IASA

We here at IASA don't pretend to be public speaking experts by any means, but we're addicted to web research so below are a list of resources you might find useful if you are new to this:

Organizations and Associations

1. Public Speaking Institute
2. World Speakers Association
3. Toastmasters
4. National Speakers Association

Articles

Public Speaking: How to Relax for Your Talk
by Patricia Fripp CSP, CPAE

We've all heard that the fear of death is second only to the fear of public speaking. That may be true, but if you're looking for one of the cheapest and most effective methods of promoting your service or product, concentrate on the positive results of doing a presentation. Think of the contacts and prospective clients you'll be generating with just 20 minutes in front of an audience. Continue

Public Speaking: Funny Question and Answer Sessions
by the Advanced Public Speaking Institute

Question-and-answer sessions are great opportunities to show off your sense of humor and get audience participation during a public speaking engagement. Let's see how we can have some fun with them.

A good way to open up a Q & A session is to say, 'The last time I opened up for a Q & A session, the first question I got was 'What time is it?' or 'Can I be excused?' or 'Aren't you getting tired up there?' Say anything except the old boring 'Now let's open it up for questions.' Continue

Presentation Tips for Public Speaking

When you are presenting in front of an audience, you are performing as an actor is on stage. How you are being perceived is very important. Dress appropriately for the occasion. Be solemn if your topic is serious. Present the desired image to your audience. Look pleasant, enthusiastic, confident, proud, but not arrogant. Remain calm. Appear relaxed, even if you feel nervous. Speak slowly, enunciate clearly, and show appropriate emotion and feeling relating to your topic. Establish rapport with your audience. Speak to the person farthest away from you to ensure your voice is loud enough to project to the back of the room. Vary the tone of your voice and dramatize if necessary. If a microphone is available, adjust and adapt your voice accordingly. Continue

Presentations skills: Presentations for business, sales, and training - oral and multimedia

Presentations skills are very useful - for business, sales, training, public speaking and self-development. Presentations format, media and purpose vary a lot - oral, multimedia, powerpoint presentations, short impromptu presentations, long planned presentations - but every successful presentation uses the principles explained here. Aside from presentations techniques, confidence and experience are big factors. You are not alone if the thought of speaking in public scares you. Giving a presentation is worrying for many people. Presenting or speaking to an audience regularly tops the list in surveys of people's top fears - more than heights, flying or dying. Put another way, "Most people would prefer to be lying in the casket than giving the eulogy" (ack. Michelle Ray). Continue

Blog Entries

Seven Steps to Better Presentations
by Jeffrey Veen

I've noticed a lot of talk about Powerpoint lately. About how it's so terrible and how it enables awful presentations. But the problem isn't Powerpoint, of course. The problem is bad content delivered poorly.

I speak for a living, and hear lots and lots of presentations at the conferences I attend. Here are some notes I wrote up for someone who is about to give his first ever public presentation. Continue

How To Give A Great Presentation
by To-done.com

Public speaking can be very stressful. I know that whenever I get up in front of a crowd I go through a panic moment. It takes a lot of discipline, practice and preparation to put on a good presentation and even knowing what you need to know can be hard. Continue

The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint
by Guy Kawasaki

The reason people use a small font is twofold: first, that they don’t know their material well enough; second, they think that more text is more convincing. Total bozosity. Force yourself to use no font smaller than thirty points. I guarantee it will make your presentations better because it requires you to find the most salient points and to know how to explain them well. If “thirty points,” is too dogmatic, the I offer you an algorithm: find out the age of the oldest person in your audience and divide it by two. That’s your optimal font size.  Continue