I got to watch Peyton Manning, one of the best quarterbacks in football. He is this year’s Most Valuable Player in the NFL. One thing he does better than any other quarterback is change the play at the line of scrimmage based on what he sees the defence doing. MORE

Structure the speech Write the material Rewrite for clarity Using PowerPoint Coaching the speaker Some of the most enjoyable, and insightful, parts of the book are the analysis of icons of American rhetoric including General Douglas McArthur’s 1962 speech to West Point cadets and Robert Kennedy’s 1968 speech in Indianapolis on the night Martin Luther King was assassinated. MORE

Kennedy's speech to an audience in Indianapolis that night. MORE

29 – The Indianapolis Star 231,361 311,322. I found this post from Brian Solis very interesting – a list of the top media outlets, by circulation, as well as the 25 most popular blogs in America, as compiled by BurrellesLuce. . Marshall McLuhan is famous for stating “the medium is the message&# and with the introduction of a newer medium (online, web) there is constant debate as to its effect on older mediums (print, broadcast). MORE

He arrived in Indianapolis to learn that civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. If I''m going to blow up the rules for Famous Speech Friday, it will be for this speech. I saw it broadcast live 45 years ago, and it stands among the best impromptu speeches I know. MORE

Kevin O'Neal of The Indianapolis Star reported a remarkable story today about special education teacher Mary French, who got to give her high school valedictorian speech.this week, 42 years after her graduation from Arkansas's Foreman High School. MORE

Robby Slaughter We're organizing a small conference (the Indianapolis Productivity Summit on March 30) and are facing these issues as the event draws nearer. MORE

I''ve just returned from a three-day trip to Indianapolis, where I joined more than 85 members of the Madison Metropolitan School District and the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County spending their unpaid time participating in AVID Summer Institute. I am a tenured professor, and this is July of my first-ever sabbatical. MORE

Here are the results of our October Joke Contest. The theme is City Slogans , inspired by the Las Vegas slogan: What happens in Vegas…stays in Vegas. New Joke Contests are announced on the first of the month (alternating months). New Cartoon Caption Contests are announced on the first of the month (alternating months). The next caption contest is November 1, 2011. ** FIRST PLACE **. MORE

One of the 3,000 quotations to choose from: “They [Union soldiers and sailors] gave ungrudgingly; it was not a trade, but an offering.&# (Acceptance speech given by Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis on September 11, 1888 Military speechwriters will find much good material in THE BULLY PULPIT: QUOTATIONS FROM AMERICA’S PRESIDENTS, edited by Elizabeth Frost, and published by Facts on File (well respected for the excellent documentation in its reference books). MORE

Professional Speaker Ryan Moran from Indianapolis offers another way to talk to young people: relate directly to them by ‘becoming’ one of them for a bit: Having been involved in student leadership since Jr. Skip to content Follow: RSS Twitter Home About Contact Us Current Programs Inner Circle Newsletter Products 20 Presentation Skills That Kill: Audio CDSeminar Social Media and Public Relations: Audio Task Oriented Teams: Audio CDSeminar What We Do Making Public Speaking FUN! MORE