When you are scheduled to interview with a prospective employer, there are some techniques that can help you be remembered and increase your chances of winning the job. it is important to understand that the interviewer might be just as uncertain as you are. He or she may not have much interviewing experience. Maybe that…
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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…
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Alan Rabinowitz could not talk to people at all, but he could talk to animals fluidly. He promised his childhood pets if he ever became a fluid speaker, he would speak up for the animals of the world. I heard Alan tell his story about being a severe stutterer as a child on the MOTH…
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As we lay Nelson Mandela to rest this past week, here is a lovely TED talk story told by Boyd Varty, a man who met Mandela as a child. To learn to tell your valuable and inspiring stories, join my speaking group classes at Self-Expression Center or coaching via Skype. I am Sandra Zimmer, author…
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The tragic news of our 2012 Holiday Season is the sad deaths of children and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Much has been said and reported; and I don’t have anything to offer that can help the situation. My heart hurts for those families, friends and neighbors who are grieving this…
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A standing ovation is a spontaneous emotional response from an audience that is moved deeply by a speaker or performer. The only way to earn a standing ovation is to get naked! I don’t mean take off all your clothes, I mean take off all protection and pretense, and be emotional. When a presenter is…
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Travis Kalanick is the CEO of Uber, a service that uses apps to call a car, usually a Town Car, in 15 minutes. What I like about him is his authenticity. He says that telling your authentic story is how business needs to be communicating. He shares that in toughest times, we learn to be…
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I am in love with this word – storyselling! It says it all about the power of stories to persuade listeners to buy products and services or buy into ideas. Storyselling is the act of telling the authentically persuasive story. It is sharing the story that excites others to say, “Yes, I want that!” Everyone…
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Next week I am facilitating a day-long training program for sales professionals in the world’s fifth largest software company. Unlike my usual clients who feel fear of speaking, these folks will be good at speaking and selling. They are already very successful. So, “What,” I wondered “Do they need from me?” They need me to…
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A special contributor to The Tribune Newspapers, writer Richard Asa, contacted me recently. He was writing an article on fear of public speaking at family events, such as weddings and funerals. I shared some ideas that I thought might be valuable. Public speaking when the public is family can produce anxiety for some people. Many of…
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