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.”

Now, won’t you want to know what he did right, so you too can become a funny, passionate and convincingly authentic speaker?

And it gets even better, Andrew Dlugan from Six Minutes did an extensive evaluation of one of Al Gore’s presentation - “15 Ways To Avert A Climate Crisis”. He identified a list of strategies that Al Gore adopt which won him raving reviews from the audience. This was accompanied with the presentation timing. So not only will you get to watch Al Gore’s remarkable presentation, you will have a guide to point out certain parts of his presentation to pay attention to.

I suggest you watch the video first and then review Andrew’s notes. This way, you have a clearer idea of what Andrew is talking about.

How To Cut Crutch Words When Giving A Speech
Listen up, one of the easiest ways to protray confidence as a speaker is by reducing all your pause fillers. Some of the popular one include “urm… er… hmm…you know…”. That’s right - it is that straightforward. Cut down all your urms and ahs, your audience naturally regard you as a confident and eloquent speaker, even if you use simple English.

I have wrote about how you can get rid of pause fillers last year but a few days ago, I found an article that gave even more solid tips on reducing your pause fillers. You really got to check it out.

And here’s the best part. These tips that the writer share are really simple to implement. For example, he recommended you to get rid of your pause fillers in your daily conversations. It’s no brainer yet how many of us consciously apply this tip?

Click on the link to find out the other 6 effective ways to remove all your pause fillers once and for all.

5 Ways Top Speakers Connect With Their Audience
This article was digged 46 times which tells you how popular it is. Not surprising since one of the top burning questions that people ask is how to connect? Again, I have written extensively on this topic. You can check out the series here.

However, if you want a quick read, click on the link above. What I want to highlight is a particular point she made that I thought to be extremely effective. In fact, this was the same technique that was shared to me by a good friend of mine in States, and it has helped me tremendously in connecting with my audience.

It has got to do with eye contact. instead of scanning the room, look at ONE person until you have finish making a point. By talking to one person at a time, you will sound more personal and conversational. The person’s response to you will also provide you accurate feedback on your performance.

Nasal Spray Helps People Fight Their Fears
Looks like I am going to be out of job pretty soon…

Observational Humor Case Study
And to wrap up this week’s recommendation is John Kinde’s article. I am always amazed by how John milked humor from seemingly ordinary moments. In my next public speech, I shall attempt to do the same. Wish my audience luck.

Cheers,
Eric Feng
Your Public Speaking Coach

P.S: Oh wait! I almost forget! You can now buy the hard copy of The FAQ Book on Public Speaking on Amazon. For those of you from States, you will be delighted to know that you will only pay USD13.60 because of the pre-order discount and low shipping fee. Here’s the link - get the book before the price gets raised to USD20.

For my fellow Singaporeans, the hard copy will be out in Popular, Borders and Kino mid Dec. Will inform you of the special discounts when the date nears. Have a splendid weekend!

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