So many presenters miss the opportunity to engage their audiences with dialogue. Speaking is live performance; why share the words as written prose? Consider this dialogue excerpt from Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath: “If you wanta pull in here an’ camp it’ll … More ☛
Transcript: Dave Bricker (00:02) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by speakipedia.com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk, smart strategies, and amazing stories from … More ☛
Dave Bricker: Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by speakipedia.com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk, smart strategies and amazing stories from visionary speakers … More ☛
Transcript Dave Bricker (00:07) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by speakepedia.com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk and smart strategies from visionary … More ☛
Dave Bricker (00:06) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by speakipedia.com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk, smart strategies, and amazing stories from visionary … More ☛
Transcript Dave Bricker (00:05) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by speakepedia .com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk, smart strategies, and … More ☛
Transcript Dave Bricker (00:05) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by speakepedia .com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker , bringing you straight talk, smart strategies, and … More ☛
Transcript: Dave Bricker (00:07) This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by Speakipedia .com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk, smart strategies, and amazing stories from visionary speakers and thought leaders. From the heart of small town … More ☛
Transcript Dave Bricker (00:00) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by speakipedia .com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk, smart strategies, and amazing … More ☛
Transcript Dave Bricker (00:07) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by speakipedia .com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk, smart strategies, and amazing … More ☛
Dave Bricker (00:07) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by speakipedia .com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk, smart strategies, and amazing stories from … More ☛
Dave Bricker (00:00) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by speakipedia .com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk, smart strategies, and amazing stories … More ☛
Dave Bricker: Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by speakipedia .com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk, strategies, and amazing stories from visionary … More ☛
Transcript [00:00:00] Dave Bricker: Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is “Speakipedia Media,” brought to you by speakipedia.com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk, smart strategies, and amazing … More ☛
Transcript Dave Bricker: Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by Speakipedia.com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk and smart strategies from visionary … More ☛
Transcription Dave Bricker (00:07) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speekipedia Media, brought to you by speakipedia.com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk and smart strategies from visionary … More ☛
by Dave Bricker Load a demo and view the AI-generated results. Intro Setup Protagonist Transformation Conflict Steps Characters The Story Introduction If you have zero carpentry skills and you purchase a table saw, you’ll likely lose a few fingers by … More ☛
Dave Bricker (00:01) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by speakipedia .com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk and smart strategies from visionary … More ☛
Transcript Dave Bricker (00:01) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakypedia Media brought to you by Speakypedia .com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk and smart strategies from … More ☛
Pedantic means being overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning, often emphasizing the minutiae of knowledge rather than its broader application. The term has evolved to carry a negative connotation. It’s used to describe someone who flaunts … More ☛
There are plenty of good reasons to self-publish, but not all are profit-oriented or even rational. Before you invest in your book, take a look in the mirror and ask yourself some serious questions. Why did I write my book? … More ☛
Since time immemorial, clichés have sneaked in the door when we least expect them to. They’re low-hanging fruit for writers who abscond with them quickly instead of striving for excellence. But to the trained eye, writing clichés stick out like … More ☛
Business, technology, and how-to books can be viewed as one-sided sales conversations. Though the author may hope to sell products or services, what’s usually being sold directly to the reader is an idea—a strategy or philosophy that can be used … More ☛
Verbs are the engines that move your writing and your readers, but many authors don’t spend enough time choosing the right ones. If your writing was an electric guitar, your verbs would be the volume, tone, and distortion controls that … More ☛
Selecting a book font seems simple enough, but important subtleties and fine points of typography are not obvious to the average writer. This article offers insights into fonts suitable for book typography. Though it won’t turn the average author into … More ☛
Book cover design tells the story of the story. It must convey the spirit and intentions of the author authentically, and it also has a few practical chores to perform. If a book cover design is to accomplish these things … More ☛
Find your favorite writer and give them this message: They no longer have to mire their writing down with awkward “his or her” and “he or she” and “he/she” usages. According to The Washington Post, the singular they/them has been … More ☛
