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

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

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.