From the monthly archives:

August 2010

Speechwriter embraces visual slide design

by Cynthia J. StarksAugust 23, 2010

I never thought I’d say this, but I have been won over to the use of slides in presentations because of two things: a speech by Bill and Melinda Gates and a book by Carmine Gallo, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. (carminegallo.com) Bill and [...]

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Adapting speechwriting to the “third era of presenting”

by Cynthia J. StarksAugust 16, 2010

I am always delighted to find Web sites offering insights on speakers and speechwriting, and I came across a wonderful one the other day. It’s Olivia Mitchell’s “Speaking About Presenting,”  (www.speakingaboutpresenting.com). Mitchell lives and works in New Zealand and her site offers lots of wonderful articles on making effective presentations, making excellent PowerPoint slides, and more. [...]

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Enliven your speeches with statistics that sparkle

by Cynthia J. StarksAugust 8, 2010

I continue to get excellent speechwriting tips from Richard Dowis’s The Lost Art of the Great Speech: How to Write One, How to Deliver It. Today, I’d like to share with you his approach to using statistics in speeches. Dowis writes, “Sometimes statistics just need to be compared with something that the audience can more [...]

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We all have stories to tell

by Cynthia J. StarksAugust 3, 2010

Years ago, when I lived and worked in New Haven, CT, a local senior citizens group published a book of member essays called We All Have Stories to Tell. The book featured funny, moving and heartfelt stories about the seniors’ life experiences – the simple games of childhoods gone by, the immigrant in a new [...]

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