Beware of stating facts as beliefs. People often think they can make their speech more compelling by saying how firmly, honestly, sincerely, genuinely they believe something. Big mistake! Let’s call it the First Rhetorical Law Of Conviction: The more intensely you express your conviction something is true, the less convincing you will be. To make the … More Beliefs and Facts

Last week’s media shoot-out between the EU Commission and Apple was colourful stuff, and contained a couple of useful lessons. Purely in terms of public speaking (and leaving the deeper issues of tax and sovereignty to others), I maintain that EU commissioner Margrethe Vestager scored valuable points over Apple CEO Tim Cook. She did it … More The EU/Apple scuffle: making numbers meaningful & other lessons