The origin of the word hints at how to be persuasive. The latin ‘persuasivus‘ is about being ‘convinced by reasoning’. So even though emotion plays an important part, our focus should be on a compelling argument and reasoning to back it up. You don’t need to employ manipulative tricks to be persuasive, the core skill More…
How to END a speech with power and impact
The universe has no end. Doesn’t that blow your mind a little? When you look up in the sky, it doesn’t end. Ever. This is difficult for humans to fathom. Our brain can’t process things that don’t end. It causes overwhelm, which shuts down our processing and recall faculties. This, however, creates a unique opportunity. More…
Public Speaking Simplified
The Vivid Method simplifies Public Speaking and helps you be more persuasive in: Speeches, Presentations, Media conversations. How? It shows you how to eliminate the interference caused by normal speaking nerves and information overload. On top of that it provides tools to structure information to bring it to life. This helps you think clearly – More…
The best leadership speech: Are you ready to lead?
Last week a client aggressively urged me to watch ‘the best leadership speech ever’. He’s a pretty good leader himself, with a world class creative team of over 100 people. I watched it this weekend and it’s pretty good. The video is long – 50 minutes – but here’s what you get: A unique piece of public More…
Great Movie Speeches in 2 minutes (8 examples)
Movie speeches are a great opportunity see how much impact you can have in a short space of time. I watched ‘Fair Game’ last night (with Sean Penn and Naomi Watts) which ended with a powerful movie speech. Powerful and short. In fact, the best movie speeches are only about 100 seconds. (The Gettysburg Address More…
4 ways to start a speech strongly
The most important thing when starting a speech or presentation is to make it clear to the audience where you are taking them. Think about a typical person in your audience. Their mind is full of to-do lists and daydreams; and you walk on stage. They’ve sat through boring presentations in the past and More…
Admit a negative point for persuasive communication
Persuasive communication techniques can be very simple. And effortlessly make a business presentation more engaging. Everybody has made mistakes, failed to achieve goals and been disappointed. So when you admit a negative, it creates a powerful connection with an audience. It also provides instant (temporary) credibility that sets up your persuasive point. Admitting a downside helps More…
Crazy over public speaking gestures for 70 years
Found this old film from the 1940s that runs through the ‘basics’ of effective public speaking. It’s absolute rubbish, but very funny, with an over-emphasis on body posture and forced gestures. There’s some hilarious footage here; especially in the scene demonstrating how not to make public speaking gestures. And in the final “live” speech the speaker’s motions are More…
Quick tip: Use memory hooks
Think of the listener’s mind as a smooth marble ball. When you speak, most ideas slide off. Your audience may be ‘aware’ of what you are saying, but the information is not sticking. Solution: personalise your examples by connecting with something already in the mind. This will act like a hook for your ideas. Memory hooks More…
Jeff’s final speech as Hawks President
I was lucky enough to be invited to the President’s Lunch for the Hawks game against the Western Bulldogs last week. Jeff Kennett spoke for the last time at this event as Hawks President. His stint ends at the club’s AGM on December 14, when Andrew Newbold takes over. The room was full with 600 More…
