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October 2004 |
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Do Americans Prefer Eloquent
Presidents? Maybe Not, Says Canadian Writer. |
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Most people agree that
neither President George Bush nor his Democratic opponent John
Kerry are particularly eloquent speakers.
And that may
be just fine for most American voters.
At least
that’s the conclusion of Canadian writer Philip Marchand.
Marchand is a columnist for the Toronto Star newspaper and
author of a biography of Marshall McLuhan.
In a recent
column entitled “Baseball, apple pie and speaking like an
idiot: Lack of Eloquence a U.S. tradition,” Marchand argues
that poor public speaking may actually be preferred by US
voters. |
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What' s the Worst Start to a Presentation? An
Apology! We're Sorry but it's true! |
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“I’m not accustomed to speaking. So please bear
with me since I'm a little nervous.”
Ugh!
Instead of starting your presentation with an
apology, start with a simple relevant statement
that goes to the heart of your message. For
example, “Today,
we’re going to focus on how to make everyone
here extremely rich with very little effort.”
Now that’s a good beginning.
Apologies, on the other hand, make the audience
nervous. Here’s what goes through the listeners’
minds when they hear an apology at the beginning
of a presentation: “Oh no! This person is a
terrible presenter and I have to sit here and
listen to this.”
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Can
you Learn to Love Public Speaking like Kids Learn to Love
Asparagus? Who knows!? |
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“But
sweetie, you love asparagus!”
That’s the
kind of line that parents have been using for years to get
their children to eat their vegetables. And sometimes it
works! The logic has always been that the little
white lie tricks the child into liking the green vegetable.
There’s now
scientific proof that this logic is correct at least some of
the time, according to a study written up in a recent edition
of the New York Times. And at Speechworks, we’re holding out
hope that such research might actually show people how to learn to
love public speaking. |
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Want to Speak Like Churchill? Learn to Write a Good
Speech. |
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“If
Churchill had a speechwriter in 1940, Britain would be
speaking German today.”
When
Churchill scholar James C. Humes, wrote those words, he
meant that by writing his own speeches, Churchill became
more emotionally invested than if the words were written for
him. |
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Want
to Nail Your Next Big Presentation? Let Our Coaches Help
You Be a Star! |
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When Henry
Ford introduced the Model T, the joke was that you could have
your car any color you wanted “Just so long as you want
black.” Unfortunately, most public speaking training is the
same.
Most
public speaking training takes place in workshops. But
Speechworks is changing that model with Communication
Situation Coaching. |
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