One of the best speech teachers I ever had said there are few forces in nature as strong as a communicator that is gripped by righteous indignation.

When you know you're right, tell them!

Don't hold it in, or wait for someone else to come along to spread the news.

When there's a wrong, don't be cowed. Right it.

When I was teaching public speaking classes at the college level, I suffered through countless presentations that recited dry statistics, such as every so many minutes someone is felled by a handgun.

This is a serious topic, and it deserves an animated conveyance, not a boring, sleep inducing presentation.

"Tell me about ONE person that has died," I would urge. What I call the case method employs a flesh-and-blood account of a single instance of the "problem" a speaker is hoping to rectify.

Ideally, this will be featured at the very beginning of the talk and will serve as an attention-grabber. After that, your audience cares, and this is paramount.

When I was debating the former CEO of a major international airline on CNBC, he asked me to present support for my contention that the frequent flyer program had become a way of counterfeiting money, issuing currency that passengers found very difficult to redeem, especially as carriers were incessantly raising the amounts required for so-called, "free" tickets.

The moderator piped in, "Yes, do you have any statistics?"

"No," I blasted back, forcefully, knowing statistical argumentation is not only abstract but also a way of denuding an otherwise volatile topic.

"But I will tell you about MY experiences as an Executive Platinum flyer," I continued.

That was the moment my counterpart cringed, visibly, knowing that a powerful, first-hand account is infinitely more compelling and persuasive than marshaling countless statistics.

When I was in law school, I argued vigorously for a certain position. My professor asked, "On whose authority do you say this?"

"On my own authority!" I replied.