Blog Archives
Dr. Nick Morgan is one of America’s top communication theorists and coaches. In his blog he covers modern communications from a variety of angles, including the latest developments in communication research, the basic principles and rules of good communication, and the good and bad speakers of the day. His passion is to connect the latest brain research with timeless insights into persuasive speaking and writing in order to further our understanding of how people connect with one another. He has an international following among professional speakers, students of communication, and executives interested in persuasive communication in cultures worldwide.
December 2009
- What should a speaker ask an audience to do?
- Can you give a successful presentation sitting down?
- 6 tips for using teleprompters
- The weirdest public speaker you've ever seen? 4 lessons from Clifford Stoll
- What's the biggest risk in public speaking?
- Is rehearsal important?
- Public Speaking and the Holidays
- President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech- how good was it?
- Three Big Myths of Executive Public Speaking
- How much emotion is too much in public speaking?
- How good a speaker is Eric Schmidt?
- How good a speaker is Jack Welch?
November 2009
- How to connect with your audience by moving closer
- Ten Reasons for Public Speakers to be Thankful
- How good a speaker is Ram Charan?
- How good a speaker is Marshall Goldsmith?
- How good a speaker is Michael Porter?
- How good a speaker is Gary Hamel?
- How good a speaker is Philip Kotler?
- Richard Branson – how good a public speaker is he?
- How good a speaker is Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman?
- C K Prahalad - the world's most influential business thinker?
- What should a leader say in times of tragedy? - Part 2
- What should a leader say in times of tragedy?
- Podcast with Duct Tape Marketing on Authenticity and Trust
- The single most powerful way to increase your charisma--and audience connection
- Can a speech really change the world?
October 2009
- How good a speaker is Steve Jobs?
- Put your unconscious mind to work to become a better public speaker
- Authenticity and the Dalai Lama
- Are they committed to you? Did you close the sale? Decoding Body Language, Pt 8
- Personal power and body language - part 7 in decoding body language
- Using body language to persuade others - Decoding body language, part 6
- How to tell if someone you love is lying
- How to decode other people's body language - 4: gestures
- How to decode other people's body language - 3: Openness
- How to read other people's body language-2: Openness and its opposite
- How to decode other people's body language - 1
- The Ten Commandments of Public Speaking
- Is your voice right for public speaking?
- Are you as good a speaker as a 5th grader?
- Great Contemporary Business Speakers-10: Sir Ken Robinson
September 2009
- Great Contemporary Business Speakers – 9: Marcus Buckingham
- Great Contemporary Business Speakers – 8: Steve Farber
- Great Contemporary Business Speakers - 7: Charlene Li
- After the speech -- 5 steps to take when it's done
- Getting ready to give a speech: 5 Essential Steps
- Great Contemporary Business Speakers – 6: David Meerman Scott
- Great Contemporary Business Speakers - 5: Guy Kawasaki
- Great Contemporary Business Speakers – 4: Seth Godin
- Great contemporary business speakers - 3: Susan Ershler
- Great contemporary business speakers - 2: Jim Collins
- Great contemporary business speakers - 1: Tim Sanders
- 5 Ways to Connect with a Large Audience
- President Obama's Health Care Speech: How did he do?
- 5 ways to handle a hostile audience
- Did President Obama's Speech Make the Grade?
- How do you connect with your audience? Part III
- How do you connect with your audience? -- Part II
September 2009
- How do you connect with your audience? -- Part I
- Don't forget to breathe!
- How to cut: giving a 3-hour speech in 45 minutes
- Shaking hands? Watch the other hand....
- What is charisma? And how can you increase your own?
- 5 tips for conducting a successful audio conference
- What should Steve Ballmer say?
July 2009
- 10 Rules for Creating Successful Power Point Presentations
- How to spot a liar and other topics discussed with Maureen Anderson
- Bad presentations, good delivery? Or good presentations, bad delivery?
- The Public Speaking Checklist - 10 points to check before you speak
- How public speaking can change the world -- and why you should care
- Debunking the Debunkers -- the Mehrabian Myth Explained (Correctly)
- Malcolm Gladwell -- great storyteller, weak speaker
- The 5 Best Ways to Screw up a Presentation
- The secret of connecting with an audience: closeness
- Palin and Sotomayor - Lessons in Presenting
- 10 Steps You Can Take Right Now to Improve Your Presentations
- Smart Planet Interview: Comedy, Fear, and Speaking Today
- Podcast: Talking with Harry Allen of WBAI, New York
- The power of aligned -- vs unaligned -- communications
- Is your non-verbal 'conversation' helping or hurting your career?
