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As an Executive Communication Coach, my job is to remind clients that when presenting, everything communicates – how you look, how you sound and what you do with your body. Mary Lou Andre, a nationally recognized wardrobe, dress code and corporate image consultant, got me thinking about this after reading her excellent article: Is Hosiery History? Her advice on this business appropriate accessory reinforces how important clothing is in communicating respect for yourself and others. 

Since we do a lot of training for public speaking, many of our clients find themselves in front of people on a stage. We got to thinking whether wishing them success by saying “break a leg” was an appropriate use of the term. That got us wondering where did that expression come from, and why is it used for performances, primarily among actors, musicians and dancers? It certainly plays on the superstition that wishing someone well

Let’s forget the politics and instead focus on speaking effectively. The Speech Improvement Company’s President, Dr. Ethan Becker was recently asked to give his post-election observations and advice on the Bloomberg Baystate Business Hour radio program. Check it out!

Vocalized pauses or fillers, including um, uh, ah, and their close relatives like, you know, and OK? are some of the most common concerns brought to a speech coach.  We don’t um want to uh get too um picky here, since 1 to 3 percent of everyone’s speech normally contains hesitations, and folks like Ted Kennedy have spoken successfully in public life despite long aah pauses.  However, a bad case of um-itis makes you annoying

One of the reasons Boston is the best place to start a company (take THAT Silicon Valley) is because of organizations like MassChallenge (www.masschallenge.org) who bill themselves as “the most startup-friendly accelerator…no equity and not-for-profit, we are obsessed with helping entrepreneurs across all industries.” And their stats are impressive: 835 startups accelerated, 6,500 jobs created, $1.1 billion in outside funding raised. Currently across all their locations, they have 326 young companies taking advantage of all

In today’s fast-moving communication-driven world, messages are conveyed through many mediums. “Speaking with confidence” means avoiding tentative language. Non-concrete or tentative language in business shows a lack of self-confidence and will not deliver the strength of your intention to the listeners. For example: Non-concrete – “I hope I’ve given you a good overview of our team.” Concrete – “This gives you a clear overview of our team.” Non-concrete – “I guess I can deliver this

This video covers how to control the fear of public speaking and how to work with visual aids.  In 2002, Apple Computer partnered with The Speech Improvement Company Inc., to promote better public speaking.  Dr. Ethan F. Becker flew to Cupertino to record this 30 minute webinar, which lived on Apple’s website for the next 6 years! We hope you find it helpful. Runtime  30 min. Apple Computer and The Speech Improvement Company from SpeechImprovement

Prepare & Organize for Business Speaking        Tell the listeners why they should listen to you talk about this topic.  Whether or not they ultimately agree with you, how do you expect them to benefit by listening?  Some benefits that you might mention as reasons why they should listen to you include:   Making their jobs easier. Improving their health. Relieving stress. Stimulating creativity. Providing security. Increasing their income.   As a speaker, you should be