A free ebook with 50 years of speaking advice from the National Speakers Association

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The National Speakers Association has a web page from 2023 for their Council of Peers Award for Excellence [CPAE] which has a link for a free download of a very useful 118-page-pdf ebook titled 50 Years of Speaking Advice.

 

The speaker and lectern was adapted from Openclipart.

 

The National Speakers Association stopped publishing the free print version of their bimonthly Speaker magazine. The last issue was for January-February 2023.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In her song, Big Yellow Taxi, Joni Mitchell lamented:

 

“Don’t it always seem to go

 that you don’t know what you’ve got

 till it’s gone”

 

That sentiment applies to the Speaker magazine by the National Speakers Association, which is subtitled The Art and Business of Professional Speaking. In the January-February 2023 issue they announced going digital only. It now apparently is in their members-only Digital Vault.

 

 But there still is a five-and-a-half-year archive where you can download issues for free. I blogged about it in a couple of posts. On January 5, 2020 one described how Toastmasters may also enjoy reading articles in another bimonthly magazine, and on January 15, 2021 another described how Toastmasters also is for professional speakers like NSA members.

 

The image was modified from one of a courthouse safe.

 

Toastmasters also is for professional speakers, like NSA members

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The January/February 2021 issue of Speaker (the magazine of the U.S. National Speakers Association) has a complimentary article by Dave Bricker on pages 14 to 19 titled Toastmasters for professional speakers? He opens by asking:

 

“Why would a professional speaker be interested in Toastmasters? Isn’t Toastmasters for amateurs who are struggling with stage fright?”

 

Then he presents statements from NSA members who also are in Toastmasters: Patricia Fripp, Ed Tate, Darren LaCroix, Jean Moroney, and Lee Robert (daughter if NSA founder Cavett Robert).

 

Cartoons of a loveable female and charismatic male speaker came from Wikimedia Commons.

 

Toastmasters may also enjoy reading articles in another bimonthly magazine

Speaker magazine from the U.S. National Speakers Association is subtitled The Art and Business of Professional Speaking. There is a web page with a directory of bimonthly issues you can read for free.

The latest issue is January-February 2020. Pages 22 to 25 have an excellent article by Ben Glenn titled Tips for a Creative Mindset. The seven he describes are: Research, Write it down, Be curious, Incorporate pop culture, Travel, Go for a walk, Test your material. Pages 26 to 29 have a great article by actor coach Tom Todoroff titled Sharpen Your Stagecraft. Tom advises:

“There are essentially five motivations that bring an audience to the theater or cinema: to laugh, to cry, to learn or be enlightened, to be scared, or to be stimulated….

It’s your job as a speaker to take the audience on a journey. Unlike acting, though, the script comes from you! Strive to craft a story, first on paper and then in performance, that touches on all five of the essential audience motivations. By engaging ‘the head and the heart and the hips’ you will leave your audience feeling deeply moved, inspired, and motivated by your words.”

On November 6, 2019 I blogged about Excellent advice on how to deal with a distraction or an emergency during your speech, and linked to another article from Speaker magazine.

A cartoon in my dummy magazine cover was modified from one at Wikimedia Commons.

Excellent advice on how to deal with a distraction or an emergency during your speech

The November 2019 issue of Toastmaster magazine has an excellent article by Barbara Augello about Dealing with Distractions. It has sections titled:

Ignore or resolve the situation?

How to deal with people problems.

Understand some situations can’t be fixed.

The November-December 2019 issue of Speaker magazine (from the U.S. National Speakers Association) has another excellent four-page article by Tim Richardson titled What Would You Do? How to prepare to handle emergencies when you’re onstage. He has stories about three real-life scenarios, and then discusses Essential Information and Lessons Learned.

On May 30, 2019 I blogged about A very worthwhile article on dealing with presentation distractions. Planning ahead and getting help from both your audience and event organizers can prevent you from having a worst moment.

Images of a big green and a big red pushbutton were adapted from those at Wikimedia Commons.  

How should you stage a panel discussion at a conference?

I read an article by Rose Eveleth on June 5, 2018 at Motherboard titled Dear conference organizers: you’re doing chairs wrong and subtitled Nearly every femme-identifying person I know, myself included, has wrestled with tall bar stools, director’s chairs, and the dreaded microphone dance. The image of a panel discussion from 2016 for the film High on Crack Street shown above illustrates her problem. Directors chairs placed near the front of a stage are fine for men, but only work for women in slacks or in dresses that are almost ankle length (Amish-friendly or FLDS-friendly). Rose described having worn a knee-length dress and then being very uncomfortable sitting on a tall stool. Later in her article she quoted Trevor Knoblich of the Online News Association who said:

“We want our presenters focused on those important aspects,” Knoblich said. “They shouldn't have to worry that their clothes match the furniture fabric, or that their presentation is becoming an inadvertent sequel to Basic Instinct.” 

You can find the exhibitionist scene from that movie he alluded to in a 35-second video clip at The Sun that is definitely NOT suitable for work. Having your clothes accidentally match the furniture or background is a another problem I blogged about in a September 12, 2016 post titled Dress for success, not like a ninja.  

An older, more modest setup seats the panel behind tables with skirting or tablecloths, as is shown above in an image from a 1982 ComicCon. Who recommends the other setup without tables, and why? An article on May 23, 2013 by Brad Phillips at Mr. Media Training titled Six ways to electrify your next panel discussion did. His third and fourth points were:

“3. Remove The Table: The majority of panel discussions are conducted from behind a long table. Get rid of it. The table is a physical barrier that separates the panelists from the audience. Worse, it diminishes the speakers’ natural body language. Just try gesturing enthusiastically while seated in a hunched-over position at your desk, your elbows attached to the surface. Pretty hard, no?

4. Use Stools or Chairs Instead: I often encourage clients to position stools or chairs at the front of the stage. That set up conveys a more casual and inviting “living room” feeling—which is the reason all of the morning news show use it. This format allows you to use wireless microphones instead of table microphones.”

Rose’s article also mentioned doing ‘the microphone dance’ – about those wireless lapel microphones, with a cable leading to a transmitter (and battery pack) meant to fit on a men’s belt or a skirt, but not on a dress.    

Kristin Arnold was president of the National Speakers Association in 2010-2011, and in 2013 wrote a 38-page book titled Powerful Panels. There is a blog associated for that book, with a post on March 26, 2014 titled Get rid of the white, draped table at panel discussions, and one on April 5, 2014 titled In search of the perfect chair for panel discussions – in which she says:

“I like a tall, well-made, and sturdy director chair. They add an element of informality and conversational tone to the room. The shape of the chair almost forces the panelists to sit forward and be engaged. And, there is a place for your feet.”

Kristin also wrote an article in the April 2015 issue of Toastmaster magazine titled How to moderate a panel discussion in which she again said:

“….You don’t have to settle for the typical long, draped table. Why not spice it up using a popular television-talk-show format?”

Both the skirt-length and microphone issues are mentioned in a better five-page article dated August 2017 from The Urban Institute and titled Best Practices for Moderators. If in doubt, women should bring back-up slacks.