Humorous tips for public speaking from novelist Teddy Wayne

Yesterday’s online Opinionator commentary at the New York Times has a humorous article containing the following three tips (and many others):

“....Remember that the audience really wants you to succeed. Except for that one guy, in back, Brad. He doesn’t. But don’t think about him during your speech.

....Be cocky, not confident. Everyone loves a supremely arrogant person who is, at heart, deeply insecure and who takes out those vulnerabilities on weaker people.

....In your speechwriting, avoid clichés, like the plague. Getting the plague is such a cliché. (Note: this item is taken from a pamphlet on public-speaking tips from the 14th century.)”
Franz Hals painting of a Laughing Child is from Wikimedia Commons.