You’ve been preparing for an important presentation. You’ve written out your remarks and rehearsed them over and over. By the time the big day arrives, you feel confident—after all, you’ve said the same thing a dozen times already. Then, something unexpected happens. Maybe the technology falters, or the audience asks a question that throws off your timing. Suddenly, the steady flow of your presentation gets disrupted, and you find yourself scrambling to get back on track. You

This is the second in a series of articles about ceremonial speaking. You can read the first article here .  I’m often approached by individuals who’ve been asked to speak at a special occasion. They want to deliver a memorable message; however, they usually tell me that they are not sure what direction to take. Through these conversations I’ve learned that good examples of ceremonial occasion remarks are difficult to find: movies are full of cliches and most of us haven’t be

Not too long ago I was at a Cornell event listening to a speaker open his presentation. In an attempt to build his credibility, he shared his title and the name of his employer. Then, before getting to the main point of his talk, he shared a long list of personal accomplishments. Somewhere between his fourth and seventh achievement, my impression of him changed from being somewhat impressed to being somewhat underwhelmed.  What happened? The presenter, hoping to impress, had

Leadership is enacted through communication. When it comes to speaking, leaders have many opportunities to influence others from high-stakes strategy presentations to ceremonial remarks at internal functions and public events. Authentic leaders convince audiences to care and are better able to accomplish their goals. Boardroom presentations matter, but they only account for a small portion of a leader’s communication. Informal interactions during small meetings and ceremonial

The Basic Communication Model Explained When communication breaks down, we too often label it “miscommunication.” Unfortunately, this word doesn’t help us understand how to improve or prevent similar situations from occurring in the future. An understanding of the basic communication model helps to identify more precise causes of miscommunication and improve the way we communicate with others. The basic communication model depicts communication as a process of sending and rec

A few semesters ago, a confident young man sat in the first row of my introductory management communication course. He was a valuable contributor to the class and, like most of my students, he was a motivated high-achiever. However, when it came time to deliver his first graded presentation, he froze. He appeared anxious from the start: the way he walked to the front of the room, his body language as he held index cards in his hands, and the uncertainty in his voice when he b

My career choice gives me the opportunity to speak in front of a wide variety of audiences from students to executives. After all these...

In my first full-time job after I graduated from college, I inherited an event planning process that had been in place for many years. The process required five professionals to take turns staffing an office for three hours every afternoon where students who wanted to plan an event would visit and complete a series of paper forms. Staffing the office was a significant time commitment, and the process resulted in a good deal of data entry mistakes when the information was late

When given the opportunity to present our ideas, we all want to perform well, and most of us have heard public speaking advice that...

An introduction is an important part of any presentation. The speaker must capture the attention of the audience or risk having audience...

At the beginning of every semester I tend to have a few students who are so nervous when they present that they make me feel nervous. Research suggests why this happens. Emotions can be contagious. Researchers have found that anxious mothers can unintentionally pass along their anxiety to their children. And it turns out you don’t even need to be in the same room as another person to transfer emotions. Studies have also shown that social media posts can transmit emotions acro

A leader’s ability to be authentic and to connect with others plays an increasingly important role in how they are perceived. Leaders...