For immediate release
DiResta presents at The Voice Foundation
Philadelphia, PA: Jun 7, 2009 — Diane DiResta, a licensed Speech Pathologist and author of Knockout Presentations, spoke at The Voice Foundation, the 38th annual scientific symposium on the voice. The conference attracts International otolaryngologists, speech scientists, vocal coaches, and speech pathologists who want to learn about the physiology and care of the professional voice.
According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, of the National Institutes of Health, approximately 7.5 million Americans have trouble using their voices. Despite widespread voice problems, too little is known about the vocal disorders that cut short careers, impair the speech process, devastate and even threaten people’s lives.
For the first time since it’s inception in 1969, the topic of “The Speaking Voice: What You Need to Know About Speaking in Public” was addressed. Nancy Solomon, Ph.D, kicked off the session by recognizing a lack of research in the science of speaking. Ms. DiResta’s keynote revealed speaking as the new competitive weapon and identified 10 top speaker mistakes. Common mistakes in the scientific community include: speaking too long, providing more data and detail than the audience can absorb, cluttering PowerPoint slides and talking to the screen, sounding scripted or unnatural, and not tailoring the message to the audience.
She cited studies from MIT about the power of powerful presentation skills to sway venture capitalists to fund new companies and the research regarding the importance of likability of the presenter. DiResta discouraged scientists from reading their research to the audience. “I can read as well as you can,
