Delivery
July 21, 2010 by Jerry
General Stanley A. McChrystal, the leader of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, shared his feelings about his Commander-in-Chief with an advisor, who was later quoted in a Rolling Stone article: Obama clearly didn’t know anything about him, who he was. Here’s the guy who’s going to run his f***ing war, but he didn’t seem very engaged. The Boss was pretty disappointed. The very same week the article was published, his Commander-in-Chief relieved General McChrystal
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July 1, 2010 by Jerry
It’s no wonder that BP finally replaced its CEO, Tony Hayward as its spokesman. He was the flash point for the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In business as in sports, the manager gets fired after a big loss and Mr. Hayward made a mess of his job. From his now-infamous “I’d like my life back,” quote to his stonewalling at a congressional hearing; he only served to make matters worse for his company. The last straw came last weekend when he flew home to the UK to observe his luxurious yacht in a race off
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April 22, 2010 by Jerry
Politics and Personality On September 26, 1960 Richard M. Nixon, the sitting Vice President, met Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts in the first-ever televised debate between candidates for the U.S. presidency. By virtue of his superior presentation skills, Kennedy, the underdog, was able to reverse field by winning the debate and, ultimately, the election. The event was to change the face of politics forever. Fast forward 50 years to last Thursday’s first-ever televised debate among candidates for the Prime Minister of Britain. Gordon Brown, the sitting Prime Minister and the head of the Labour Party, who had been
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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 their appearances in public. The anxiety heightens when performers step out of their professional roles and appear as themselves. Witness the Oscar award ceremonies. In the high pressure circumstances of the primetime live broadcast last week, almost every one of the actors had the
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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 able to change—and presentation coaches would be out of business. I’m pleased to report that the presentation trade is alive and well, and is so primarily due to the pervasiveness of one of the most common maladies known to humankind: the fear of public
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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 tell you what you are.” Over time, Monsieur Brillat-Savarin’s treatise on cooking and eating has become a bible for foodies, and his phrase, in its shorter form, a slogan for dieticians. Brillat-Savarin’s modern counterpart, food guru Michael Pollan, the author of the bestselling Omnivore’s
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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 the Office of Management and Budget, and Larry Summers, National Economic Council Director. You’ll note that all of them are standing with their hands clasped in front of them, in what is known in the presentation trade as “The Fig Leaf.” In the Power
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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 ranged from the sarcastic (London’s Telegraph commented: “Tiger Woods had bought a new shirt. But, rather like a schoolboy on his first day of term, it appeared to be at least one collar size too large”) to the sincere, as Alessandra Stanley, the television
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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 stone at the White House from her glass house during her speech when she said, “This is about the people. And it’s bigger than any king or queen of a tea party. And it’s a lot bigger than any charismatic guy with a teleprompter.”
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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 well as a case study in
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