The principles behind the simple art of essay writing can be applied to most any kind of written work. Even if you never write an academic paper again, these techniques will help you write more focused and powerful prose. Time … More ☛
This article discusses the pros and cons of traditional publishing. Abandon your biases, study the business of publishing, and choose the publishing method that best suits you and your book. Perhaps the biggest myth in publishing is that as a … More ☛
The following publishing advice is based on my own experiences and those of my clients. I hope you find it valuable and encouraging, even if it changes your expectations. I’ve written and published 12 books. I’ve guided many remarkable people … More ☛
Writers often ask about the difference between “straight” or “dumb” quotation marks and traditional printers’ quotes, commonly referred to as “smart quotes” or “curly quotes.” Add in the need to distinguish between left single quotes and apostrophes, and the primes … More ☛
Two-word clichés are perhaps the least obvious kind. Unless we’re vigilant, they sneak into our prose, steal color, mask our individual writer’s voice, and make us sound like millions of other writers who mindlessly employ the same worn out word … More ☛
Tom Morkes published The Perfect Book sales Page on his blog. I’m usually the first person to reject formulaic approaches to book marketing. Many well-written books are horrible products. But what I like about Tom’s template is that it forces … More ☛
If you’re not using your Word Processor‘s Track Changes function, you’re missing out on one of the best writing tools of the digital age. The good news: it’s quick and easy to learn. This video tutorial will show you how. … More ☛
Should you give away books for free? The value of book giveaways can’t be assessed by formula. The prevailing mythology suggests that the goal of publishing is to sell books, but the huge majority of indie publishers don’t do the … More ☛
Many self-publishers start their book projects with unrealistic expectations and misunderstandings about how publishing works. A huge industry has arisen to prey on writers who are unsure of the path. This article explains the basics of how publishing scams work … More ☛
This article explores ergonomic solutions to writers‘ repetitive stress problems. As static as it may seem, writing is a physically demanding endeavor. I’ve spent decades sitting in a chair staring at a screen, tapping on a keyboard. During that time, … More ☛
This article explains how to produce and market a professional quality audiobook using Amazon ACX. Through ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange), I was able to audition voiceover talent, choose a professional producer, review the work in progress, and make my audiobook … More ☛
Here’s an addendum to Publishing Scams and How they Work. I wonder why so many authors, after spending thousands of hours working on a book, fail to conduct a few critical hours of research that will save them thousands of … More ☛
This article explains the tab ruler found on every word processor and typesetting application. Understanding the simple and elegant split ruler and tab functions opens up a world of formatting opportunities. Digital typesetting and word processing inherited a number of … More ☛
So many writers get discouraged. This stinks. I quit. Others are overconfident. They’ve always had “a gift for words” so they fail to submit their prose to an editor‘s scrutiny. I recently shared an email exchange with an editing client … More ☛
A few years ago, I attended a nonfiction-writing workshop where I was told by the instructor that to qualify as nonfiction, a work must adhere as strictly to truth as possible. But such an edict rests on the naïve assumption … More ☛
In my work with writers, I come across many common technical problems with manuscripts. These usually spring from the best of intentions as the writer attempts to create the feel of the finished book within the manuscript. Though they’re trying … More ☛
You threw a grand party but nobody came. Your novel is so good but you’re not selling books. What happened? You were supposed to appear on Oprah’s show. Terry Gross isn’t calling you for an interview. You may be an … More ☛
Are images analogous to words? Is what makes a sentence sound “right” the same thing that makes an image “pop” or a jazz solo “burn?” The similarities are noteworthy but the differences are important. Just as the best of writers … More ☛
“Passive writing” refers to a specific set of grammatical circumstances where emphasis switches from subject to object. The money was stolen by Jill. instead of Jill stole the money. This is confusing if you’re writing about Jill but perfectly acceptable … More ☛
Generic descriptions are telltale signs of lazy writing. Add color to your writing by replacing overused and boring words. It’s such a nice day today. He’s very bright. My dog is really funny. Bill is a good soccer player. Shari … More ☛
Dialogue presents challenges for writers. Some prefer to simply declare what was “said.” Many authors feel that “said” is both traditional and invisible: “I’m going to write some dialogue,” said Bill. “I look forward to reading it, ”said Helene. But … More ☛
This third installment of Judging a Book by its Cover looks at great book cover designs that won the 2012 Design Observer 50 Books-50 Covers award. Part 1 explored how most book design rarely rises above “competent.” Part 2 looked … More ☛
As a graphic designer, I see numerous parallels between the values that create engaging imagery and the values that create engaging prose. So many designs fail because the designer arranged elements on a page without questioning their purpose, hierarchy, or … More ☛
The word “that” is often abused. “That” is a perfectly useful pronoun but it’s often the useless fat that slows down an otherwise good sentence. I think that you and I need to talk. I told my readers that I … More ☛
