Nick Morgan's Blog, page 52

How to Connect with People Virtually, Part 1

My blog posts this week are adapted from my new book, Can You Hear Me?, to be published by Harvard this month.  Please consider clicking on the link and purchasing a copy.  I provide this blog as a free resource to people who care about public speaking and communications, and selling books helps to keep […]

The post How to Connect with People Virtually, Part 1 appeared first on Public Words.

The Danger of Virtual Communicating

This blog post is adapted from my forthcoming book, Can You Hear Me?, due out from Harvard in a few weeks.  Without the exchange of emotion, and the ability to understand the intent of other people, communication becomes, if not impossible, at least far more difficult. People with autism apparently experience something very like this. […]

The post The Danger of Virtual Communicating appeared first on Public Words.

What’s the Difference Between Acting and Speaking?

A recent question by pal John Keating reminded me that I had been meaning to do a blog post on the subject for some time.  Here goes:  what is the difference between acting and public speaking?  Let’s address the basics first, and then get into a few of the subtleties. Actors generally speak someone else’s […]

The post What’s the Difference Between Acting and Speaking? appeared first on Public Words.

How Well Do We Humans Connect in the Virtual World? Part 2

This post is the second of two parts. In the first part I noted how virtual communication channels take out human emotion, leading to increased isolation and loneliness. The posts are based on my forthcoming book, Can You Hear Me?, to be published by Harvard in October. How does this second source of emotional connection […]

The post How Well Do We Humans Connect in the Virtual World? Part 2 appeared first on Public Words.

How Well Do We Humans Connect in the Virtual World? Part 1

The first of two posts adopted from my forthcoming book, Can You Hear Me? Recent studies show that on a typical conference call, over 60 percent of the supposed participants are doing email, other work, going to the bathroom, shopping, or exercising or eating—or even taking another call. And a huge swathe of the workforce […]

The post How Well Do We Humans Connect in the Virtual World? Part 1 appeared first on Public Words.

Tennis Players, Grunts, and Public Speaking

One of the fun things about my years spent toiling in the vineyards of public speaking, storytelling, body language and communications is that sometimes a story comes along that is both irresistible and immediately useful.  Call it the reward of a life spent insatiably seeking the next nugget that could help public speakers everywhere. This […]

The post Tennis Players, Grunts, and Public Speaking appeared first on Public Words.

Emotion, Human Connection, and the Virtual World

Recently I was reviewing some research on popular TED talks that found that the most successful speakers used more hand gestures, tonal variety, and smiling than the less successful ones.  A lot more.  More than twice as much, in fact.  Those speakers were rated as more charismatic than the other speakers, and more popular.  What’s […]

The post Emotion, Human Connection, and the Virtual World appeared first on Public Words.

What Speakers Need to Know About the Brain

Fall is officially here and it’s time to put away the pails, shovels and sunscreen and get back to work.  For speakers, it’s one of the busy seasons, and so your speech and delivery better be in tip-top shape, ready for those jaded audiences and their famously shrunken attention spans.  I’ve had several questions lately […]

The post What Speakers Need to Know About the Brain appeared first on Public Words.

History Matters

It’s the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth this year, this summer, last month, and so it seems like a good time to think about my favorite saying:  the only reason to give a speech is to change the world.  I remind my clients of this often when I don’t think we’re reaching high enough.  Mandela […]

The post History Matters appeared first on Public Words.

The Speaker Persona You Need to Develop

I’ve worked for many years with speakers on developing their unique personas.  What’s the exact right mix of charisma, authenticity, perspicacity, authority, expertise, approachability, charm, humor, strength, and credibility that works for each individual?  Of course, a few basic traits keep coming up – expertise and approachability are among the most often repeated desirable characteristics.  […]

The post The Speaker Persona You Need to Develop appeared first on Public Words.