Talking Points

If that old adage is true—that effective public speaking is 93 percent how we look and sound and 7 percent content—then we’ve got a lot of work to do, says Tim Kasper, the Sarasota-based director of Southeast operations for the Pinnacle Performance Company.

“According to the Book of Lists, people fear talking in public even more than death,” says Kasper. “I like to tell the old Jerry Seinfeld joke: When you go to a funeral, the person giving the eulogy would rather be in the coffin.”

Kasper, an actor and singer who tours nationally with the a cappella quartet, The Blenders, trains business leaders to develop their messages using the Pinnacle Method, “time-honored techniques that professional actors and performers use to be better, more engaging communicators,” he says. Among Pinnacle’s big-name clients are Oracle, Walgreens, the OSI (Outback Steakhouse) Group, Apple and Adobe.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re the CEO or in the mailroom,” says Kasper. “The presenter’s secret weapon to being more believable and captivating on stage is intention—putting meaning, purpose and passion behind your words.”  

Engaging the audience

Attack stage fright.  Do the signs of stage fright—dry mouth, trembling voice, weak knees, increased heart rate—sound familiar?  The antidote, says Kasper, is practice. “If you know the material, that’s going to eliminate a lot of the fear.”

Warm up properly. “At Pinnacle, we talk about the five-minute presenter’s warm-up: physical exercises to get the body moving,” says Kasper. “Do core breathing to relax and for sound. Don’t come in cold.”