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Speaking Freely BlogAuthentic Public Speaking and Leadership

How to Communicate with Executives

If you are in a position to communicate with executives, it is important to learn the rules for delivering information to a top-level leader. First, understand what an executive is, as it will help you understand how to communicate information to him or her. An executive is a decision-making top-level leader.  As such, the executive decides […] Read more

How to Develop Executive Presence and Gravitas

Executive Presence is hard to describe but easy to recognize in a room of people. In a group meeting, one person will stand out as a leader because that person exhibits a quality of gravitas. That person may or may not be the stated leader. You’ll find an article at my website called “How to Develop […] Read more

Qualities and Characteristics of Executive Presence

Developing executive presence is much like being an actor working to develop a character. The process is basically the same. You must step into the skin of a leader and embody the physical, mental and emotional characteristics so that you behave as an executive. As Constantine Stanislavski, the father of modern acting technique often said, […] Read more

MAKING YOUR PRESENTATION A GIFT

The dictionary states that there are two definitions for the words present and presentation.  The first definition for present is to exist or occur in the moment; but the second definition is what intrigues me the most for both forms of the word – to bestow or give a gift. How often do we actually […] Read more

Leaders Need Comfort in the Skin for Public Speaking

What is often misnamed as fear of public speaking is one of the best-kept secrets of corporate leaders. It is surprising how few leaders feel really comfortable speaking in public settings and being the center of attention. Much has been written about fear of public speaking, but what I think has not been clearly understood is that the problem […] Read more

Impeccable Diction – Dylan Thomas Reading Fern Hill

Diction is articulation of consonant sounds. Consonants make speech clear, crisp and intelligible. I am so grateful to Arthur Lessac of The Lessac Institute for the training in diction he gave me. I realize that my speech is very easy for listeners to understand because of the Lessac Method I know and teach. Not many […] Read more

Speaking Confidently LinkedIn Paper on Public Speaking

Dorothea Stuart, a communication coach and consultant from UK, is curating a great new public speaking Paper.Li called Speaking Confidently. Dorothea is including articles, blog posts and videos centered around public speaking. Her contributors include the biggest names in the public speaking world like Garr Reynolds at Presentation Zen, Nancy Duarte, Tom Antion, Tony Robbins, […] Read more

A Gentle Confrontation Skill for Communication

Having a gentle confrontation communication skill allows us to feel a sense of power to influence other’s behaviors. This week I share a very valuable confrontation communication skill learned from my personal trainer JV. During my training, two young men were using a body bar too close to the mirrored wall.  JV stopped them without hesitation.  Masterfully, […] Read more

The 20 Most Popular TED Talks

TED Talks provide inspiration and great models for public speaking skills. TED recently shared the 20 most popular talks since TED began. If you would like a summer project to inspire you to reach for the stars and to develop your public speaking skills, watch all 20 of these, one per day. If you undertake […] Read more

Steps for Practicing to Reduce or Modify an Accent

I have been coaching non-native speakers of English to improve their pronunciation for almost four decades.  I was trained by Arthur Lessac in the Lessac Method of Voice and Diction.  Thanks to Arthur’s fine training and method, I can quickly and easily identify the sounds of English that non-native speakers need to learn.  It’s also […] Read more