Rob’s blog
Oh! The Things That You’ll Tweet!
To celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday today, HootSuite has posted a really clever Dr.-Seuss-inflected guide to Twitter, and invited their friends and followers to share their own rhymes, hashtagged #HootSeuss. Naturally, I found myself helpless to resist. (P.S.—I have...
Why I cartoon
https://vimeo.com/118851150 I delivered this short presentation to last November's Interesting Vancouver event, sandwiched between some of the most, well, interesting people around. This is the first time I've ever told an audience why I started cartooning; how my...
That whole Barbie fooferaw
Instead of repeating what many others have said, and better than I could (holy crap, that book was sexist!) I have a few thoughts on BarbieBookGate that touch on Mattel's response. I've posted them over at Medium; the gist of it is that "when Barbie does a better job...
Why hot-button issues can go so wrong in online conversation – and what you can do about it
What do you do when your social networks explode into polarizing debate? How do you participate without hurting others?—?or yourself? How can you engage in divisive conversations so that you actually learn from them, and maybe even change your views? [....] This post...
Interesting Vancouver: November 7
I'm going to be one of several folks on stage on November 7 at Interesting Vancouver. Check out this lineup: A seven foot tall drag queen obsessed with bingo An indigenous multidisciplinary artist working to reverse the decline of Squamish language speakers A...
What makes a speech’s call to action powerful? A theory of change.
Inspiring speeches don’t just persuade people of a point of view; they urge the audience to action, and show them how that action will produce meaningful progress toward a better world. Here’s an example. After I tweeted this column by the Vancouver Sun’s Daphne Bramham (“We need citizens, not just taxpayers and bookkeepers“), Ryan Merkley … Continue reading →
About that presentation…
Originally posted on Key Messenger:
Recently I attended a luncheon speech by a senior executive from one of the world’s leading technology firms. I even sat next to be guest speaker. During lunch, his colleague indicated that the presentation had technological issues: the file wouldn’t speak to the laptop, which was angry at the projector…
The truth, a story and pictures: Dan Roam on powerful presentations
If we tell them the truth, tell them that truth with a story, and tell that story with pictures, our presentations will be extraordinary. ‘Show and Tell’ Author Dan Roam Talks to Marketing Smarts I’m a fan of Dan Roam’s. He delivered a fantastic presentation to the Nonprofit Technology Conference a few years ago (you … Continue reading →
One more reason to love Portland: 27 years of speech recordings discovered at PSU
The invaluable Ian Griffin reports on a fantastic discovery by a Portland State University archivist: a box of reel-to-reel recordings of campus speeches by figures such as LSD advocate Timothy Leary, Robert F. Kennedy speaking a few short weeks before his assassination, Nobel prize-winner Linus Pauling speaking on the effects of radioactive fallout a few … Continue reading →
Well, that’s one way to wing it in an emergency
When I arrived at Jilin, I found that one panelist […] had a conflict and had to cancel [….] But when [the other panelist] showed up at Jilin University’s Friendship Guesthouse, he said he wasn’t planning to talk about Snowden; he thought he was speaking on conflict resolution.So that left me with two hours to … Continue reading →
I’d like to thank Demosthenes…
After last night’s Oscar ceremony, Nancy Duarte has a few suggestions for any public speaker hoping to outdo Academy Award-winning artists (which is a surprisingly low bar, although there were a few standouts): personal is powerful; plan ahead; strike the right note and watch the clock. For people used to delivering scripted lines with directorial … Continue reading →
Didn’t like the State of the Union? Make your own!
More and more interconnected world, pass the new economy work for them. And found a way that benefits all of its people. Further extending it as due to the several classes, but it is noteworthy that the rights, but the foundation for such a movement as the necessity of fighting the war; or a governor … Keep reading →
Why, yes — I’d LOVE to speak at your event
Public speaking and speechwriting: the essential guides
Looking for advice on public speaking, speechwriting and leadership communications? Here are some of my most comprehensive posts, on topics that people ask me about most often.