How can speakers, indie writers, and self-publishers use a blog to build a platform? This article explains how to publish online content to build community around your books. Build a Platform: Set up Your Blog A blog (short for web … More ☛
Part 1 of Book Cover Design: Judging a Book by its Cover critiqued “professional” covers taken from Amazon’s Editor’s choice list. Read that article first as it provides background for this one. The article looked at design elements that worked … More ☛
What do you think a professional editor‘s pay scale should be? Assume that a proofreader would be at the bottom of the scale and a developmental/line editor would be at the top. An examination of the work editors perform sheds … More ☛
I recently published a post about the difference between vanity publishing and true self-publishing. Fundamentally, the article defines a publisher as “someone who takes the risk on a book.” Vanity Presses represent themselves as publishers and accept royalties while the … More ☛
Nothing screams “amateur” like a poorly crafted book cover. The standards for book design aspired to by trade publishers are not all that high, but self-publishers routinely fall short of them. If you want your book to be taken seriously, … More ☛
One question that loops endlessly on writers‘ forums is “How can I sell more books?” The question is a natural one, but for many self-publishers, it betrays a certain lack of awareness about the publishing business. Lest I sound holier … More ☛
After completing the final draft of a manuscript for my fifth book, I wanted a reality check. I hired a professional editor and learned something important about self-publishing. No matter how capable you are as a writer and proofreader, you … More ☛
The word processor has placed new burdens on writers to understand how to use italics, big and small capitals, dashes, hyphens, initials, etc. Writers who do their own typesetting often produce mediocre results. Likewise, trade publishers sacrifice typographic aesthetics when … More ☛
Book reviews are critically important. Have you ever read a book hoping it would get better, only to find that it never did? And how do you tell if an independently published book is any good? So many are poorly … More ☛
Indie publishers complain that the mainstream publishing establishment acts as a “gatekeeper.” Many readers rely on big publishing houses to filter out low quality books—even though trade publishers regularly print celebrity crap with impunity. Indie publishers often see themselves as … More ☛
The very idea of “book marketing” is vague. It’s like subsuming advertising and fine art sales into a single realm of “image marketing.” And in tacking marketing on as the de facto second phase of writing a book, a lot of worthy artists’ resources are placed in jeopardy.
More ☛Indie publishers are everywhere and so are indie bookstores, but apart from their names, the two have little in common. “Independence” is a feelgood concept, but it’s often presented without any reference to that which a publisher or bookstore is independent … More ☛
This section on dashes, hyphens and dots goes beyond typographic aesthetics to explore how we can communicate more effectively as writers. The subtle intricacies of hyphens and dashes affect all authors whether they typeset their own books or not. Knowing … More ☛
The notion of real publishing as opposed to self-publishing and the stigma surrounding it is obsolete. I have no objections to traditional publishers but every one of them started off as a “self-publisher” with a first book. I have pretty … More ☛
Use of Small Capitals—uppercase characters designed at lowercase scale—is one aspect of writing and book design that isn’t taught in grammar school. We all know every sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a period. We all should … More ☛
Part 3 of Book Design Basics explores better ways to present numbers on your pages. Numbers (called figures) look simple at first glance, but they present interesting typesetting challenges. Many digital typefaces offer several number styles but few designers know … More ☛
Many readers still love to feel the subtle emboss of letters stamped on paper with metal type. I was rummaging through the garage and came across an old copy of The Progressive Road to Reading Book 2 by Georgine Burchill, … More ☛
Part 2 of Fundamentals of Book Design explores optical margins, paragraph formatting and spaces. Read about margins, layout and leading in Part 1. The self-publishing revolution is (aside from the Internet) the greatest thing ever to happen to freedom of … More ☛
Book design is a lost art. Though book design discussions usually focus on covers, consider how much more time a reader spends staring at the text. An elegant book block is just as important. Decades ago, professional tradesmen practiced the … More ☛
Editing is one of the first hurdles you’ll encounter as an independent writer. Your fan club is your enemy. Encouraging friends who think it’s “wonderful you actually wrote a book” are not unbiased editors. A good editor will put your … More ☛
There are plenty of good reasons to self-publish, but not all are profit-oriented or even rational. Before you invest in your book, take a look in the mirror and ask yourself some serious questions. Understand what you’re getting into and define success at its proper place on the spectrum between retail sales and artistic satisfaction. With some clarity, planning and management of expectations, even a modest publishing venture can be rewarding and satisfying.
More ☛Thesis writing is one of the purest forms of self-publishing. In my work as a professor, I regularly encountered students who got “stuck” while writing their thesis papers. A good framework for developing, presenting and supporting a well-developed thesis reveals … More ☛
Most book designers make the same errors. One sore spot for me and with many of my university design students, is typography.
