25 Phrases to Guide You to Greatness in Speaking
Every now and then it is important to remind ourselves of some of the foundations that can lift us to great heights in speaking. Here are 25 phrases to do just that.
- Speak to one but look to all
- When you lift yourself up you let your audience down
- What gets recorded gets rewarded
- Don’t add humor to a speech; uncover humor within it
- What’s loose is lost
- When you squeeze your information in, you squeeze your audience out (this one is not mine. It’s an old speaker proverb).
- You master what you measure
- Conflict is the hook and Dialogue is the heart
- Put the process, not the person, on a pedestal
- The phrase determines what stays
- To be a great speaker you must be a great tease
- Be a similar person with a special process
- Never sell a product, always sell a result
- Let your story lead to their story
- Never end with the Q&A
- People remember best what they hear first and what they hear last
- Don’t tell; ask
- You can’t affect if they don’t reflect
- Become niche and famous (If you try to speak to everyone you will end up speaking to no one)
- A confused mind says no but a clear mind says go
- Give the visual before the verbal
- Give the look that goes with the line
- Reactions tell the story (Darren LaCroix)
- Too many speakers try to get across too much information in too little time
- Don’t speak for standing ovations, speak for standing invitations
To get a better understanding of what these phrases mean and how life-changing they can be for your speaking, see the World Class Speaking book.


Thanks for sharing Mr. Craig !
These phrases are very helpful.
Thanks much. I particularly like number 11…it is sort of tongue in cheek and I definitely agree with number 25. All good stuff. Make it a great day.
I am going to family and friends about this clues.
It’s calming knowledgable and valuble.
Your experience saves us a lot of sweat. You are
worth your weight in gold.
The sharing is a reward.
Thank’s for your effort.
Sincerely
Loren Young
in Palo Alto
Thank you Loren!
You have a great day too Oakland
Thank you Vijay
Hi Craig,
thank you for the well assembled selection of necessary reminders. I thought that #6 and #24 are very similar. Do you want to keep the list that way? Also, the last phrase is catchy but not clear.
Thank you again!
Yelena