Catchphrases are powerful tools in the hand of a public speaker—they can help cement an idea for years to come. We all remember phrases such as "I have a dream" or "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". You can use catchphrases for important speeches, product slogans, advertisements, campaign mottos, and more. Let's look at what makes a good … [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...]
Toastmasters division champion humorous speech (self-analysis video)
Division champion humorous speech analysis I won the Toastmasters division contest with this speech! This video will go over how I managed to keep it together after forgetting a critical word (and substituting it for basically an oxymoron), as well as several other valuable lessons you can learn from the speech. Posted by Potent Speaking on Monday, October 16, … [Read more...]
How to use PowerPoint for speaking (7 tips)
After watching over 100 class presentations in my time in college, I'm officially convinced that no one knows how to use PowerPoint properly. Slides are like salt: some can be good, but too much is gross and leaves your audience thirsty for an actual public speaker. Yes, I'm salty about this. In this post, I'd like to set the record straight on how to properly use … [Read more...]
Transcript and video: analysis of Donald Trump’s speech to Congress
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8NBoNWSfQI Transcript: Trump just gave another speech so, it's time to do this again. His latest speech in front of Congress got an unusual amount of positive media attention this time, so let's look at what he did right and what he could still improve on. The first thing that I think trump did right is that he stuck to his teleprompter … [Read more...]