The Zany Page of Revised Proverbs
In the guest book was the story of a first grade teacher who had 26 students in her class. She presented each child with the first half of a well-known proverb and asked the student to come up with the remainder of the proverb. Following is the list as it was posted in the innkeeper’s guest book. As you read this list, do keep in mind that the children who wrote these are only six years old.  

Don’t change horses…until they stop running.
Strike while the…bug is close.
It’s always darkest before…Daylight Savings Time.
Never underestimate the power of…termites.
You can lead a horse to water but…How?
Don’t bite the hand that…looks dirty.
No news is…impossible.
A miss is as good as a…Mr.
You can’t teach an old dog new…math.
If you lie down with dogs, you’ll…stink in the morning.
Love all; trust…me.
The pen is mightier than the…pigs.
An idle mind is…the best way to relax.
Where there’s smoke there’s… pollution.
Happy the bride who…gets all the presents.
A penny saved is…not much.
Two’s company; threes…the Musketeers.
Don’t put off till tomorrow what…you put on to go to bed.
Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and…you have to blow your nose.
There are none so blind as…Stevie Wonder.
Children should be seen and not…spanked or grounded.
If at first you don’t succeed…get new batteries.
You get out of something only what you… see in the picture box.
When the blind lead the blind…get out of the way.
A bird in the hand…is going to poop on you.
Better late than…pregnant.

Lessons for the Public Speaker
So what can we, as public speakers, learn from these funny mixed-up proverbs? More than anything else, we can simply remember to use proverbs—edited or not—in our speeches.

Support evidence or “touch points” come in many forms: stories, analogies, facts, data, metaphors, quotations, definitions, questions, physical demonstrations, charts, graphs, humor…and yes, even proverbs.

When you want to add variety to your support evidence, and not just bore your audience with dry data and statistics, look for a proverb to help you convince and persuade. After all, there’s no time like the present…to try a proverb.

But here’s the kicker: Less is more work, too. As Mark Twain said, “If I had more time, I would have written less.”

In public speaking, the “less is more” concept means that what you do present is carefully selected for the listener. Presenting less information to your audience requires honing your material, making discrete choices, and selecting only what is relevant and meaningful. And it means making these decisions ahead of time, not when you’re at the podium.

So while it does take more time to refine and distill your message than it does to tell the audience everything you know about your subject, your hard work is worth it. By developing a more spare and elegant speech, you’re creating a message with real substance. It sounds counter intuitive, but it’s true. Your ideas will hold their own weight, and the core elements will shine through without being hidden amidst jargon or superfluous information.

Yes, sometimes it’s difficult to narrow things down. You may struggle with deciding what to keep and what to cut. This is why knowing your audience is so crucial. Put yourself in your listeners’ shoes. What information is most important to them? What one main message do you want to get across? If you had one minute and one minute only to present your information, what key point would you stress? That’s the information to focus on.

The good news is that after you’ve taken the time to edit, not only will you have created a more elegant presentation, but you will have worked with the information for so long that you will be more confident in the message you deliver.

Of course, I could go on about this topic, but I’m taking my own advice with this one. Less is more…enough said!

Today is day 50 of the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history. As I write this, 50,932,978 gallons and counting of crude oil are pouring into the Gulf of Mexico. The toxic substance is fouling the ocean, desecrating the gorgeous coastal beeches, destroying wildlife habitat and killing countless birds and sea life. Eleven men have lost their lives and thousands more will be sickened from toxic exposure.

Yet, I listened with hope yesterday morning as Coast Guard Admiral Thad W. Allen, gave a press conference. Admiral Allen is a serious man with a powerful presence. He answered questions with authority and somber facts. Never once did I doubt his intention, but I was startled to hear him use the word “enemy” in his description of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Why is it necessary for our leaders to create a metaphor of war to galvanize the public into action and signal to us that someone has the muscle to take the situation seriously?

Yes, there is power is the use of certain words, and the word “enemy” has weight. It conjures up images of fear, panic, horror and alarm. In his press conference, that word was designed to grab our attention and to tell us in no uncertain terms that Admiral Allen meant business.

