Tsufit on speaking at conferences

Tsufit (LinkedIn profile) started out as a lawyer, singer, and actress, but for over 15 years now she has been coaching others to step into the spotlight. In fact, she wrote a book titled exactly that: “Step Into The Spotlight!”

As you’ll hear, one of the things she sees in public speaking is that it helps you crystallize your message. I love one of her quotes: “If you can’t say [something] in 30 seconds, you won’t be able to say it in 30 minutes.”

Also Tsufit points out the importance of knowing why you’re there speaking. As she says, it sounds obvious, but in reality it’s not nearly as obvious as one might think, and understanding why you’re really there is way more important than many people realize.

One of the main themes flowing through the interview is the (often unrealized) opportunity to own the room. Not just in the way we might think at first (feeling in control of your physical surroundings), but starting much earlier than your actual speech, when you might negotiate with the organizer to get a better role for yourself.

Related Posts

Alternative CYA phrases

"CYA" (cover your ass) is a great phrase for office life, but sometimes it has connotations of selfishness, like you're saying someone just wants to protect himself, he doesn't really care about the group or the company. Example: "That email was mostly CYA. He just...

Three tips for videoconferencing

I know a lot of you are working from home this week. It probably involves a lot of videoconferencing, which might feel a little strange, since it's probably a bit unfamiliar. I do a lot of videoconferencing, so here are three tips that might help.  1. Humans like...

CXO letter sample

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: matt@krauseenglish.com Date: XYZ Subject: CXO Letter sample To: xyz@xyz.com A favorite word that I've run across an unusual number of times in my readings this week is "slog." This word can be a noun or a verb, and using it...