Own Any Occasion

The world is your stage. Own it. Great speaking does not come easy. But even the wallflowers among us can’t avoid speaking forever. In Own Any Occasion, speaker and educator Erik Palmer taps into his vast experience to simplify the process of extraordinary speaking, whether you’re giving a wedding toast or preparing for a one-on-one sales call. His approach is equal parts preparation and delivery: Never speak unless you have something worth saying, and never let a poor performance diminish a good message. In 11 steps, Palmer shows readers how to craft the perfect message and captivate audiences with exceptional delivery, no matter the circumstance. He demonstrates that the steps to impress when you meet your in-laws for the first time are the same ones that will help you succeed in front of an auditorium full of executives. Whether your audience is large or small, your message personal or professional, Palmer’s easy system will help you become the best speaker you can be in any situation. Own Any Occasion is for anyone who wants to master the art of speaking well, from first-time presenters to seasoned pros looking for a new process. Give yourself the tools to impress every listener and develop a more confident you.

There’s just something exciting about approaching a spectacular spread where you get to choose from a beautiful variety of foods to customize your own meal, snack, dessert, or drink. Every time I set out a spread for my loved ones, it’s a huge success. Not only is the preparation relatively simple, but the versatility of each spread is perfect for pleasing everyone, even particular eaters. A spread invites conversation, creativity, and experimentation. Food is known to bring people together, and what better way to encourage this than with an impressive array of food for everyone to gather around and fill their plates with in their own unique ways, sparking conversation with others about their favorite foods and choices, and possibly even influencing one another to try something new. Plus, there isn’t that pressure to try everything or eat particular foods in a certain way, and each person can choose how much they want of each item. Best of all, once you set out the spread, you can relax and enjoy it too. It’s a proven way to make everyone feel happy and gratified while you enjoy the experience with them. Here are the keys to a successful spread.

Choosing a bottle of wine should be fun, not frightening. After all, one of the most important elements of enjoying wine is not so much the vintage or the vineyard but the occasion on which it is enjoyed. In their new book, Wine for Every Day and Every Occasion, Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, authors of the popular weekly "Tastings" column in the Wall Street Journal, give you the kind of honest, accessible wine information that is hard to find. In Wine for Every Day and Every Occasion, Dottie and John, as they are known to their fans, answer the most frequently asked questions about what wine to drink on specific occasions. They cover all the bases: What wine should I put away for my newborn's twenty-first birthday? What wine is best with Thanksgiving turkey? They also suggest ways in which wine can make every day a little bit more of an occasion -- how to throw a wine tasting, how to start a wine-tasting group, even how to add wine to your tailgating party. And they share scores of tips from people like you. Chapters include lists of specific wines and provide readers with suggestions for choosing Champagne to ring in the New Year and for chilled whites (and even reds) to drink in the summer. There is no stodginess about vintages and there are no numbered ratings. Wine for Every Day and Every Occasion gives you simple, straightforward advice to help you choose the best wines for life's best moments. As Dottie and John say, "The problem with most wine books is that they are about wine. Our book is about life." So raise your glass to Wine for Every Day and Every Occasion. And drink to life.

What is it about irony - as an object of serious philosophical reflection and a literary technique of considerable elasticity - that makes it an occasion for endless critical debate? This book responds to that question by focusing on several key moments in German romanticism and its afterlife in twentieth-century French thought and writing. Rather than provide a history of irony, it examines particular occasions of ironic disruption, thus offering an alternative model for conceiving of historical occurrences and their potential for acquiring meaning.