Using Visual Aids and Props for Giving More Powerful Presentations

Visual aids and props can go a long way in lending interest and depth to your presentation. Many people are highly visual in nature. “Did you see that!” Audiences tend to remember visually presented information more clearly and in more detail. If you’re still a bit nervous, a small “prop” will help you to keep your hands “busy”, so you can avoid a number of unconscious “nervous habits”. Some props and visual aids I’ve found useful during my presentations include these items.

Give 'em What They Want

As a professional public speaker you don't mope around crying because your product sales would suffer or because your ego is suffering. You give it your all whether there are 3 or 3000 in the audience.

Public Speaking: Tips for Television, Videotape, and Videoconferencing

Here are some things you should keep in mind when a television camera is trained on you:

Public Speaking: Storytelling Tricks

TRICK: Look in different directions to indicate different characters. The audience will associate a stage right or stage left look with the different character...

Eight Steps to Better Public Speaking

How public speakers can overcome nervous and stage fright. How to prepare your speech beforehand. The best time to rehearse. How to psych yourself up before going onstage. How to make an audience like you.

Speakers - How to Get Booked!

A handful of tips to help position yourself within the speaking arena and get those speaking engagements!

Make Money Doing Free Engagements!

Walking Away with a Full Pocket…Not an Empty Pocket!

Use Community Storytelling to Enliven Your Surroundings

When we know someone’s story, we can’t help but like them. It doesn’t matter what ethnic, cultural, or material differences we have, we all have stories in common. In days gone by, we sat on porches telling and listening to stories. Today, I don’t see many people telling stories on their porches, which is a shame. But we can enliven our communities and neighborhoods by forming storytelling groups. Here are some suggestions.

7 Deadly Sins to Avoid When You're the Guest Speaker

Speaking about what you do is an incredibly powerful way of marketing a service business. There are a few simple steps you can take and mistakes to avoid so that you have a memorable presentation that makes your audience eager to hear from you again and again.

Public Speaking - The Art of Speech Making

How do you speak naturally while all those people are watching you? This document covers hints and tips on public speaking, dealing with anxiety, public speaking skills and techniques, and public speaking training.

The Effective Emcee -- Five Tips for Success

Once you are known as someone who handles him or herself well in front of a group, you will be asked to lead a meeting and/or introduce the speakers. As the emcee, you will want to not only present those on the program professionally, you will want to orchestrate the occasion in an exemplary fashion. In the following article, I share five tips that will guarantee your success as an emcee.

Your Everyday Presentations -- How to Add Pizzazz

We spend an inordinate amount of time and effort preparing for a scheduled speech and/or meeting, but we often don’t consider the importance of daily relationship building through presentations. In this article, I discuss the many ways we can add pizzazz to our everyday interactions with others.

Pauses for Presentation Power -- The Sound of Silence

When we are presenting, and especially when we are new to speaking, we often speed ahead -- afraid of leaving blank spaces. Successful sales people know the power of silence. As presenters, if we learn to use silence and pauses to our advantage, we will not only reach our listeners more effectively, they will also understand and remember our messages more readily.

Magnify Your Humor Punchlines

The key is in the delivery. It's what you do that adds punch to your humor.