Matt McGarrityOct 19, 20215 min readPassionate 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 min readNo. 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 min readWriting 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 min readHow 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 min readKnow 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 min readDon'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 min readWhy 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 min readWant 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 min readTED 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...