Heart Speakers

Your audience is more discerning than they were a year ago. So many things are calling for their attention they have to make judgment calls on the matters they can eliminate. At home they’re using their remote controls to click off DVDs, VCRs, receivers and cable boxes. It just takes them a split second.

What’s to say they won’t click you off, if only in their minds, the minute they lose interest in your meeting or trade-show presentation?

I have been speaking in front of audiences for around 20 years or so. Recently I came in contact with the Heart Speakers Network. Upon talking to Nathalie Brewer about public speaking from the heart, I realised that never before have I been asked to share my experience of speaking in front of an audience when you are blind.

So, I will try the best I can to express the feeling of speaking without sight.

When I did have sight before the age of ...

 Who knows what essence of a written or spoken word is absorbed by the mind and the heart or what imprint these words leave upon our souls. Like tiny pieces of an enormous puzzle called The Song of Life, perhaps its lyrics are scattered, here and there, throughout history—preserved by time and waiting patiently for the perfect moment to join together as one extraordinary, yet very simple, message.

I’ve often wondered what influence our voices have ...

At a Leadership Presence Training, Elizabeth Bader, Bay Area mediator, author, and mediation trainer, shared with us her radical approach to training professional mediators.

Early in her practice Elizabeth mediated a high-stakes, high-conflict dispute involving many people and many millions of dollars. The case had national, and even international ramifications. At one point her client turned on her when an offer was made that he took to be insulting. He becam...

Next time you are in the audience of a magnificent speaker, steal a look around you and notice the faces. You might be surprised to see that almost all appear neutral, even somber, rather than in lively rapt attention as you might have assumed.

You see, an authentic speaker puts audience members at ease enough to relax their faces, listen deeply, and process within. As their facades dissolve, the weariness, turmoil, or whatever is under the surface shows throu...

All eyes are on you when you are standing in front of everyone. You COULD think that they are there to judge you. In fact, that is a misconception that will not serve you. The truth is your audience WANTS you to do well! They have dedicated a portion of their day to hear you speak...of course they want you to succeed because if you succeed so do they! Remember…

1. They are there to hear what you have to say. YOU! Not something they could have read online or in a book....