29-year old, Shurooq Al Banna, is the first Arab to compete in the finals of the Toastmasters World Champion of Public Speaking contest. She is a Master of Strategic Marketing graduate from the University of Wollongong in Dubai. Her prize-winning speech, Finding the Pearl, touched on the importance of looking past people’s external appearances to find…
How can Benjamin Franklin and Lil Wayne teach you how to find your voice and be an outstanding presenter? There are no cover bands in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Comparably, there are no “cover speakers” in the CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame. A “cover speaker” is a speaker who uses other people’s…
Let’s address The 9 Rules of Feedback: How to Give It, Receive It and Apply it. One of the fastest ways to improve performance is to provide feedback, but it must fit the situation. It can’t be too vague or else people won’t take action. It can’t give too much or they will feel overwhelmed,…
Let’s say you’ve got a very important presentation that’s due this week. The more you prepare, and the closer you get to the deadline, the more nervous you get. How can you control your nervousness so it doesn’t sabotage your presentation? How do you get those butterflies to fly in formation? I’m going to share…
As I write this article, the Games of the 30th Olympiad are taking place in London. Regardless of the country you are rooting for, there is a technique used by every coach to motivate his or her players. This technique is as ancient as Shakespearean times, and beyond, and every country in the London 2012…
When was the last time you did something for the first time? Again? I’ll repeat the question. When was the last time you did something for the first time, again? It seems like an Oxymoron, right? First time? Again? What do I mean by, “doing something for the first time, again”, and how can this…
Journalist, writer and political commentator, Walter Lippmann, said, “When everyone thinks the same, nobody is thinking.” I have coached literally thousands of executives, leaders, mangers, entrepreneurs, sales people and Toastmasters on breathing life into their business presentations. I can break down the content of their presentations into two categories: Conformity Contrarian What is a…
Oooh weee! I can’t wait to tell you about this lesson, it’s big and it’s important! In engineering there is a phase called “Design Freeze.” “Design freeze” means that no further changes to the design. It is a cut off point for the engineers, because if they continue to change the design past a certain…
I long ago discovered an important strategy that has allowed me, and my clients to continually improve performance (personal and business) every year. It’s called an After Action Review (AAR), and it’s all about leveraging knowledge and experience. To experience consistent growth you need to leverage you past experience for all it’s worth. In this…