Leadership communications with Rob Cottingham

Ep. 75. Getting back on track

Getting carried off on a tangent in an interview or Q&A session can be risky. At best, you spend the time you wanted to use getting your message across on some other topic. At worst, you end up talking about sensitive, damaging topics that endanger your organization's reputation. This episode, we look at how you get back on track — quickly, honesty and graciously. Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license. Photo: Zane Lee on Unsplash

Ep. 74 Why you need to rehearse — and how

Rehearsal doesn't kill spontaneity — it gives you the confidence that lets you be spontaneous. You don't just know the material: you know its emotional and literal meaning,nd you've made your big choices about how you're going to convey it. If you want to make the most of your speech, you need to rehearse. And to make that rehearsal count, behold: The Ten Commandments of Rehearsal. Links: The elusive Episode 17, where I make my case for rehearsing Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license. Photo:  Photo by Kyle Head on Unsplash

Ep. 73 No more boring speaker introductions!

Before a speaker steps up to the microphone, there's usually somebody who introduces them. And that introduction could be helping to set the stage and prime the audience. But too many introductions are just tedious recitals of a speaker's biography. And they're so loooonnnng. Instead of revving an audience up, they put them to sleep. Let's kill those introductions off once and for all. This episode, we look at what an introduction can do for you and your audience, by promising some combination of six elements: authority, affinity, attraction, value, intrigue and entertainment. We'll talk about how to make your speaker intro effective, engaging and — most important — short! Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license.

Ep. 72 Dana Rubin is Speaking While Female

Pick up a collection of speeches or quotations from history, and chances are most of those voices belong to men. That's changing. More women are claiming their time at the microphone. And it turns out the oratory of the past was a lot more female than many of its curators would have us think. One woman in particular, Dana Rubin, is working to change our understanding of public speaking history — and the role women have played in shaping it. And she's my guest on this episode. Links: The Speaking While Female Speech Bank — a tremendously useful resource for speakers, speechwriters and anyone interested in women's oratory The Kickstarter project for the Speaking While Female book: get in early! Dana Rubin's firm, Speech Studio Dana's LinkedIn group, The Leadership Communications Roundtable — now over 5,000 members strong! Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license.

Ep. 71 Get out of your lane

You've probably heard the expression "stay in your lane." And sometimes that's good advice — but right now, we're facing global emergencies on an unprecedented scale, and we need voices speaking out for truth, democracy, science and our very survival. If you have a platform, you can be one of those voices…even if you aren't an expert. Here's how to do it responsibly. Links: That Kris Straub cartoon about Internet "research" Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license.