Welcome back to another Ask Me Anything, which is a series where we talk to our friends, our viewers, and our community about all of their pressing needs, questions, wants, and desires.
Let’s take a look at the mailbag to see which questions are burning this week. Here’s a good one:
I’m looking for an online speaker guide (do’s and don’ts, tips, best practices…). I know there are a million of those out there, so asking for your help—what’s the best one you’ve ever encountered? Perfectly fine if a purchase is required, as long as the content is worth it!
Best Online Speaker Guide
This question was posted in the Spin Sucks Community and there were a lot of great answers so I’m going to list them all.
In other words, it isn’t just one guide, but a nice array for you to choose from.
- Rob Biesnbach. First on the list is my friend and fellow Chicagoan, Rob Biesenbach. Rob is fighting to put an end to dull, ordinary communications, from Death by PowerPoint to slipshod storytelling—and he does it by speaking, writing, and training. He has a couple of books that will help you with your speaking needs—and I recommend them both. And, if you’re lucky, you’ll get to experience his mentorship while he wears red pants. You want this to happen. Trust me on this.
- Michael Port. Though I’ve not personally worked with Michael Port, he’s one of the foremost names in speaker training. He’s trained pretty much every one of the top speakers you see at industry conferences. He has lots of guides, lots of online content, and Heroic Public Speaking, which is training for those of you wanting to take it to the next level. He even has a free online speaker guide to virtual performances.
- Tamsen Webster. Though Tamsen Webster is less about speaking and more about finding your unique point-of-view to be able to tell your story, having that is one of the most important things you should do before you learn the tips and how-tos to speaking. Her new book, Find Your Red Thread, is a great place to start!
- Carol Lempert. I only know Carol Lempert by name, but she’s highly respected, particularly for executives who need to hone their presentation skills. Like many of the top speaker trainers, she started her career as an actress and playwright. So she’s able to take her acting skills and apply them to presentation and speaking skills.
- Mel McSherry. Mel is one I don’t know at all, but she was recommended by a couple of people in the community. She has an online speaker guide that is specific to building a talk, nurturing your audiences, and converting them to profitable connections.
If you’re looking for an online speaker guide that will help you with speaking skills, any of these people will help.
They also will help with presentation skills, speaking on video, speaking virtually, asking for a raise or promotion, or even going to a new business or sales meeting.
Have a Question For Us?
If you have a question for a future AMA, you can drop them below or join us in the (free) Spin Sucks Community. You can also find us on social media, email us, or stop by with a bottle of wine for porch drinking.
There also is a bit of color commentary in the video so don’t miss that! You get to see Jerky Pants act like she likes me and make out to be a liar that she’s a jerk (she is).
See you next week!