Category: Executives

Executives, middle managers, and company spokespeople rely on their ability to lead and inspire. Following are articles of interest to anyone who speaks to groups within a company or to outside groups, representing their company.

Be Successful

On 09.13.11 , In Accountants, Architects, Attorneys, Entrepreneurs, Executives, General, Professionals , by Rick Fornoff

Whatever your goal in business or career, your strong speaking skills will give you an edge over those who are less persuasive. The confidence you display in front of an audience is interpreted as competence, and translates to success in many areas. Imagine yourself in one of these situations: Entrepreneur/Inventor – you have a pioneering [...]

Humor from a philosopher/builder

On 08.27.11 , In All speakers, Entrepreneurs, Executives, General, TED Speakers , by Rick Fornoff

Recorded at TEDxHouston, June, 2010 Dan Phillips demonstrates in this talk how effectively a speaker can use humor to connect with the audience. This is one of the more amusing speeches about home building you will ever see. He also incorporates an unusual use of his visual aids, using is photos at first to illustrate [...]

3 ways to tell if you are unintelligibly intelligent

On 08.18.11 , In Accountants, Architects, Attorneys, Executives, Webinar Providers , by Rick Fornoff

Being more knowledgeable about and familiar with your subject than your audience helps to make you confident as a speaker. But that expertise can come with a downside, as you run the risk of speaking over the heads of that audience. I refer to this as being “unintelligibly intelligent”; having a mastery of your subject [...]

Lose your cool and win your audience

On 08.15.11 , In Entrepreneurs, Executives, TED Speakers , by Rick Fornoff

A speaker whom I was coaching gave a preview of her speech in front of some of the organizers of our event. Her speech consisted of some very personal and heart-wrenching stories, and in the telling she momentarily lost control of her emotions and had to stop to collect herself. The small audience was riveted [...]