Tip
Twenty seconds
Before a broadcast, phrase your key point so it fits into twenty seconds — roughly two sentences. If the thought doesn’t fit, it will be cut in the edit. If it does, it will be quoted.
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Daily note
Daily notes
Short tips from practice and thoughts from people who knew the worth of a word. Each takes twenty seconds to read.
5DecemberSaturday 3DecemberThursday Quote
Persuasion is achieved by the speaker’s personal character when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible.
AristotleRhetoric, Book I
1DecemberTuesday Tip
Say “we”
Swap “you must” for “we can” — and watch the faces change. A listener stops defending themselves once they feel the speaker is standing beside them, not above them.
29NovemberSunday Quote
Words are chaff — but the fire clothed in a word is an immortal, wonder-working fairy, a true spark of Prometheus.
Ivan Frankofrom the poem “A Forest Idyll”, in translation
27NovemberFriday Tip
A bridge to what matters
An awkward question is no reason to get defensive. Acknowledge it briefly and build a bridge: “That is an important question. And the key thing here is…” You are not dodging the answer — you are bringing the conversation back to its core.
25NovemberWednesday Quote
“What matters most in oratory?” “Delivery.” “And second?” “Delivery.” “And third?” “Delivery.”
Demosthenesas told by Cicero, De Oratore
23NovemberMonday Tip
Record yourself
Record two minutes of your speech on your phone and watch it three times: without sound, sound only, then both. Note two things that worked and one you will improve. No more than one — otherwise you will improve none.
21NovemberSaturday Quote
If you would have me weep, you must first feel grief yourself.
HoraceArs Poetica
19NovemberThursday Tip
A story instead of a claim
A number is forgotten in a minute; a story gets retold over dinner. A good story has four parts: a place, a person, a difficulty, a resolution. Keep it to forty seconds — then move to your point.
17NovemberTuesday Quote
The way is long if one follows precepts, but short and effective if one follows examples.
SenecaMoral Letters to Lucilius, Letter VI
15NovemberSunday Tip
Said it? Stop.
Once you have made your point, stop. The worst lines in interviews and negotiations are born in the pause after a good answer, when you are tempted to add something. The silence after a full stop is working for you.
13NovemberFriday Tip
Look into the lens
On a video call we look at the other person’s face — and they see our eyes cast down. When you say the thing that matters, look straight into the lens. For the person on the other side of the screen, that is eye contact.
11NovemberWednesday Quote
An orator is a good man, skilled in speaking.
QuintilianInstitutio Oratoria, quoting Cato the Elder
9NovemberMonday Tip
The room is on your side
People in the audience are not waiting for you to slip. They came to hear something useful and they want you to do well. Find two or three friendly faces and speak to them. The rest will follow.
7NovemberSaturday Quote
What are they, it would seem — just words… Words and a voice, and nothing more. And yet the heart beats and comes alive on hearing them!
Taras Shevchenkofrom a poem of 1848, in translation
5NovemberThursday Tip
A formula for answers
Answer an unexpected question in four steps: point, reason, example, point again. “Here is what I think. Because… For example… And that is why I think so.” Confusion turns into a clear answer — even when you had to think on your feet.
3NovemberTuesday Quote
I have made this letter longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter.
Blaise PascalProvincial Letters, 1657
1NovemberSunday Tip
The first thirty seconds
Don’t open with “Hello, my name is…” and thanks to the organisers. Open with a question, a number or a short story. You can introduce yourself half a minute later — once people are already listening.
30OctoberFriday Quote
All the great speakers were bad speakers at first.
Ralph Waldo EmersonThe Conduct of Life, “Power”, 1860
28OctoberWednesday Tip
A pause instead of “um”
Filler words appear wherever we are afraid of silence. Try replacing every “um” with one second of quiet. To you that second will feel like an eternity; the audience will hear someone who thinks before speaking.
26OctoberMonday Quote
The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.
Mark Twainintroduction to his collected speeches
24OctoberSaturday Tip
Breathe out longer than in
A minute before you go on: breathe in for a count of four, out for six. Five or six rounds, and your pulse slows and your voice stops shaking. It isn’t magic, it’s physiology: a long exhale tells the body there is no danger.
22OctoberThursday Quote
Grasp the subject, and the words will follow.
Cato the Elderas handed down by Roman rhetoricians
20OctoberTuesday Tip
One idea
Before you prepare a speech, write down its main idea in a single sentence. If you can’t, the speech isn’t ready yet — however many slides you have. Anything that doesn’t support that sentence can safely go.