It just occurs to me that the top five articles for this week all revolves around powerpoint presentations. Who knows!

But then again, this is not surprising since according to Alexei Kapterev (the guy behind “Death by Powerpoint“), there are 300 million powerpoint users in the world right now, with a whooping 30 million powerpoint presentations conducted every single day.

If you are one of the 300 million powerpoint users who wish to become a phenomenal presenter - someone whom your audience will hold great respect for - you got to go through all the five articles below. Scroll down and I will tell you why it is worth your time.

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The more speeches I deliver, the more I am convinced that starting strong helps you win 80% of the battle on stage.

Face the fact, the first 30 seconds is always the scariest. You are the most nervous and your audience is the most skeptical. So if you fumble right from the start, very often it will douse your confidence and the confidence of your audience. More often than not, your presentation will only get from bad to worse.

However, if you start strong, your audience will be impressed. They will respond to you positively. You will feel more comfortable and confident. And naturally, you do better.

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To my American readers, how was your Thanksgiving weekend? Bet you are having turkey sandwiches for lunch right now! The last time I had the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving was in late 2005 when I was studying in States. And I love it. I mean what’s not to love anyway. Just check out how sumptous-licious the turkey was!

And to my Chinese readers, Thanksgiving is very similar to Chinese New Year’s Eve where we have all our family members and extended families, cousins, cousins’ cousins over for a six hour meal. And instead of turkey, we have suckling pig or roasted chicken, which tastes very much the same to me. They are all farm animals.

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No kidding.

The book was mentioned on Business Week two weeks ago (16th Nov), along with me (ahem) as one of the top 25 young entrepreneurs in Asia.

I am flattered of course, thankful as well. But more flattered than anything else because Business Week is one of the most prestigious and highly regarded magazine in the world read by business leaders from across the continents. And to be featured on the magazine is like winning a lottery… twice in a row!

You must be wondering right now how Business Week found out about me and the book right?

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A post that I wrote earlier this month on “250 Things You Wish You Know That Will Guarantee Your Speaking Success” has created quite a buzz on the blogsphere. It started with Andrew Dlugin at Six Minutes who wrote a fairly long post challenging many points that I have raised. And then yesterday, Life Hacker picked up the article (thanks Kevin!) and bang! Traffic at The Public Speaking Blog quadrupled overnight with 829 new visitors (hello!) and the “250 speaking tips” entry was posted on 14 other blogs.

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Champions never turn down stage time.

I repeat, champions never turn down stage time.

Dave Fitzgerald, one of the funniest comedians in America worked his routine in three clubs a night for the entire week, just so he can perfect the 5 - 7 minutes that he has on Tonight’s Show, a national TV program watched by millions of Americans.

Brad Montgomery, a highly paid professional speaker, clocks 190 shows - each 40 mins long - in just two and a half months.

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Detach from outcomes.

According to Scott Ginsberg, when you detach from outcomes…

You relax more.
Which lowers your guard.
Which lowers other people’s guards.
Which enables you to produce better quality work.

In speaking…

DON’T focus on…looking good.
DO focus on…making your audience look good by giving them as much value as you can!

DON’T focus on… how your speech could flop.
DO focus on… how you can make the best out of your speech, no matter what happens.

DON’T focus on… perfection because truth is nothing will be perfect.
DO focus on… the process, the journey, the lessons because they count.

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Thank God it’s Friday - yay!

And now for my weekly recommendation of public speaking articles for you to read.

Video Critique of Al Gore’s Talk in TED
Thanks to “The Inconvenient Truth” and Al Gore’s conviction to save the world, he was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Not only is his cause a worthy one, his presentations are also worthy of close study.

Here’s why.

Formely considered as a boring and uncharismatic leader, Al Gore was now described as “funny and passionate and convincingly authentic”. Even Americans who disliked him during his election days were impressed by his “sense of humor, three-dimensionality, commitment to the cause, [and the] ability to criticize himself.”

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A post by Patricia Fripp that I strongly recommend you to read. It’s really easy to apply and my suggestion is for you to incorporate the tips immediately in your next conversation with a friend. Internalize it and the next time you deliver a presentation, sounding intelligent, powerful, polished, articulate and confident will be a piece of cake.
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Do you want to sound intelligent, powerful, polished, articulate and confident? Of course you do! Voice coach Carol Fleming, Ph.D. gave me some great insights based on her years of study and working with thousands of clients.

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I was given special access to Brad Montgomery’s new humor program aptly branded as “The Humor College” to see if I felt the program was worth recommending to you. I finally got down to reviewing the program and here’s what I think about The Humor College.

First Impressions
When I first learned about the humor college, I was sold for a couple of reasons.

The concept itself was already a winner. Brad will interview six heavyweight, top-tier pros and grill them for their best ideas, their best tactics, and their best techniques on how to make your presentations funnier. And how to do it fast. From my experience, that’s the fastest and most effective way to master any skill.

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