Once we have the spontaneous gestures under way we can start looking into the “rehearsed looking gestures.” These are motions that your audience will know are actually part of your speech. They are used to reinforce the mental images that you are creating.

New speakers often ask the question, “What do I do with my hands when speaking?” The obvious answer is, “Do what ever feels natural.” Now this may be an obvious answer but it is also a terrible answer because nothing feels natural when you are terrified of the situation...

A few years ago I learned something interesting about the rate at which people can listen versus the rate at which we speak. This occurred while I was listening to an audio program on listening skills. The author discussed the fact that on average we talk at about 120 words per minute. He went on to explain that the average person can comprehend information at a rate of four times that amount – that is, five hundred words per minute.

People are typically amused by things that they are familiar with (again relevance) and things that surprise them. If you can take a familiar topic and twist it to a different viewpoint you can usually invoke some humor....