Speak to Lead

Humor Trivializes Evil - NPR Treats ACORN Child Prostitution as a Joke

2009-09-24T13:54:05-04:00

First of all, now that I have your attention, I want to make clear this is not an attack on National Public Radio. But it was an NPR broadcast that sparked my thoughts about the power humor has to trivialize...

Public Speaking: Mnemonic Devices-Barfing Your Way to Success

2009-09-17T12:33:14-04:00

Mnemonic devices for public speaking have been used for thousands of years. The initial application was to help speakers remember what they were going to say as they delivered the speech. (For an overview and history of mnemonic devices used...

Persuasive Messages: Story Power, Greek Tragedies & Post Traumatic Stress Treatment

2009-09-01T09:40:56-04:00

As those of you who read this regularly know, I'm a strong advocate of the power of stories, the use of narrative, to engage audiences and open them to your messages. Today's edition of USA Today contains an interesting article...

Presidential oratory, discourse & disagreement - A look back at a kinder time?

2009-08-25T12:52:56-04:00

Congress has gone home. The president and his family are vacationing in Martha's Vineyard. And most of the political structure (except the ones who can't afford private schools; public schools are already back in session) including the news media, are...

Persuasion: Dangerous Message - Joe Friday vs Clarence Darrow at Political Bloggers Conventions

2009-08-19T17:55:52-04:00

"Just the facts, ma'am."* The phrase made famous by Dragnet's Sgt. Joe Friday, raised its deceptive head last week at the Netroots Nation (liberal) and RightOn (conservative) political bloggers annual conventions in Pittsburgh. Toward the end of a Q&A session...

Message Development: Making Numbers Come Alive - How much is a trillion?

2009-07-11T23:20:18-04:00

The great challenge of using numbers in presentations and interviews is breathing life into them so listeners take note, comprehend, and remember. Since the currency here in Washington DC these days is expressed in trillions, I wanted to pass along...

Create a Marketing Habit in 21 Days: A Guide for Professionals

2009-06-16T14:39:02-04:00

This is for those of you who lead small or solo practitioner professional services firms, and suffer the frustration of not having time to market when you're busy.The solution lies in Paula Black's new book, The Little Black Book -...

Media training/Reputation Protection: Reporter's Words You Don't Want to Read

2009-06-08T14:24:00-04:00

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference 2009 (WWDC 2009) opened today in San Francisco. It's described by Apple as "the premier technical event for developers and IT professionals innovating with Apple platforms." One thousand Apple engineers; 5,000 developers. A new iPhone expected...

Media Messages: Sound Bites Gone Wild - Over 30 Sound Bites in 1 Statement

2009-05-26T00:15:00-04:00

One form of sound bite is the use of vivid words - words that evoke the five senses and emotions or are different (often made up). This is one of the most frequently used sound bite forms and generally involves...

Persuasive Sound Bites: Word Pictures that Change Behavior

2009-05-23T00:27:41-04:00

Steve Farnsworth (twitter user TheRealPRMan) has written a super blog entry titled Let's Shoot the CEO: Is Pay for Placement PR a Brilliant Idea or Acutely Ignorant. Steve makes a powerful case against pay for placement. But that's not the...