I don't pretend to be a great public speaker; I think I had more nerve as a 14-year-old debater than I have now! But I was keenly motivated by the gleam of trophies in high school and I learned the tricks it takes to do reasonably well at speaking.

In later years, I also wrote speeches for industry leaders and CEOs. So when a friend emailed to request advice on how to write speeches, I decided to summarize the seven things I know. Continue reading...

It's been snowing where I live. Okay, I know it's winter and all, and that might not seem like a strange complaint (unless you live in, say, Australia) but I'm in Vancouver -- the wet capital of the world. Continue reading...

Mim Harrison, author of Spoken Like a Pro: An Insider's Guide to the Language of Professions and Smart Words, has some simple advice in these tough economic times: "Talk like a pro and you could save some dough." Continue reading...

On the occasion of Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday, Dennis Baron discovers that the Great Emancipator was also the Great Reviser. Baron is professor of English and linguistics at the University of Illinois and writes regularly on linguistic issues at The Web of Language. Continue reading...

I was in high school when former U.S. president Richard Nixon resigned. I don't remember seeing him give his official TV farewell, but I strongly recall his gravelly voice, his pursed lips and his shuffling gait. I devoured All the President's Men when it was published in 1974 and saw the movie starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as reporters Woodward and Bernstein when it was released two years later. Continue reading...

In November, I had a stroke. My second one in six years.

Both strokes were established in similar ways -- the puzzling outcome of having had mild abdominal surgery. I'm not trying to make you crazy here. It doesn't seem logical to me -- or to many doctors -- either. Although I have freakishly low blood pressure and exercise regularly and eat healthily, there's something about my body that doesn't like surgery. I have surgery and the main source of blood flow to the brain, my carotid artery, breaks apart (this maneuver is called a dissection) and a stroke spins off into my brain. Continue reading...

A few months ago, I ended up in Emergency for 15 hours. (Long story; it was nothing serious.) But the debacle caused me to miss a deadline. The client was the picture of understanding but for me, a former daily newspaper editor, it was deeply embarrassing. Continue reading...