If you have been following me on Twitter or facebook you will know that I love quotes and in particular those that are positive, uplifting and inspiring.
Quotes are very useful in presentations; a well selected quote can lend credibility to your message, bring additional support for your arguments and powerfully reinforce your ideas.
In a future blog post I will explore how to effectively use quotes in your presentations but for this post I thought I’d share some of my favourite quotes about public speaking:
If you can’t write your message in a sentence, you can’t say it in an hour ~ Dianna Booher
Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot ~ D. H. Lawrence
If you don’t know what you want to achieve in your presentation your audience never will ~ Harvey Diamond
Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent ~ Dionysius Of Halicarnassus
Everything that can be said can be said clearly ~ Ludwig Wittgenstein
You can speak well if your tongue can deliver the message of your heart ~ John Ford
There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave ~ Dale Carnegie
It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech ~ Mark Twain
Words have incredible power. They can make people’s hearts soar, or they can make people’s hearts sore ~ Dr Mardy Grothe
Great speakers are not born, they're trained ~ Dale Carnegie
There are three things to aim at in public speaking: first, to get into your subject, then to get your subject into yourself, and lastly, to get your subject into the heart of your audience ~ Alexander Gregg
The success of your presentation will be judged not by the knowledge you send but by what the listener receives ~ Lilly Walters
Best way to conquer stage fright is to know what you’re talking about ~ Michael H Mescon
There are only two types of speakers in the world. 1. The nervous and 2. Liars ~ Mark Twain
No one ever complains about a speech being too short! ~ Ira Hayes
90% of how well the talk will go is determined before the speaker steps on the platform ~ Somers White
It takes one hour of preparation for each minute of presentation time ~ Wayne Burgraff
The problem with speeches isn’t so much not knowing when to stop, as knowing when not to begin ~ Frances Rodman
Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause ~ Mark Twain
Be sincere. Be brief. Be seated. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
Mel Sherwood is a Presentation Skills and Personal Impact Speaker and Founder of The RED Effect™. She works with ambitious business leaders, teams and individuals who want to express themselves with confidence, credibility and charisma. An Australian based in Scotland, Mel is an award-winning speaker, author and coach and combines over 25 years’ experience in business with a background as an actor, presenter and singer.