Oscar: The Great Leveler

March 17, 2010 by Jerry 

As readers of the prior post saw, one of the most common and pervasive maladies known to humankind is the fear of public speaking. Even professional performers have stage fright. Actor Sir Laurence Olivier, singer Carly Simon, pianist Glenn Gould, jazz musician Benny Goodman, choreographer Jerome Robbins and actor-director Orson Welles all experienced nervousness about [...]

“Ya’ either got it, or ya’ ain’t”

March 10, 2010 by Jerry 

One of the most commonly held misconceptions about public speaking is that good speakers are born that way. Meaning, in the lyrics of a song from the classic Stephen Sondheim musical, Gypsy, that “Ya’ either got it, or ya’ ain’t.” If any speaker were to accept this false belief, he or she would never be [...]

You Are What You Eat

February 26, 2010 by Jerry 

“You are what you eat,” a phrase that has become commonplace in today’s lexicon, actually came into being in the 19th Century. In 1825, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, a French lawyer, magistrate, and politician, published The Physiology of Taste: Or, Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy, in which he wrote, “Tell me what you eat, and I will [...]

Fight or Flight

February 24, 2010 by Jerry 

On the occasion of the submission of his 2011 budget, President Obama assembled his economic team to join him during his speech. In the official White House photograph, the president is flanked left to right, by Christina Romer, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Timothy Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury, Peter Orszag, Director of [...]

Tiger Woods Apologizes

February 22, 2010 by Jerry 

After months of ducking the media over charges of marital infidelity, Tiger Woods finally met the press by delivering a thirteen-and-a-half minute apologetic statement to a hand-picked audience, and he did not take questions. That did not stop the media from picking over the event like the leftover carcass of a Thanksgiving turkey. The commentary [...]

Palin’s Palm/Obama’s Prompter

February 17, 2010 by Jerry 

The blogosphere, the fiber optic cables, and the airwaves have been buzzing with stories about Sarah Palin who, during a television interview connected with her speech at the conservative Tea Party convention, used crib notes written on her palm. You can see the infamous moment on YouTube. To compound the moment, Ms. Palin, threw a [...]

The 10,000 Hour Rule

February 15, 2010 by Jerry 

In the previous blog, you read about how the skill of Marques Colston, the New Orleans Saints leading wide receiver, resonates with the listening aspect of responding to questions in Q and A sessions. Now let’s look at another factor that contributed to the Saints’ Super Bowl victory: preparation.
A Wall Street Journal article about the [...]

Presentation Advice from the Saints’ Marques Colston

February 10, 2010 by Jerry 

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints on their Super Bowl victory and to Marques Colston, their talented wide receiver. Mr. Colston, who was the Saints’ leading receiver in the game with 7 receptions for 83 yards, is a four-year veteran who helped his team reach the Super Bowl with 70 catches for 1,074 yards [...]

The Bootstrap CEO

February 5, 2010 by Jerry 

In the previous post, you read about how musicians and athletes practice their art to the point of effortless grace; and that presenters, while not performers, must practice their presentations to the point delivering it with confidence and poise. The practice methodology to achieve that lofty state is Verbalization, the subject of prior blogs, as [...]

Presentation Advice from Musicians and Athletes

February 3, 2010 by Jerry 

Three musicians and two athletes share a performance quality that any presenter would do well to emulate. The musicians are jazz pianist Art Tatum, violinist Jascha Heifetz, and dancer Fred Astaire; the two athletes are baseball great Joe DiMaggio and any good trapeze artist. All of them perform their specialties with supreme effortlessness or, in [...]