14 Monday Jan 2013
Posted in Public Speaking and Presentation
Andrew Dlugan posted my eye contact myths article on his website today, and within moments, the man himself, Scott Berkun, left a comment:
!!!!!!!!!
Yes, my public speaking and presentation nerd-dom has officially been solidified because with this comment, my life is now complete. *Sigh*
To read the article, Berkun’s comment, and my reply, click here.
22 Friday Jun 2012
Posted in Advice, Communication
If you’re not already following Scott Berkun on Twitter, now is the time. He is a writer, public speaker, and creator. He wrote Confessions of a Public Speaker as well as The Myths of Innovation and Mindfire: Big Ideas for Curious Minds. Berkun’s passion for learning is evident, and he Tweets so many wonderful things. Yesterday morning, Berkun Tweeted the following video:
I immediately shared this gem with my fellow members of the English Department. Berkun’s easy, comfortable presentation style will certainly resonate with our students, but his advice is also helpful for our writer/teachers, too.
Berkun presented this Ignite-style in Seattle. Check out the live presentation here.
Berkun touches on some amazing writing advice. My personal goal is to write something each and every day on Creating Communication, and I have for about a year now. My fellow workaholic and superteacher, Chiara Ojeda, often asks me how I have time to blog. For example, my laptop basically snapped in half on Wednesday, but I got a blog post in before it happened. Chiara shrieked, “How did you have time to blog?!”
The truth is, I am constantly being inspired by the world around me. I read a lot, so articles and books are sources for most of my blog posts. It’s been said before, and I’ll say it again: you can never be a strong writer unless you are also a reader. I have so many ideas and pull inspiration from so many places that I constantly have a “post in progress” on CC. For example, I have about 10 drafts in the works at this very moment. This makes it easy to write every day because I can either a) find something new to write about, b) work on an old post, or c) finish up a “post in progress” and make it official by publishing. Pinterest and Twitter are excellent sources of information and inspiration. I have a board on Pinterest called “Ideas For The Blog,” and I’ll use those for future posts. If I re-Tweet something on Twitter, chances are that I’ll also use that article in a future blog post.
If I could offer any writing advice from my own experiences, that advice would be three-fold: 1) read as much as you can get your hands on, 2) write every single day, and 3) keep your rough drafts – even if you think they’re terrible – because you can always edit them into something wonderful.
Writers! What is your writing process? How do you avoid writer’s block? Please share your best writing advice with us.
04 Friday May 2012
Tags
Confessions of a Public Speaker, currently reading, Currently..., presentation, public speaking, Scott Berkun
Since I began teaching Public Speaking in 2010, I’ve heard about Scott Berkun’s Confessions of a Public Speaker. Finally, for my birthday back in April, I purchased a copy and really, really enjoyed what I learned. While the text doesn’t offer anything new or groundbreaking, I appreciated Berkun’s down-to-earth, “let’s get real” style of writing.
One frustration for me was that Berkun’s book wasn’t as organized as I would have liked. For example, consider Garr Reynolds’ The Naked Presenter text on delivery. Each chapter builds off of the previous, and while reading the chapter, you understand not only where you are, but also where you are going. Since the public speaking and presentation field is already so confusing in and of itself, a well organized book can really help a presenter understand in a more clear way.
My favorite part of Confessions was the new information I learned. For example, Berkun explained very well that the feedback loop for presenters is broken. In my own class, Professional Communication and Presentation, I’ve noticed that students don’t know how to provide constructive feedback for one another. I’m definitely going to take Berkun’s advice into the classroom this month and form feedback worksheets that ask the right questions so that students can provide quality constructive criticism for each presenter.
If you’re interested in delivery, specifically, Garr Reynolds’ The Naked Presenter is my delivery bible. If you want to know more about creating effective visuals to accompany your presentation, read Nancy Duarte’s slide:ology and Reynolds’ Presentation Zen and Presentation Zen Design. If content is what you need to improve, Duarte’s resonate is an amazing place to begin. I think Berkun’s Confessions is a great additional text in a public speaker’s library, but I feel that its comprehensive nature is less organized and more difficult to digest than books separated into the three legs of the presentation stool: 1) delivery, 2) content, and 3) visual presentation.
What great public speaking/presentation books have you read lately?
01 Tuesday May 2012
Posted in Public Speaking and Presentation
This week, I finished reading Scott Berkun’s Confessions of a Public Speaker, and while I haven’t yet written a review of the text, I wanted to share with you this wonderful gem:
What I love about Berkun in this clip is that he uses as many hand gestures as I do…
19 Thursday Apr 2012
Tags
Confessions of a Public Speaker, currently reading, Currently..., presentation, public speaking, Scott Berkun
The best thing about birthdays has to be gift certificates, and I always spend my gift cards on books. Today, Scott Berkun’s Confessions of a Public Speaker appeared on my doorstep, and I am already loving his conversational style and amazing advice.
Funnily enough, I’m reading his book as I’m being forced to sit through a boring, death-by-bulletpoint training at work. Sigh.
Book review coming soon!
What great books have you been reading this month?