Now, I’m more than okay with someone taking control of this crisis, but frankly, I’ve had it with the endless use of the war metaphor. We’ve had the War on Crime, The War on Poverty, The War on Illiteracy, The War on Drugs, and most recently, The War on Terror.

And now Admiral Allen is suggesting that a new war is underway, that the oil spill is holding us hostage and we must fight back and defend ourselves. The great spill has become the new enemy and we must wage war. But what do we call this new war?

We can’t call it The War on Oil, because we are too fond of, addicted to and dependent on oil. It is the crude lifeblood of our economy. Waging war on it would be counterproductive.

We can’t go to war against BP, because whether we like it or not, they are the only hope we have for finding a solution to this immediate crisis.

We can’t call it The War on the Complicit Relationship between Government and Big Oil, because that’s way too complicated a problem to solve by a simple war metaphor.

So what do we call our new war? I like the idea of calling it like it is: The War on the Big Gushing Hole in the Bottom of the Ocean Floor. I know it may not be a catchy title, but it accurately describes the type of war we’re facing—a long, inelegant and dirty war.

No matter how hard anyone tries, we can’t spin this one into something “catchy.” And at this point, I’m certain of only one thing: We don’t need a war metaphor or any other marketing phrase to act as a substitute for what’s most important right now: right action, true compassion and long lasting commitment to solve this crisis…by all of us.



I watched with surprise as Lee Dewyze became the latest American Idol last Wednesday night. Clearly, he has a bigger fan base than Crystal Bowersox.

I like Lee. He’s cute and has a decent voice, and at times he worked hard to show us energy and passion. But as a presentation skills coach, I’m always looking for more from those in the spotlight, especially when it comes down to the finish line with so much at stake. So even though Lee was good, he was missing one key performance element, namely stage presence.

In contrast, it’s evident that Crystal Bowersox has plenty. She has more personality in her little finger than the final twelve contestants combined, including her last competitor. If this contest had been based solely on stage presence, musical artistry, and pure vocal talent, she would have taken home the title. But alas, American Idol fans are predictable in their ability to overlook this kind of talent in their search for someone with more commercial potential who fits the mold. So while I’m disappointed with the results, I do see a great opportunity to explore one of the most fundamental of all presentation skills—stage presence.

What is Stage Presence?

Stage presence is a unique combination of skills and behaviors that when used successfully create personal presence, charm, confidence and charisma.  Research tells us that ninety-one percent of effective communication comes from using non-verbal and vocal skills including, facial, physical, and vocal skills. When these skills work well together, the result is someone who displays greater poise, power, and passion.

Performing is Holistic Communication

A musician can skillfully play an instrument and possess command of singing skills, but that is not enough to create magic on stage. Stage presence is equally part of the whole performance. Performing (whether singing or speaking) is holistic communication for the performer and for the audience. Every part of the performance must be congruent and in synch. That means your body language, vocal skills and message all work together to create lasting impact for your audience. Developing stage presence requires the same awareness, attention to detail, and practice as playing a musical instrument and singing a tune. In mot cases it is a learned skill.

What skills does it take?

• Facial Expression: Your face must express your enthusiasm. Crystal’s face was always spread into a wide smile, especially on Wednesday night. If someone doesn’t know what the word “beaming” means, all he or she has to do is look at Crystal’s glowing, wide smile and her eye contact. She had so much energy coming from her face alone that she hardly needed to open her mouth. In contrast, Lee barely smiled. He looked nervous most of the time, and when he didn’t, he looked brooding and uncomfortable.

• Physical Skills: When performing, the body needs to convey excitement and energy. Crystal’s body was fluid and active. She looked relaxed and excited. With her dread locks, her tattoo, her lip piercing, and all those feathers her appearance was striking and added to her personal presence. Part of me wondered though, was all this too much for the voters? Lee on the other hand was stiff and controlled. He looked like he did not know what to do or how to act. I wanted more variety and excitement from him when he was singing and speaking.

