When it comes to starting a speech or presentation, how do you go about getting a winning beginning?  Do you dive right in with extemporaneous remarks, made up on the spot?  Plan carefully?   Tell a joke? Get sidetracked by nerves, the audience settling down, or your own thoughts?

"You can't stop when you make a mistake," he said.  "You're pausing to think what you did wrong and how to fix it. But you've got to keep going. The pros make mistakes all the time, but they keep going."

If you appear on television or even on web videos, you should be thinking about how high-definition (HD) technology affects your appearance--and whether it's a factor.  Even the smallest ultralight camcorder, the Flip camera,

Speakers get lots of things to shore up their credibility: the bio, your placement in the program, a nice introduction, ownership of the real estate at the front of the room, at least for a time.  But it's really up to the speaker to establish her credibility during her talk, in the information she shares and the way she presents it.