by Rob Cottingham | Oct 17, 2017 | Speaking, Speechwriting
I just sent this in response to “Why are you unsubscribing from us?” (on the third screen you had to click through to unsubscribe): The constant stream of “ALERT!” “URGENT” and other messages just got too much. If everything is urgent, then nothing is. I know the data... by Rob Cottingham | Sep 26, 2017 | Speaking
You’re trucking along in your speech, performing with verve and passion, and look out to the crowd… …only to see face after face that looks completely unresponsive. Hell, you think. They hate this. I’m losing them. And, you know what? Maybe you are. But... by Rob Cottingham | May 22, 2017 | Communicating, Speaking
There’s a big conceptual leap that absolutely transforms a speaker’s connection with an audience, and magnifies their impact tremendously. It’s the leap from reading a speech… to actually, authentically performing it. Instead of a recitation,... by Rob Cottingham | Mar 15, 2016 | Speechwriting
You’ve probably heard speeches you’d swear were content-free. Here’s one that actually is — and it’s a TEDx talk. Beneath that hollow exterior lurks actual content: a pretty devastating critique of how a thin speech can inflate its apparent substance using the... by Rob Cottingham | Feb 4, 2016 | How to..., Speechwriting
This post argues that speechwriters shouldn’t worry about capturing a speaker’s voice. Structure the speech well, Mike Long argues, and it’ll all come out in the wash. And while I understand that all the tailored turns of phrase in the world...