Speeches from Film: Up in the Air

Analysis of George Clooney’s “What’s In Your Backpack?” speech in the movie, “Up In the Air”:
Quotes for Public Speakers (No. 78) – Peter Guber

“Story forms have evolved continually since the days of the shaman. Literary genres from epic poetry to drama to the novel use stories as political or social calls to action. “Technological breakthroughs — movable type, movies, radio, television, the internet — have provided new ways of recording, presenting, and disseminating stories. But it isn’t special […]
Oscar Night 2011
Tonight is the 83rd Annual Academy Awards. It’s been years since I’ve seen the show live. For me, watching it from start to finish can be a tedious affair. This year, however, I have more than a passing interest in one movie: The King’s Speech. Nominated in 12 categories, the movie deals with public speaking […]
resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences

It’s been said that there are no new stories; there are only new ways of telling the old stories. The same holds true for public speaking and presentation skills. After all, people have been writing about public speaking since Aristotle penned Art of Rhetoric in the 4th Century B.C. Yet every so often, a book […]
Quotes for Public Speakers (No. 77) – John Maxwell

If there is a more important key to communication than finding common ground, I certainly can’t think of it.
Lessons from a Ukulele

Creativity and passion in a most unusual package.
Perfect Public Speaking is an Asymptote

Recently, I wrote a post entitled Basic Speech Geometry. Today we return to the mathematics of points and lines and curves and surfaces. An asymptote is a straight line that a curve approaches but never touches. It comes from the Greek word asymptotos which means “not falling together”. In the diagram below, the horizontal orange […]
Quotes for Public Speakers (No. 76) – Booker T. Washington

I believe that one always does himself and his audience an injustice when he speaks merely for the sake of speaking. I do not believe that one should speak unless, deep down in his heart, he feels convinced that he has a message to deliver.
23 Public Speaking Secrets from the Greats

Today’s post comes from Carol Brown at OnlineCollege.org. Carol has gleaned 23 public speaking secrets from well-known people. As she says, while everyone has their favourite tip, nobody says it better than the great speakers. Each secret is accompanied by a quotation and a link where you can read more about that particular point. It […]
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