12 unspoken rules of successful public speaking

We hear time and again: Don’t read your slides verbatim, make eye contact, and so on. Here are a dozen important presentation guidelines that tend to fly under the radar.

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People like me give out a lot of advice about public speaking—how to create great speeches, how to deliver them and how to build a professional speaking career.

All that is important, but there fundamental speaking lessons that tend not to be shared. In my effort to kick off 2016 powerfully for speakers everywhere, here are the unwritten public speaking rules you need for long-term happiness and success.

1. Always tell the truth. You’re not going to know everything, so don’t be afraid to embrace your limitations. If you don’t know, own up to it, and don’t worry.

2. Crush your topic. You’re not going to know everything, but it’s your job to know as much as you can. If you’re a speaker on carved gold rabbits, then you need to know as much as humanly possible about those rabbits. Read up.

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