CHAPTER 10STAGE WORK

THE SPEECH WAS FIVE MINUTES . . . THERE WERE DULL STRETCHES

UNFORTUNATELY, THERE are as many myths surrounding speaking and success in this profession as there are around some strange air force hangar with dead aliens out in the western desert somewhere. Except that there is more likelihood of finding aliens there than there is of finding that we can move an audience mostly by our shrugs and gestures instead of our words!

THE MYTH OF BODY LANGUAGE, GESTURES, AND MOVEMENT

First, a definition: “platform skills” are those techniques that you employ as a speaker during your delivery to enhance the receptivity of your message. Most of the books on speaking and many of the “authorities” will attempt to convince you that these techniques ...

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