More ☛If you’re hoping to have mainstream bookstore distribution, using a Vanity Press may present some obstacles. Book buyers will likely tell you, “your book may be excellent, but you’re using a Vanity Publisher and the vast majority of their books … More ☛
Epithet—a descriptive phrase that expresses a characteristic of the person or thing mentioned. It’s used to add to a person’s or place’s regular name and attribute a specific quality to them. Think about ‘Alexander the Great’ or ‘Eric the Red.’ … More ☛
Colloquialisms are informal words or phrases that people use in everyday speech but which might not be suitable for formal writing. They’re the casual clothes of language—comfortable and familiar. Colloquialisms add authenticity to dialogue or help establish a relatable tone … More ☛
Cacophony refers to a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds, used to describe a situation where a lot of noise makes it hard to focus. In public speaking and writing, creating a cacophony can be a deliberate technique to convey chaos … More ☛
Hyperbaton—a literary device that involves altering the normal order of words in a sentence for emphasis, to create a dramatic effect, or to make the sentence sound more poetic. “Yoda speak” is classic hyperbaton. In ‘The Tell-Tale Heart,’ Edgar Allan … More ☛
Hyperbole—an exaggerated statement or claim not meant to be taken literally but used to grab attention, emphasize a point, or convey strong emotions. ‘That speaker went on forever!’ ‘I thought I was going to die of old age before she … More ☛
The monomyth, or the hero’s journey, is a common narrative archetype that involves a hero who goes on an adventure, faces a decisive crisis, and comes back changed or transformed. This concept was popularized by Joseph Campbell in his book, … More ☛
Allegory is a narrative technique in which characters and events represent broader themes and ideas. Through allegory, storytellers explore complex issues and moral questions in an accessible and engaging way. One classic example is George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm,’ where farm … More ☛
Metonymy—a figure of speech in which one object or idea takes the place of another with which it has a close association. A classic example is using ‘the White House’ to refer to the U.S. executive branch of government. ‘The … More ☛
Litotes—a form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite. It’s often used to convey modesty or soften a statement. Litotes is usually a form of sarcasm: ‘He’s not a bad singer’ implies he is quite … More ☛
Oxymoron—a figure of speech in which contradictory terms appear in conjunction. It’s used to create a dramatic effect or to highlight complex truths through contradiction. Examples include ‘deafening silence’ and ‘bittersweet.’ “A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written … More ☛
A motif is a recurring theme, subject, or idea that appears throughout a literary work, which helps to develop the narrative’s major themes. In speech and writing, motifs reinforce and enrich the message or central theme. The repeated mention of … More ☛
Narrative Hook—an opening to a story that grabs the audience’s attention so that they want to keep reading or listening. An article published by TIME magazine in 2015 quoted Microsoft research that concluded that humans have an attention span of … More ☛
Homiletics—the art of preaching or writing sermons. It involves the construction of a message and the effective delivery of that message to a congregation or audience. A key element in homiletics is the ability to connect with listeners on a … More ☛
A rhetorical question is a question asked to make a point rather than to solicit an answer. It’s a common device in public speaking and writing that engages the audience’s thoughts or emphasizes a point. “Isn’t it time we all … More ☛
Asyndeton involves omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses. This can create a fast-paced and concise effect, adding urgency or intensity to the language. A classic example is Julius Caesar’s declaration: ‘I came, I saw, I conquered.’ He could have … More ☛
Rhetoric is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, particularly the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques. Rhetoric involves three main strategies known as ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos appeals to ethics, pathos to emotions, … More ☛
Pleonasm, which means using more words than necessary to convey meaning, often redundantly. ‘I saw it with my own eyes’ is a pleonasm. Of course you did! We didn’t think you saw it with your ears! How about “True facts?” … More ☛
Paronomasia, or punning, involves using words that sound similar but have different meanings, often to humorous effect. ‘Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.’ This pun plays with the word ‘flies’ to entertain and engage the listener. … More ☛
Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa. It is often used for poetic effect to give a more profound, concise, or expansive quality to ordinary speech or writing. … More ☛
Verisimilitude is the appearance of being true or real in a literary work. It helps in making a story or speech more believable and relatable to the audience by incorporating elements that reflect reality. John walked onto the stage. The … More ☛
Tone in writing and speaking refers to the attitude or approach that the author or speaker takes toward the subject and the audience. Tone can be formal, informal, serious, comic, sarcastic, sad, or cheerful, and it plays a crucial role … More ☛
A solecism is a grammatical mistake or nonstandard usage in speech or writing, such as a misplaced modifier or incorrect verb tense. Simply put, it’s a mistake. Some are easy to detect. ‘Me and him went to the store.’ Others … More ☛
A simile is a figure of speech that compares two different things using ‘like’ or ‘as’ to highlight similarities explicitly. Think of the word “simile” as being related to “similar.” This is similar to that. ‘Busy as a bee’ uses … More ☛
Transcript Dave Bricker (00:07) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by speakipedia .com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk and smart strategies from visionary … More ☛
Everyone thinks they know what good customer service is. We’ve all had bad customer service—a waiter who won’t bring the check or an Internet company that can’t keep a four-hour appointment window. But good customer service means more than … More ☛
