Armed with a large spreadsheet, videos of Toastmasters International Finalists, and an overwhelming sense of curiosity, I set out to learn what sets the champions apart.I watched 10 champion speeches and 5 speeches that placed second or third. I manually recorded everything about them in a spreadsheet: aspects like how many laughs they received, what style of speaker they … [Read more...]
How to Add Humor to Your Speech (Complete Guide, Ebook included)
Humor is one of the simplest ways to go from being a boring speaker to an engaging one. If you're able to successfully add humor to your speech, you'll be able to connect better with your audience.I'm about to give you over 10 ways to add humor to your speech—and there's even more helpful material in the free ebook accompanying this post. All you need to do is give me your … [Read more...]
Analysis of my own humorous speech “Unleash your inner Stillman”
Transcript: Hey everyone, I recently competed in a Toastmasters humorous speech contest and I actually was fortunate enough to win the club level contest so I'm moving on to the area level and representing my club there soon. And what I wanted to do is take the video of my speech and do an analysis on it and show you what I did wrong and what I could improve on as well as … [Read more...]
Review of Orai from a Public Speaking Coach (Public Speaking App)
I always have my eye out for news related to public speaking, and the other day something truly unique came to my attention. It's called Orai, and it's a mobile app designed to help you be a better speaker. Currently, it's only available for iOS.I was instantly both curious and skeptical. What could an automated app do to help you speak? Truthfully, the answer is: not much. … [Read more...]
How to Sound Smarter When You Speak: Eliminate Filler Words
One of the most common problems new public speakers have is the use of filler words. Words like "um", "uh", "alright", "you know" and "so" are commonly used when the speaker is trying to think of the next thing to say.If you fix this problem, you'll instantly look smarter.Film yourself giving a speech, then write down any unnecessary word that you repeatedly say. (You … [Read more...]