Speakers Weekly Tune Up: How To Improve Your Speaking Skills Every Day by Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM

Involve your audience in your story by making them apart of the story! In my true story of performing with Frank Sinatra at Carnegie Hall and learning about first impressions and commanding attention, I brought my audience into the scene. Here’s how it’s done: “Picture this: You and I are musicians on stage performing with Frank Sinatra at Carnegie Hall. You play the violin, viola, or cello. Ladies you are wearing an elegant long black dresses with black dress shoes. Gentlemen you are wearing a tailored dark suit, white shirt, dark tie, black socks and dress black shoes.” When your audience is part of the story they will listen more carefully to every detail of your story. Please share your thoughts and comments about this blog. Until next week bring your audience into your story so they are apart of it. Madeline Frank,  Ph.D.,  is  a 2014 Certified World Class Speaking Coach. She has been coaching and mentoring business professional...

  If you can't grab your audience's attention, it won't matter how brilliant your content is. Here is one of my audience's favorite stories and the two tips that you can include in every story to make it unforgettable.  It was a beautiful blue-sky 80-degree Wednesday in early June at 10:45 in the morning, when my husband and I decided to take our 22-foot boat out for the first ride of the Summer. My husband is tall and handsome with dark brown hair and boarded our boat to warm up the engine. Just as he lifted the battery hatch to start the engine, he noticed that there was more than a battery in the compartment. He quietly and carefully closed the hatch and ran into the house. He found me and exclaimed, “There are 3 large black snakes in the battery hatch! How are we going to get rid of them?”..... Every story must have two crucial elements:   1. Vivid word pictures (Blue-sky 80-degree day in June, vs. "On Sunday...")  2. Struggle: C...

                                      You have just been hired by an event planner to give a speech to an “Accounting Company”. What is the most “important question” you should ask the event planner before you write your speech? Remember, the gems that are buried in your speech will only be revealed when you ask the right questions ! President Abraham Lincoln was known as an eloquent and masterful speaker. During the Civil War, President Lincoln would attend Wednesday night prayer services at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church not far from the White House with a companion. Reverend Dr. Phineas Gurley, the preacher, invited President Lincoln "to sit in his study with the door open" to hear the sermon assuring the President's privacy.” When the service was over and President Lincoln and his companion were walking " back to the White House" his companion asked, "What did you ...