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Most people assume the purpose of speaking is to convince and persuade. We hear it all around us that the purpose of speaking is to land the point, win the room, and leave with agreement neatly in hand. But the longer I’ve worked with speakers as a speechwriter and speaker coach, the more I’ve watched smart audiences quietly resist well-crafted arguments. This is why the more I write for big stages and seen my clients success, the more I’ve come to believe something radically

You’ve spent weeks crafting your talk. You’ve got an opening story that makes people tear up (or at least blink slower). Your slides are sleek. Your closer hits hard. And yet, something’s off. People say, “That was great!” but they can’t quite tell you what they got out of it. Your stories are landing, but your message is drifting. You’re getting applause, not impact. That’s the red flag. That’s the moment to ask: Does this talk have a throughline? Or just a highlight reel?

Emotion guides the audience from where they are to where you want them to go.  If you try to start with inspiration but haven’t earned their trust or curiosity, it won’t land. If you push too hard too early, they shut down.

I’ve had the privilege of helping a lot of people, especially mid-career professionals, rediscover something they didn’t even realize they’d misplaced: Their voice.

Why we need to move beyond storytelling to story shaping if we want to create resonance and impact.

Interested in learning more about speechwriting and public speaking courses? Find my courses here . Conference season is here again! With the end of summer vacations and the holiday reprieve, conference season is just getting started. Are you a conference speaker or delivering a keynote? Read on for a few tips to get you started. I’ve written and coached countless keynotes across industries. From the financial and medical fields to science and NGOs, I’ve helped thought-le

Do you get blank stares after you’ve tried to explain something? Here are three ways to stop using unclear communication.

Interested in learning more about speechwriting and public speaking courses? Find my courses here .    As a #TEDx curator and #speakercoach I get asked this a lot. A LOT. How do I give a #TEDxTalk? And how do I get selected? As our event’s YouTube and TED.com views catapulted to over 20 million views (with an average of 8 speakers a year and a total of 70 speakers), we began asking precisely that. What would you tell someone interested in giving a TEDx Talk? Well, this is the

Interested in learning more about speechwriting and public speaking courses? Find my courses here .    Have you heard the statistic that some people are more afraid of public speaking than death? Can it really be that bad? I suppose it can. The anxiety is real. I always ask clients: What about being on stage makes you so afraid? The answer is typically something like: 1. People will laugh at me. 2. I’ll be seen as a fraud because I really don’t know what I’m talking about. 3.

Interested in learning more about speechwriting and public speaking courses? Find my courses here .    Storytelling genres are, most generally, the shape or form the story takes. Different genres allow you to accomplish different things. This brings me to a central principle of communication: if you don't know where you want to go, you will never get there. First, know where you want to go. Genre will be how you get there. Second, what is your relationship to your audience?

Interested in learning more about speechwriting and public speaking courses? Find my courses here .    Polishing your delivery is easier than you might think. I can’t give you the secret to giving a perfect presentation because that doesn’t exist. There will always be people who have opinions on your delivery. My assumption is that messing up 1,000 times is just as bad as sounding like a robot where you recite every word perfectly and every movement is flawlessly choreographe

Interested in learning more about speechwriting and public speaking courses? Find my courses here .    This may seem like an odd topic. After all, you can’t control what your audience will feel at the end of your talk. And, of course, you are right. Communication doesn’t guarantee successful outcomes. It increases the probability that people might hear what you have to say. The only way to increase the probability is to be deliberate about your choices. I've talked about the

Interested in learning more about speechwriting and public speaking courses? Find my courses here .    I get asked this a lot: What's the formula? As if there is a secret formula for all TED and TEDx talks ever given. When someone asks me it’s usually in a hushed voice, as if I have a secret I’m only sharing with them. It’s adorable, actually. So lean in because I’m about to give you the secret. But you need to promise you aren’t going to tell anyone. Ok? Here’s the secret: .