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Speakers, steer clear of the loop-the-loop (10 ways to pace yourself every time you speak)

It was an unforgettable afternoon keynote – but for all the wrong reasons. Turns out I couldn’t understand a word she was saying.  Clearly she had the clout to wow us with something wonderful. And indeed she started out OK, engaging us with a story about her best friend Steve. But then – like a […]

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Pick out a good father and mother, and begin life in Ohio (and other ways to endear yourself as a speaker)

No doubt the most captive audience Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough will ever have during his book tour touting “The Wright Brothers” is the one that flocked to a middle school in Dayton, Ohio, last night to hear him speak about The Bishop’s Boys. After all, Wilbur and Orville were Daytonians through and through. McCullough’s […]

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Writing to persuade? (Invoke Cialdini)

Do you rely on electronic communication as your “first touch” when marketing to prospective customers or clients? If so, consider applying Robert Cialdini’s Six Principles of Influence when crafting your message, and see if you get better results. Every day HR pros around the country recruit “passive” candidates by sending targeted emails and LinkedIn messages […]

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Speechwriting Sunday School (a new view from the pew)

Last Sunday I discovered a way to make sure not one word is wasted when you write your next speech. Imagine someone will have to sign every word you speak for people who are deaf. Last Sunday I watched and listened, on the edge of my seat, in absolute amazement while Fr. Benjamin Jimenez spoke […]

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Put this question right in the crosshairs

After the applause finally ended, and our amazing breakfast speaker left the stage, my colleague gave me that deer in the headlights look. “Wow – that was incredible!” he said. “Usually these speakers just stand up and spew a bunch of facts at us. But this guy really had something to say!” That we’re reduced […]

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Notable, quotable State of the Union speech lines that Lincoln wrote (but never spoke)

Speakers and speechwriters can learn a few tricks by tuning in to the President’s annual State of the Union speech Tuesday. Important speeches like these often deliver up colorful, memorable – often historic – lines and can inspire us to do the same whenever we write and give a speech. Abraham Lincoln is widely considered […]

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Let’s get personal

Want to engage your audience right upfront? Try sharing a little piece of yourself. That’s what I did last night as emcee of the Woman of Distinction Awards Reception-Dayton for Girl Scouts of Western Ohio. The event at Dayton’s Schuster Center celebrated the legacy of Girl Scouting by honoring six exceptional women in the Dayton region who […]

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More on “Keep it Sticky!” (How to Make Your Next Speech the Talk of the Town)

I was thrilled to share six ways to make speeches “sticky” with 80 attendees at the Women in Business Networking Lunch ‘N’ Learn Tuesday. (Translation: A sticky speech has the power to help people hear, understand and remember – so it has the power to help people change the world.) Here’s a bonus example I didn’t […]

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Client speech delivered by Barbara Hayde at the University of Dayton wins a prestigious Cicero Speechwriting Award

Today I am excited to announce that one of my speeches has won a top Cicero Speechwriting Award. “Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Go It Alone” – prepared for and delivered by Barbara Hayde of The Entrepreneurs Center on April 9, 2013, at the University of Dayton – won in the Leadership and Management category. Cicero called […]

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Reduce, reuse, recycle? Not always

Someone asked me the other day whether they could give the exact same keynote address written for one audience – a college community – to a completely different audience of high-powered business executives. I hesitated. After all, a speech with examples, stories, statistics and anecdotes that resonate with the college crowd won’t touch the hearts and […]

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