Nuts & Bolts of Storytelling For Public Speakers: How to Raise the Stakes
Learning how to raise the stakes in a story is hugely important. The problem that storytellers encounter more often then any other when telling their stories is failing to show the audience that there were high stakes. When you find yourself going “Whoa…!” during a story, or when you find yourself moving to the edge of your seat anxious to hear […]
Nuts & Bolts of Storytelling For Public Speakers: How to Tell An Unforgettable Story
SIGNIFICANT DETAILS As you may have heard before, it’s better to be specific than general most of the time. Like, “the bright pink tulip in the window” is better than “a flower.” It’s said that great criminals and sociopaths are especially good at including specific details in their alibis, because specific details read as “authoritative” […]
Harnessing The Power of Fear in Public Speaking – Tips & Tricks For An Unforgettable Presentation: Part II
When you hear the words “professional speaker,” do they conjure up a particular image in your mind? What exactly does a professional speaker look and sound like? What are some of the traits that successful speakers have in common? Before we delve into this, let me take you back to 1997. That was the year […]
Today’s Criminal Justice System: Does It Live Up To What The Founding Fathers Envisioned It To Be?
“A diligent prosecutor can convince a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich.” This quote by New York Court of Appeals Chief Judge Sol Wachtler was made even more famous in the Tom Wolfe novel The Bonfire of the Vanities. Apropos of nothing, Judge Wachtler also once referred to the death penalty as “the chicken […]
Government Expands Forfeiture Program
In 1984, George Orwell’s novel about a dystopian near-future society, Oceania was constantly at war with one of its geopolitical rivals. The grandfatherly yet sinister O’Brien later admitted that victory over Eurasia or Eastasia was not the war’s objective – the ongoing conflict was simply an excuse for the totalitarian government to intervene in peoples’ […]
White Collar Crime: Entrapment and Ignorance of the Law Can Snare the Unwary
The most common white-collar offenses run the gamut of nonviolent crimes from antitrust violations to money laundering. The FBI estimates that white-collar crime costs the United States more than $300 billion annually. These estimates do not take into account cases where aggressive and ambitious prosecutors snare an unwary person, who eventually pleads guilty in the […]
Even With a DUI Charge You Are Innocent Until Proven Guilty
If you believe the conventional wisdom, when you are stopped by the police and placed under arrest for driving under the influence, you have already been found guilty. You are not guilty, and the state has a heavier burden of proof than you might imagine. Take a look at the State of New Jersey Motor […]