Are You a Heartless Speaker?
Are you a speaker who avoids controversial subjects? It's a common belief that you should. I couldn’t disagree more with this sentiment. If you're not willing to be a speaker who talks about difficult topics, how can you ever get past disagreements with others? How...
Speak About the Future
Bring the Future to Life When You Speak On September 12, 1962, President John F Kennedy stood before 35,000 people at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas, and presented a seemingly impossible vision to the nation: "…If I were to say, my fellow citizens, that we shall send...
Speech Lesson from a King
The Power of Word Pictures to Inspire On Monday, we paid homage to one of the most inspirational leaders and communicators of the 20th century. A spotlight was shined on his enduring speech, now commonly known as the ‘I Have a Dream' speech. What makes this...
Give Your Speech NOW!
Are You Trying to Give a Perfect Speech? “You never really finish making a movie. You run out of time and have to give them what you’ve got” ~ George Lucas, film director As a newer speaker, I often struggled to make my speech as perfect as possible. My friend...
Are Your Speeches Putting Audiences to Sleep?
How to Create Speeches That Are Fresh and Audience-Friendly I'm tired. Not from the holidays, but from listening to cliched and hackneyed speeches. Hall of Fame speaker Patricia Fripp says, “Audiences will forgive almost everything except being boring.” Over-used and...
Make Your Speech an Experience
Use the Hallway Test to Personalize Your Speech "How many of you have ever struggled to leave a lasting impact on an audience when you give a speech?” When I ask this question to groups, many hands are raised. There are several reasons that speakers are quickly...
Break the Rules When You Speak
Why Break SOME Rules When You Speak In any field, there are rules that make sense. For example, when you drive a car, it’s good to follow the rules of driving in your lane when you are on a two-lane road. Slipping into the other lane could create problems for everyone...
Keep Audience Interest With This Simple Speech Structure
What Can Wall Street Teach You About Your Speech Recently, I watched one of the most classic scenes in cinematic history, the Greed is Good speech from corporate raider Gordon Gekko (played in an Oscar-winning performance by Michael Douglas) in the movie 'Wall...
Create a Stand OUT Speech by Dropping a Rock on Your Audience
Imagine that you’re standing next to a large pond. You walk over and pick up a huge rock, and drop it in to the pond. What happens? There is a huge splash. Ripples spread across the pond. The rock quickly sinks to the bottom. Now, imagine you’re standing next to that...
Speaking To Inspire
Are You Speaking With a Clear Vision? In 1962, President John Kennedy began speaking before a crowd of over 40,000 people in Rice Stadium in Texas. He laid out an ambitious goal for the United States. “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this...
How to Create a Memorable Impromptu Speech
A Speech Formula That Works Many speakers and speech coaches (me included) have written about the proper methods to structure a presentation. Here are some commonly referred to steps: Grab the audience’s attention Provide compelling material to keep their interest...
THE Key to Being an Effective Public Speaker
“The bottom line is, you gotta pick up the phone and make the calls. ~ Joe Bonura This week, I had the pleasure of spending two hours with one of the best sales trainers in the country, Joe Bonura. After creating a successful ad agency, Joe sold his business in...
Are You Disconnected from Your Audience When You Speak?
In the speaking world, the phrase ‘connect with your audience’ has almost become a cliche. I should know, I’ve been a big proponent of the idea. But what does that really mean? Sometimes, to answer a question like this, it helps to look at the opposite side of the...
Tell a Story That Makes an Emotional Impact in 39 Seconds
As a storytelling coach, I’m often asked, “Can a short story really make an impact on my audience?” I could inundate you with some research, a few facts and perhaps a couple of slides, but, that would fly in the face of everything I teach. To answer this question, I...
Keep Your Audience ‘Off-Balance’ When You Speak
In the sport of baseball, many of the best pitchers throw a type of pitch called the ‘Change Up.’ It’s designed to keep a hitter off balance. The pitcher acts as if he is going to throw the ball as fast as possible, but, because of the type of grip he has on the ball,...
He truly has a gift in connecting with the heart of each person he works with and helping them to unleash their story into their talk. All of the speakers raved about his work with them. Each of them has had broad experience in speaking, but they all felt that working with Michael raised the bar on their ability to speak. You can listen to all of his speakers, Anthony Munoz, Richard Bernstein and Graeme Joffe, at http://www.tedxcincinnati.com/talks/.”
Allison Wonders Gars
Speaker Coach Manager, TED x Cincinnati
“Investing in Michael is one of the best investments I have ever made. I speak on the subject of diversity in the workplace, which can at times be a difficult topic to discuss.
Michael taught me a repeatable process that allows me to create a foundational concept, a logical structure, an opening that grabs the audience’s attention, and a conclusion that encourages my audience to take action that will save them time and money.
I found Michael easy to work with, flexible with his schedule, and a wealth of information about the art of speaking. If you need to improve your presentation or speech, I highly recommend you consider hiring Michael. It is one of the best investments you can make in your own growth.”
Natalie Holder
Founder, QUEST Diversity
Panic to Power
Swift and Simple Strategies Anyone Can Use to Overcome Fear and Anxiety About Public Speaking.
Inject More Humor
Secrets for Using Laughter to Connect Deeper with Your Audiences
Evaluate to Elevate
Discover the keys to delivering evaluations that lift others to higher levels of accomplishment
THE Book on Storytelling
Discover How to Develop and Deliver Business Stories That Increase Your Impact, Influence and Income
Go Ahead and Laugh!
A Serious Guide to Speaking with Humor.
Michael’s mission is to help leaders, managers and sales professionals communicate with more confidence, impact, and influence. This passion is born from his own communication difficulties early in his career.
Fortunately, he discovered that public speaking is like riding a bike, swimming or driving a car - it’s a learnable skill. Once he discovered this ‘secret’ he became a voracious student of the craft. He took courses, studied some of the world’s best speakers and storytellers and continues to study presentation and business storytelling skills.
He is hired by companies and organizations, leaders, managers and sales professionals, and TEDx speakers to help them become more confident, impactful and influential communicators.
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