I’m delighted to announce that my speech coaching client, Hakki Akdeniz, has been named one of The Top 10 Most Popular TED Talks in 2022. If you haven’t seen the inspiring story of Hakki’s journey as a 21 year old penniless, homeless, Turkish immigrant in NYC to successful entrepreneur, philanthropist and advocate for the homeless, Read more
My coaching client Hakki Akdeniz, whose TED talk has been viewed more than 2 million times, has received a 2022 Carnegie Foundation Award for “Great Immigrants, Great Americans.” Recently I had the privilege of coaching Hakki for his TED talk in which he tells the inspiring story of his journey as a 21 year old Read more
Recently I had the privilege of coaching Hakki Akdeniz for his TED talk in which he tells the inspiring story of his journey as a 21 year old penniless, homeless, Turkish immigrant in NYC to successful entrepreneur, philanthropist and advocate for the homeless. Twenty years ago Hakki came to the United States speaking no English, Read more
James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars stutters? Yes, you’re reading this correctly! This 91 year old award-winning actor is a lifelong stutterer. According to The New York Times, the Shubert Organization will name the Cort Theater, a landmark 110-year-old house located on West 48th Street, after Jones, a two-time competitive Read more
How important are presentation skills if I’m working on a remote platform like Zoom? Other participants don’t expect a polished presentation on Zoom — or do they? Can’t I just read my script on Zoom as if I were presenting in person? Some of the concerns my clients have raised over the years have changed Read more
How to be safe and still receive services? LazarSpeech transitioned to an entirely virtual platform on March 20, 2020. All sessions have been held on Zoom, occasionally on Skype or FaceTime if clients need a different online application. With a randomly generated meeting ID and embedded password, clients have a secure link — they simply Read more
If you’ve ever felt you were the only one fearful about making a presentation, be assured, you’re not alone. In fact, you have most of the world agonizing with you. For many people deciding what to say, how to say it, then standing up in front of others is like confronting a fire-eating dragon. Read more
Do people really want to hear my story? Do I want to relate personal details to strangers? Whether you’re an executive presenting your sales pitch, a college graduate interviewing for your first job, or a high school student speaking with an admissions officer, your personal narrative can be the key to reaching your goals. Telling Read more
Create a Dialogue If I’m giving a presentation, why do I need to create a dialogue with my audience? When you make a presentation — to one or 500 people — you want to capture their attention and engage them so they see your point of view. If you’re simply speaking “at them,” it’s likely Read more
How important can storytelling be if it’s not taught in school? In a recent article in The New York Times by Frank Bruni entitled, “How to Get the Most Out of College,” he writes: “Every successful pitch for a new policy, new product or new company is essentially a story, with a shape and logic intended to Read more