Leora Dowling Public Speaking Coach

05/23/2026

My Spring Newsletter has arrived! Hooray. Check it out here:

I don’t know how you feel, but if you’re like me, you vacillate between worry, anger, sadness, frustration, amazement, and disgust. How did we arrive here? How could this happen?

05/08/2026

Art on Friday. (I missed a couple of days.)
Yesterday at the Art Institute of Chicago, I spent a couple of hours at a wonderful new exhibition entitled "Korean National Treasures: 2,000 Years of Art." Here's a piece by Kim Kichang from 1955. It's huge and so energetic. So few brushstrokes to convey so much!

The founder of Samsung and his son collected art for decades. When they died they gave it all back to the Korean people. All 23,000 pieces! Thank you Lee Byung-chul and Lee Kun-hee!

05/08/2026

To those who occasionally come to my biz page for public speaking tips here are 10:
10 last-minute tips to remember

1. If you have 20 minutes, plan for 15
2. Pausing is important and powerful. Pause in between ideas and stories
3. Before you start, look around the room, take a breath & smile for 3-4 seconds. It calms you and connects you and helps them focus on the next portion of the program
4. Not too much caffeine. And be sure to eat something first. (Not sugary, spiky carbs, or milk. Tepid water, not ice water)
5. See if you can find out before the event what kind of microphone you’ll have and what the room looks like (colors too)
6. Convey your enthusiasm and genuineness with comfort. They will like you and be interested in the topic.
7. on’t speak too quickly. It takes older people longer to process words. Also speak loudly. Lots of us don’t hear well.
8. Remember, the audience doesn't know what you’re going to say or what you might forget to say---so relax and have fun.
9. Audience-centric planning: what’s in it for them—why should they pay attention?. An entertaining story is reason enough. A life lesson or inspiration is even better.
10. Keep everything in perspective