• Vocal Skills: This incredible experience must have triggered a lot of emotion in the minds and hearts of each contestant. While I didn’t watch every episode of this season’s contest, whenever I did see it, I saw Lee answering every question with the same two phrases: “I feel awesome,” and “I’m having fun.” Maybe the intended audience for this show finds these phrases exciting banter, but again, I wanted more variety, more effort from him.

I know these are young performers, and I hear myself sounding a bit like Simon Cowell right now, but I so want the winners to be polished so that that their essence can shine through, excite us, and not be overshadowed by fear or nervousness.

Standing in front of a group and speaking and singing—that’s a great responsibility. Sharing your talent with an audience is the ultimate gift you can give; make it special every time.

So while I’m disappointed that Chrystal Bowersox did not win, America has spoken and we’ve crowned our next Idol. Let’s wish him well and hope he can live up to his new title.

Recently, I did a half-day presentation skills training program for a corporate group of one hundred people. I asked three volunteers to prepare short talks ahead of time so they and the group could have a “before” and “after” experience of our Line by Line Coaching™ process. 

One presenter gave a talk on NASCAR. An enthusiastic NASCAR fan, she prepared and delivered a lively speech. She told great stories, used good delivery skills and created a PowerPoint presentation filled with colorful images and videos of NASCAR celebrities and exciting races.

Like a pro, she had the audience in the palm of her hand and finished her presentation on a high note. Her last slide showed an exuberant photo of her family cheering in the grandstand…. or so she thought.

She had forgotten that she had another presentation at the end of this one. After she gave her final thought she clicked to the next slide expecting it to say, “Thank You.” But instead, everyone saw a picture of the famous Brussels statue, the Manneken Pis. (You know, the one of the little man urinating into a pond.) The title of her slide was, Urinating Athletes.

The audience immediately howled with laughter, and the embarrassed speaker sheepishly grinned and apologized. “Oh sorry,” she said. “This is for a different presentation.” Fortunately, they all knew her and she was quickly forgiven. But this certainly proves how important it is to carefully plan and rehearse your close.

What Makes a Memorable Close?

A strong and memorable close recaps the core purpose of your presentation. It also reclaims lost audience attention and captures any interest that may have lagged during your presentation. It is your last chance to win the support of your audience.

Surely, the Urinating Athlete slide was a memorable close, but it’s one I don’t think the speaker would ever want to repeat!

Practice Makes Permanent

While developing your close is crucial, practicing it is even more important. You want to be able to deliver your close with ease, even in the most stressful situations. Adequate practice ensures that your reflexes are finely tuned and will perform for you.

And here’s one other piece of advice: Never put two presentations back to back in one PowerPoint slide deck. Always add a neutral slide in between, or better yet, make two decks. Otherwise, you may just get caught with your pants down.

It was the Pecha Kucha of performance, alive and enthusiastic, greater than “show and tell” and only slightly less than Carnegie Hall. There was generosity, boldness, spontaneity and a willingness to be a part of a small community in action. Watching our talented performers deliver such individual and touching presentations gave everyone a chance to share in a glorious celebration of spring.  

What I loved most was that everyone took this celebration seriously and came prepared to contribute something unique. People practiced their songs and skits; they worked on their timing and audience participation. And while any one of these presentations would have been great entertainment for a Sunday afternoon, the cumulative “show” made it all the more dramatic. The group connection grew deeper as each performance built on the one before. Everyone was committed and eager, not only to support the performer, but to fully enjoy the experience. 

That’s how life is. If you have the desire to create and a simple talent to share you will bring richness and joy to those around you. Creativity and generosity go hand in hand. It’s not a difficult thing to do. Singers sing, guitarist strum, writers write, beat boxers beat—and each inspires others in a unique and powerful way. 

This magic of connection can be created just as easily in the world of business. And when it does, working teams are solidified, new partnerships are forged, and goals and values are realized. There is no stopping the positive outcome that can occur as a result of a generous performance and shared connection.

DeFinis Communications supports sales professionals with many programs in our core curriculum especially Recharge! Boost Your Sales Performance. I have always loved working with salespeople in this program because they are eager to embrace new ideas about presenting.

So with our latest blog carnival, I thought it would be interesting to ask eleven other experts to share their views on this important topic: The Impact of Public Speaking on Top Sales Performance.  I highly recommend that you spend time learning more about each of our talented contributors. They have a lot of valuable information to share. Enjoy!

