When asked the other day what he thought of Beto O’Rourke, the former congressman from Texas who just announced his candidacy for president in 2020, President Donald Trump noted, “I’ve never seen so much hand movement.” Several tweets from the Twitter community noticed his excessive gestures as well, with one wondering: “How long until someone makes a Twitter account for Beto’s hands?”

It was originally Mark Twain who said that there are two kinds of speakers: “1. The nervous. And 2. Liars.”

Twain was right. Almost all people we meet are at least a little nervous—on the inside—every time they get up in front of a group. And some are VERY nervous. But there are ways to overcome those feelings, and your friends at EMS are always here to help.

This is the time of the year when professional baseball players gather in Florida and Arizona to get ready for the upcoming season, reminding us all that better weather is just around the corner. We mention this not only because we’re baseball fans, but also because the way ballplayers prepare is quite similar to how speakers need to prepare to give great presentations.

Technology is a wonderful thing. Years ago, it gave us the telephone, enabling us to talk with each other from many miles away, sharing stories, pitching ideas and expressing emotions using only our voices.

We caught some of the Golden Globe Awards show earlier this month—we don’t watch to see who is wearing whom, but to see what the award recipients have to say in their short moments on stage. These can be important speeches—one year ago, Oprah delivered an acceptance speech so powerful that people began talking about her as a possible presidential candidate.

This year, our favorite speech came from Carol Burnett, a TV legend who became the first to receive a lifetime achievement award for television, an award that will be henceforth known as the Carol Burnett Award.

When President George H.W. Bush passed away earlier this month, we were treated to many stories and memories about his long life. One tribute that stood out for us was the eulogy delivered at the State funeral in Washington D.C. by Bush’s close friend, former Senator Alan Simpson.

2018 was a great year for presentations, and we want to highlight some of the best speakers we saw and wrote about over the past 12 months. We tended to notice speakers who brought emotion and authenticity to their presentations, as well as great stories and great passion. Here are some of our favorites – click the titles to view the speeches.

As long as we’re entering the festive holiday season, let’s talk a bit about the idea of FUN. It’s OK to have some fun when delivering presentations. While we hereby grant you permission to have fun anytime, consider the holiday season as prime time to lighten up in front of your audience.

No, this isn’t an article about how to apologize for a turkey that is undercooked or too dry, but a look at one of the traditional Thanksgiving speeches—the annual presidential pardon of the giant bird.

There are a few different ways in which presenters deliver information too quickly for their listeners to follow. In each case, the best way to improve is to learn to pause much more frequently. We’re working on another right now—should have that ready to go hopefully today.