by Andy Saks In mid-December, while the rest of us were caught up in the holiday rush, representatives of my home city of Boston pulled off an Olympic-sized feat. They delivered a presentation that successfully convinced the board of the United States Olympic Committee, the body that chooses the host city candidate to represent the U.S. in the international  Continue Reading »

by Andy Saks If you’ve ever watched a presentation, you’ve probably observed first-hand at least one annoying presentation habit, something the speaker did or said repeatedly that distracted you from the information he or she delivered. I call these habits “presentation irritations.” Like a lone scratch on a beautiful car’s paint job, they can mar an otherwise-perfect delivery. And once your brain’s  Continue Reading »

by Andy Saks Like most Americans, I’m an idiot when it comes to soccer (OK, fine: “football”). I’ve been following FIFA World Cup 2014 results and trying to get excited. But it’s hard to warm up to a game in which scores are low, touching the ball with your hands isn’t allowed, and (as I just  Continue Reading »

by Andy Saks Over many years as a professional presenter and speaker, I’ve accumulated a treasure trove of funny, inspiring, insightful public speaking quotes. These quotes are near and dear to my heart. They’ve helped me immensely, and helped me help others. Some date back to biblical times. Others are hot off the Twitter press. Sometimes I show  Continue Reading »

by Darlene Price, guest blogger Do you believe great speakers are born, not made; that you either have the gift or you don’t? This is one of many public speaking myths that often prevent potential ‘stars’ from shining on the platform. The reality is that any effective speech has at least three critical elements: style,  Continue Reading »

by Andy Saks We watch them, quote them, mock them and remember them. They’re the acceptance speeches the Hollywood elite give upon winning an Academy Award. What we rarely do is learn from them. So in this post, we’ll dispense with the “best Oscar speeches” and “worst Oscar speeches” labels, examine five memorable Oscar speeches,  Continue Reading »

by Andy Saks Film director Michael Bay is known for making us experience our worst fears on the big screen. Recently, Bay experienced our real worst fear himself at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas: an epic public speaking fail. Bay succumbed to stage fright during a keynote presentation for Samsung’s new 105-inch curved  Continue Reading »

by Andy Saks As a presentation skills trainer, this is one of the most common questions I hear. My answer is never very satisfying, but it’s absolutely true: “It depends.” Though speaking coaches often give a target number of slides to help struggling presenters, in reality there is no target number of slides that suits  Continue Reading »

by Andy Saks Ever seen a speaker on stage or on camera with a small black object clipped to their coat, shirt collar or tie? That’s called a “lapel” or “lavaliere/lav” microphone. A lavaliere microphone is a generally the smallest, lightest microphone a speaker can wear or carry. It’s commonly worn when speaking on camera  Continue Reading »

by Andy Saks These two words are commonly confused in the speaking world. “Podium” is often used to indicate the raised stand on which a speaker places his or her notes and behind which he or she stands to speak. Acutally, according to thefreedictionary.com, the podium is not the stand, but “the platform on which  Continue Reading »