Jerry Weissman

... but they're just not that into you."

In a previous post on my site, you may have read about how self-centeredness is an obstacle to all communication, extending all the way from social conversations to our focus, presentations. To remove that...

In a prior post about Representative Michelle Bachmann’s presentations, you read how she recovered from her stumble of speaking to the wrong camera during her televised response to President Obama’s State of the Union in January by imposing an iron fist in her management...

Barack Obama has given several notable speeches in his career, starting with his 16-and-a-half-minute "Cinderella" speech at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004, which launched him on the path to the presidency. Since that date, Mr. Obama has hit several high water marks for his oratory:

Tea Party darling Christine O'Donnell, who tried and failed to win Joe Biden’s Delaware senate seat last year, did what all politicians eventually do, write a book. And, as all authors do, Ms. O’Donnell set about to promote Troublemaker, as the publication is aptly titled. One of her...

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney appeared at the Iowa State Fair this week and ran into a buzz saw. He was heckled by a group affiliated with Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, one of them an angry senior citizen who demanded to know how Mr. Romney would preserve...

Actions Speak Louder than Words

As a presentations coach, I show archival videos as positive and negative role models to demonstrate what participants should and should not do when they present. Although most of my participants are business men and women, most of the videos are of political figures, such...

Musicians and Graphics





Believe it or not, a new documentary called Make Believe, about a group of teenagers who compete in a championship competition for magicians in Las Vegas, offers a lesson in how to display presentation graphics. The film...

In yesterday’s New York Times, the editors ran an article called “Charlie Sheen Deconstructed” which listed a collection of opinions about the troubled actor and his many recent media appearances airing his dirty laundry. The article described the collection as “analysis of the analysis” and included: 

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Lessons from the Master

In anticipation of the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth next week, many writers are recalling his political legacy. To make their subject matter current, many of them are drawing parallels between the Great Communicator and Barack Obama, another indisputably effective communicator. Time Magazine...

How to Avoid Negative Perceptions



During the Republican primary for the New York gubernatorial election, Carl Paladino, who ultimately won that contest (but lost to Andrew Cuomo in the general election), sent out a campaign mailer impregnated with a foul smell to convey his...

In this month’s turnabout election that swept Democrats out of office and Republicans into power, one race stands out as a dramatic exception: Harry Reid, the incumbent Democratic Senator of Nevada and Senate Majority Leader, beat his Tea Party challenger Sharron Angle, despite her lead in the polls right up...

During the hotly-contested campaign for the U.S. Senate seat for Connecticut, Democratic Attorney General Dick Blumenthal met Republican candidate Linda McMahon in a debate that was streamed live on the Internet and then televised later. During the debate, Ms. McMahon asked her opponent, "How do you create a...

General Stanley A. McChrystal, the leader of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, shared his feelings about his Commander-in-Chief with an advisor, who was later quoted in a Rolling Stone article:

Obama clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was. Here's the guy who's going to run...

Cole Porter's 1934 song, "Miss Otis Regrets," a wry blues tale about a society lady indisposed to answer questions, had its modern variation last week during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court, Elena Kagan.

In the prior post, you...

It's no wonder that BP finally replaced its CEO, Tony Hayward as its spokesman. He was the flash point for the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In business as in sports, the manager gets fired after a big loss and Mr. Hayward made a mess of his...

The Senate Judiciary Committee begins hearings today on President Obama's second nominee for the Supreme Court, Elena Kagan. Just as the first nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, and both of President George W. Bush's nominees, John G. Roberts and Samuel Alito, and all the previous nominees of all the previous presidents, Ms....

Thumbs Down, Thumbs Up

In last week's post on Obama's Oval Office speech on the oil spill you read how Mike Allen, the Washington columnist the New York Times dubbed "The Man the White House Wakes Up To," anticipated the importance of the event. Mr. Allen's...

Taking Personal Responsibility

In anticipation of President Obama's Oval Office speech about the BP oil spill, Mike Allen of Politico, who was dubbed by the New York...

In an earlier post I wrote about how Richard Blumenthal, the attorney general of Connecticut, who is running for Christopher Dodd's Democratic seat in the Senate and Rand Paul, the winner of the Republican Senatorial Primary in Kentucky,...

Last week, Richard Blumenthal, the attorney general of Connecticut, who is running for Christopher Dodd's Democratic seat in the Senate and Rand Paul, the winner of the Republican Senatorial Primary in Kentucky, found themselves having to explain controversial statements...