Sales, Showbiz, and Speaking
Max Atkinson – Max Atkinson’s Blog
Why do companies spend thousands on sales events, but skimp on the speakers?

The Impact of Public Speaking on Top Sales Performance
Tim Gordon – Communication Steroids
What is the number one skill most lacking in people applying to sales positions?

The Impact of Public Speaking on Top Sales Performance
Nicole Henderson/Chuck Kuglen – Speak Fearlessly
4 tips to positively impact your sales with public speaking!

If you want to be good at sales, you need to learn how to present
Gavin Meikle – Inter Activ
Gavin’s principles of great presenting will lead to better sales.

Intention: Are you selling or being sold?
Kate Peters – Kate’s Voice
How to look at your communication from the perspective of intention.

The Sales Presentation
Kathy Reiffensein – Professionally Speaking…
Top sales performers fully focus on their audience. Do you?

Sell more with superior presentation skills
George Torok – Executive Speech Coach
George breaks down what it takes to create a successful sales presentation.

The Secret of a Steve Jobs Sales Pitch
Martin Shovel – Creativity Works
How does Steve Jobs create such effective sales performances?

Monologue as Dialogue
Beth Smith – Sims Wyeth
An interesting look at how public speaking can have a potential negative impact on sales.

5 Presentation Tips to Increase Sales Tomorrow
Jonathan Thomas – Presentation Advisors
Master these five tips and you’ll be selling like hot cakes!

The Impact of Public Speaking on Top Sales Performance
Norman Wei – Excellence in Presentations
An in-depth analysis of how to make an excellent sales presentation.

My company, DeFinis Communications, approaches the training process from a skills perspective. We teach the techniques, behaviors and skills that are associated with powerful and effective public speaking—and we do it with a proprietary coaching approach that gets great results. Once those fundamentals are in place, our clients get stronger and more confident so they are able to take risks and let their personalities shine on a solid and reliable base of skill. From there we move to personal style enhancements.

My colleague, on the other hand, works for a company that has an entirely different philosophy and point of view. They believe that skill training is close to useless. She feels that the most important aspect of public speaking training is what she calls “authenticity training,” where she teaches people how to speak from the heart in an open, emotional and spontaneous way.

So who’s right?

In my experience, the people we most often work with “don’t know what they don’t know.” So part of what we do is support them through the learning process as we teach them specific and practical ways to communicate. For example, I recently worked with a group of experienced presenters who had accumulated some bad speaking habits. It was my job to (gently) point those out and raise awareness. Then I helped them replace the bad habits with solid skills that they could rely upon to communicate their message more effectively. Once these new skills were in place, they felt much more confident and were able to let their unique personalities shine.  

My colleague then spoke about a program she had recently facilitated where each of the nine presenters she worked with had the audience crying after every speech. She said the emotional impact of their speeches was very powerful and she achieved this by avoiding skills training altogether. Rather, she coached them to reach deeper into their own personal experience—to add emotion and stories to their message and to be more expressive. She didn’t coach them on “how” to do that, but she said they all ended up fully expressing their ideas and emotions in a rich and meaningful way.

What do you think? Is there one right approach?

Perhaps the best method is to blend a certain amount of each philosophy into one training experience. Yet my professional experience and personal instinct cautions me against this. It reminds of when my son was a little boy and began to play soccer. He and his friends did nothing more than chase after the ball at full speed from one end of the field to the other. They had little skill, no strategy and limited playing experience to back them up. They were all having a great time out there, but with little success. It was only after they were trained, coached and gained some skills that they actually looked like a team and won a few games—and I think they had a better time on the field as well.

So I will stick with skills and technique training every time. While getting people to feel and express emotion has its place, skillfully getting your point across so people take action on your ideas is more valuable—and profitable—for today’s business presenters.

Our meeting began with Linda taking the podium to welcome the enthusiastic audience and to introduce the evening’s speaker. Watching Linda at work in front of the group was impressive. Her relaxed approach to public speaking is a reminder of how personal grace and charm can fuel an endearing connection with an audience. As she enjoyed us, we enjoyed her more.