- Penn and Teller and the Happy Feet problem
- Can you 'thin-slice' listening? Malcolm Gladwell and the Kouroi myth
- Making a film? Appearing on camera? Check out these tips
- 20 body language myths debunked
June 2009
- Who's the most powerful person in the room?
- Announcing the winners of the 'Worst Conference' contest
- What is the most important rule for success in public speaking?
- What can you get an audience to do?
- Can you present sitting down?
- Authenticity - 4: 5 ways to listen to your audience
- Authenticity - 3: 5 ways to show your passion through your words
- Authenticity - 2: 8 ways to connect with audiences
- Achieving Authenticity - 1 - Openness
- Announcing the Worst Conference Experience Ever Contest
- How to begin a speech
- Did Obama's body language match his rhetoric?
- What did President Obama's Cairo speech achieve?
- Can a weak speaker with a great message hold an audience?
- A Conference (and Meeting) Manifesto - How They Can Be Better
- Six Ways to Put Together a Persuasive Speech:
May 2009
- Use the 5 basic stories to add power to your speeches
- Ellen's 3 rules for a great commencement speech
- Where President Obama went wrong on the Guantanamo Speech -- and how you can do better
- 3 ways Improv can strengthen your public speaking
- How to interact with an audience -- 7 questions to get you started
- Jim Collins and his new book, How the Mighty Fall
- Gary Vaynerchuk's 3 Rules for Success in Public Speaking
- Questions for speakers to ask meeting planners
- What should Seth Godin have done? How do you respond to a last-minute change?
- What we can learn from Seth Godin
- The Four Essential Elements of Open Language
- How to survive a panel
- How to establish trust and credibility with an audience -- and why
- Humor, Part 3: Wit.
- Why is most public speaking so awful?
- Humor, part 2: 3 Rules for Mastering Irony
- Humor in public speaking -- 1: How to use traditional humor
April 2009
- Obama's 3rd Prime-Time Press Conference -- How did he do?
- How to Get Ready to Speak: 3 Quick Tips
- The single easiest and fastest way to increase your charisma and impact as a speaker
- The 3 most common communications mistakes CEOs make
- 3 Original Speakers to Watch -- and bring to your organization
- 9 rules for survival in rock climbing and public speaking
- Timothy Ferriss and the 4-hour workweek
- Three speakers for these times -- keep your eye on them.
- The greatest 250-word speech ever written.
- Character is king in public speaking
- Speech triage -- 5 questions to ask yourself to prepare a presentation quickly
- 4 Steps to Authenticity and Charisma
- Five steps to creating a successful public speaking career
- 3 Reasons to Rehearse a Presentation
- The 3 most powerful ways to increase your personal charisma
- The five top speaking tips from the ancient Greeks
March 2009
- The 5 worst (and widespread) rules about public speaking
- The single most common mistake speakers make
- Five Creative, Interesting Alternatives to an Agenda Slide
- The Rule of Threes
- How to close out a conference with style
- The 5 best ways to conquer your fear of public speaking
- What research on play can tell us about public speaking
- How to achieve public speaking 'nirvana' in 3 steps.
- And the winner of the elevator speech contest is....
- Cut through the jargon: 4 elevator pitches on education.
- Can elevator pitches be too short? -- 3 ways to go wrong.
- Analyzing 2 elevator pitches: the story behind the pitch is crucial.
- Four ways to use an elevator pitch/speech
- Analyzing the second elevator speech entry
- The first of the elevator speech contest entries analyzed
- Announcing the 'elevator speech' contest
- How are Presidents Obama and Bush alike?
February 2009
- What was wrong with Governor Jindal?
- How did President Obama do?
- What should President Obama say tonight?
- Are rich people ruder than poor people?
- Is an introduction important?
- The Conference Information Overload Survival Guide
- Elizabeth Gilbert's vocal art
- The Secret of Sir Ken Robinson's Charisma
- What was wrong with President Obama’s first prime-time press conference?
- Bill Gates does something he shouldn't
- The secrets of President Obama's communication success -- 5
- The secrets of President Obama's communication success -- 4
- The secrets of President Obama's communication success -- 3
- The secrets of President Obama's communication success -- 2
- The secrets of President Obama's communication success
January 2009
- President Obama as alpha male
- How to ace that job interview
- How does Tony Robbins Do It?
- Michael Fabiano demonstrates how to be a great public speaker
- Can you trust Obama?
- President Obama invites us to go on a difficult journey.
- What Obama Should Say: The 44th President's Inaugural Address
- Video blog on achieving authenticity and charisma in public speaking
- President Bush's last news conference and self pity
- How unconscious intent can sabatoge your communications before you start
- Roland Burris' first steps as Senator-designate are not steady ones.
- Is Sanjay Gupta Authentic?
- You know, Caroline Kennedy wants to be Senator. You know.
