If you have been following me on Twitter or facebook you will know that I love quotes and in particular those that are positive, uplifting and inspiring.
Quotes are very useful in presentations; a well selected quote can lend credibility to your message, bring additional support for your arguments and powerfully reinforce your ideas.
In a future blog post I will explore how to effectively use quotes in your presentations but for this post I thought I’d share some of my favourite quotes about public speaking:
- If you can’t write your message in a sentence, you can’t say it in an hour ~ Dianna Booher
- Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot ~ D. H. Lawrence
- If you don’t know what you want to achieve in your presentation your audience never will ~ Harvey Diamond
- Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent ~ Dionysius Of Halicarnassus
- Everything that can be said can be said clearly ~ Ludwig Wittgenstein
- You can speak well if your tongue can deliver the message of your heart ~ John Ford
- There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave ~ Dale Carnegie
- It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech ~ Mark Twain
- Words have incredible power. They can make people’s hearts soar, or they can make people’s hearts sore ~ Dr Mardy Grothe
- Great speakers are not born, they're trained ~ Dale Carnegie
- There are three things to aim at in public speaking: first, to get into your subject, then to get your subject into yourself, and lastly, to get your subject into the heart of your audience ~ Alexander Gregg
- The success of your presentation will be judged not by the knowledge you send but by what the listener receives ~ Lilly Walters
- Best way to conquer stage fright is to know what you’re talking about ~ Michael H Mescon
- There are only two types of speakers in the world. 1. The nervous and 2. Liars ~ Mark Twain
- No one ever complains about a speech being too short! ~ Ira Hayes
- 90% of how well the talk will go is determined before the speaker steps on the platform ~ Somers White
- It takes one hour of preparation for each minute of presentation time ~ Wayne Burgraff
- The problem with speeches isn’t so much not knowing when to stop, as knowing when not to begin ~ Frances Rodman
- Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
- The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause ~ Mark Twain
- Be sincere. Be brief. Be seated. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
Mel Sherwood is a pitch and presentation specialist who prepares ambitious entrepreneurs and business professionals to take centre stage, embrace the spotlight and present with more confidence, credibility and conviction.
Mel's book 'The Authority Guide to Pitching Your Business - how to make an impact and be remembered... in under a minute!' is available on Amazon. To find out more go to www.melsherwood.com or follow Mel on Twitter @MelSherwood_