What I love most about Linda’s delivery is her voice and what she does with it. Her pace is slow and sensible, and her tone understated as if she just stepped out of a 1940’s movie set. But those deep vocal melodies are easily punctuated with tiny fits of laughter (mostly at her own jokes) which keeps us engaged and laughing all the more. When Linda smiles, she radiates warmth and confidence. And as she scans the audience, checking its pulse and reading its cues, she’s ready to respond with wit and cunning. A seriously fun and funny person, Linda has mastered the Connection Loop.

Linda would have been entirely enough for one LCW evening, but then she introduced our guest speaker, Alan Rinzler.

Alan Rinzler is a veteran book publisher. He is currently Executive Editor at Jossey-Bass Publishing, and has held positions as Director of Trade Publishing at Bantam Books, Vice President and Associate Publisher of Rolling Stone Magazine, and has been an editor at Simon and Shuster, Macmillan, Holt and the Grove Press. He has worked with such luminaries as Clive Cussler, Toni Morrison, Tom Robbins, Shirley MacLaine, Bob Dylan and Hunter S. Thompson.

Alan began his speech with a message of hope to all writers. He debunked the myth that the book publishing industry is dying by telling us that 2009 was a great year for the book business, with stock prices up in this sector. With such good news, we liked him right away!

But it wasn’t only Alan’s message of hope and his credentials that made him persuasive. He has an intelligent style and a confident, calm and caring presence. He’s articulate, knowledgeable and self-deprecating, and his years of experience both in the book publishing industry and speaking in front of groups were evident. Best of all, Alan used a variety of rhetorical devices, including statistics, examples and stories, that kept his message alive and engaging. My only regret was that we didn’t hear a few more stories. With his rich history, I’m sure he could have kept us enthralled for hours.

What struck me most about Alan (in addition to his cumulus halo of dove white hair)  was his decision mid-career to get a graduate degree in psychology because, as he said, “You really have to be a therapist to work with writers.” Alan spoke with depth and passion about an industry he loves. He shared valuable tips and resources and inspired us, as any good therapist would, to keep at it. After all, he said, “There’s never been a better time to be a writer.”

Visit Alan’s site and read his blog. I think you’ll find that he’s a terrific resource for writers and speakers.

And for all you Left Coast Writers out there…what did you think of the February Salon?

Below you will find many inspiring compositions from an exceptional group of public speakers. I offer my deepest gratitude to our participants, and I highly recommend you take the time to explore their websites. Believe me, you won’t regret it.

Lastly, please feel free to let me know what you’d like to see more or less of in this blog during the upcoming year. My everlasting goal is to improve and better inform my readers, so your constructive feedback helps me to help you. Thanks in advance and enjoy the carnival!

10 Professional Speaking Tips That You Need To Know

Jim Anderson – The Accidental Communicator

Become a better presenter this year by talking to a better presenter.

Will the 2010 UK general election be the first one to leave us speechless?

Max Atkinson – Max Atkinson’s Blog

Examining the UK’s upcoming political speeches.

Only One Woman CEO out of The 100 Best-Performing CEOs in the World!

Marion Chapsal – Geronimo Leadership Coaching

Marion is kicking off 2010 with a blog about the lack of women CEOs in Harvard’s Business Review.

Give ‘em a piece of your mind and be extremely visible with public speaking in 2010

Roberta Guise – Be Visible! Blog

Several great ways to add public speaking to your 2010 small business marketing toolkit.

What’s my best presentation tip for the presentations that you do?

Olivia Mitchell – Speaking about Presenting

Presentation solutions for a variety of situations you might face in 2010.

7 Simple New Year’s Resolutions for Improving Your Public Speaking

Nick Morgan – Nick Morgan’s blog

Do you share any of Nick’s resolutions?

Presentation Resolutions: Embrace Technology

Kathy Reiffensein – Professionally Speaking…

Here are some resolutions regarding technology.

Public speaking: voicing new hope in a new year

Cynthia Sparks – Starks Communications

A look at American resiliency and its impact on public speaking.