December 21, 2009 by Jerry
“Brevity is the soul of wit,” said Polonius, the sage royal advisor in Hamlet, in response to the king’s request for his opinion. William Shakespeare had his 17th Century character use “wit” to mean intelligence rather than its current usage to mean clever humor. But just as the definition of wit has shifted over time, so has the definition of brevity. There are far too many presentations—and even more conversations—that go on and on and on, warranting the impatient accusation, “Tell me the time, not how to build a clock!” In presentations, nowhere is verbosity more frequently perpetrated than
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December 18, 2009 by Nichole
Jerry frequently travels abroad for speaking engagements and coaching sessions. His most recent trip was to Cairo for Ideavelopers. Ideavelopers is an Egytptian integrated finance venture developement and incubation firm that partners with technology entreprenuers to greatly increase their odds of success. On the Ideavelopers website, you will find links to a wealth of online resources that range from informative to educative to news to advice as well as to a variety of documents and whitepapers that they publish regularly. Jerry worked with a number Ideavelopers portfolio companies, coaching the group on the Power Presentations Core Program. Among the companies were:
December 16, 2009 by Jerry
In 1873, John Godfrey Saxe, an American poet, published a poem based on an ancient Indian fable about six blind men who were asked to describe an elephant by touch. One man said it was a wall, another a spear, another a snake, another a tree, another a fan, and the sixth man called it a rope. The last stanza of the poem concludes: And so these men of Indostan Disputed loud and long,
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December 14, 2009 by Pearl
It’s that time of the year again when décor shops spring to life with all the glitters and sparkles for the rapidly-approaching holiday season. I don’t know how you react, but as soon as I set foot in such a shop, I can’t help but to perform a full 360 degree twirl on my feet; just as I did when I was a child walking into Disneyland for the very first time. As much as I enjoy taking in all the glory of the holiday season in these stores, the experience can also be a bit overwhelming⎯especially
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December 10, 2009 by Nichole
Wave Publishers has purchased the rights to translate and distribute Jerry Weissman’s The Power Presenter in Japan. The book’s Chapter 10, “What Every Speaker Can Learn from Barack Obama,” was of particular interest to the publisher because of the popularity in Japan of President Obama’s public speaking skills. Since Obama took office,  there have been many articles in the Japanese press about how the Japanese are learning English from him. Many of their lessons have come from the 2008 release of the international best-selling book “The Speeches of Barack Obama,” which sold nearly a half million copies in only
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December 9, 2009 by Jerry
In a prime time speech delivered at the United States Military Academy at West Point last week, President Barack Obama committed 30,000 more troops to fight the war in Afghanistan. His decision was consistent with a policy he had stated during his campaign for the presidency in 2007: I did not oppose all wars, I said. I was a strong supporter of the war in Afghanistan. And then stated again in 2008: We have to understand that the situation is
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December 7, 2009 by Jerry
On January 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 took off from National Airport in Washington D.C. during a blinding snowstorm and suddenly plunged into the Potomac River, killing 74 passengers. Only five people survived the crash, one of them was a woman who owed her life to the courageous efforts of a federal employee named Lenny Skutnik. Skutnik, who was on his way home from work at the fateful moment, dove into the icy waters, swam to the woman’s rescue and, in doing so, became a catalyst for a speaking technique used by every U.S. president from Ronald Reagan
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December 4, 2009 by admin
Earlier this week, Jerry Weissman presented to a group of senior financial executives at the Financial Executives International(FEI) Silicom Valley Chapter Dinner Meeting at the Palo Alto Hills Country Club. FEI provides exclusive peer networking for chief financial officers, controllers, treasurers, tax executives and finance and accounting professors in academia. Its membership base is 15,000 strong with chapters throughout United States and Canada. Other speakers in 2009 included Joshua Bolten, formerWhite House Chief of Staff; Ronnie Lott, NFL Hall of Famer; and, Tom Campbell, former US Congressman.
December 2, 2009 by Jerry
In the prior post you read about the importance of making every presentation you ever give fresh and alive with customization. This important technique is applicable to one-time presentations or to multiple iterations of the same presentation. There are seven ways you can customize: 1. Direct Reference. Refer to one or more members of your audience by name. If you can, mention a well-known fact or figure about that person or his or her company or market. “Just before the
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