Matt McGarrityOct 19, 20215 minPassionate public speaking is as much performance as it is emotionPhoto by Kevin Gonzalez on Unsplash A quick scan of public speaking advice articles, especially on business sites like Forbes, will...
Matt McGarrityOct 7, 20213 minNo. Political candidate ____ doesn’t speak like a 4th-grader. Reading scores don't explain speeches!Flesch-Kincaid tests don’t explain political speeches.
Matt McGarritySep 27, 20214 minWriting for the ear: 3 tips for successful presentations“A speech is not an essay on its hind legs.” ---James Winans Photo by Florian Klauer on Unsplash Speaking and writing share much in...
Matt McGarritySep 21, 20216 minHow do you make a Zoom presentation better? Approach it differently.When the pandemic hit, I thought I was ready for online teaching and speaking. I had already recorded hundreds of short educational...
Matt McGarritySep 9, 20215 minKnow your audience! A technical argument win, can be a public lossThe debate over vaccines has against shone light on the tremendous importance of understanding the difference between technical and...
Matt McGarritySep 2, 20215 minDon't worry about saying um in a speechLinguistics can help you reduce your ums, but it’ll also tell you that you probably don’t need to. Many years ago, I gave a 15-minute...
Matt McGarrityAug 25, 20215 minWhy are you shouting? We agree! Verbal boxing and the rhetorical concept of stasisPerhaps one the most frustrating experiences is being drawn into a debate that isn’t actually a debate. This can happen for a number of...
Matt McGarrityAug 19, 20214 minWant better talks? Set clearer goals.Baltasar Gracian was a writer and philosopher in seventeenth century Spain. His works were so influential that the village where he was...
Matt McGarrityAug 18, 20211 minTED talks are great, but they're a unique genreThere is a growing literature that seeks to crack the code of TED talks for the rest of us. I think that’s great, but TED talks are a...