In the world of public speaking and presenting the first few words really do matter. One of the words I find very uncomfortable is, ‘hook’; as in ‘How to hook your audience in the first 30 seconds’. The term suggests to me that audiences are more like fish than intelligent, discerning and creative beings. It’s[…]
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Advice
In Public Speaking The First Few Words Really Matter
Advice, Communication Skills, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Nov 04, 2020
21 Powerful PowerPoint Tips you really need to know
Advice, PowerPoint, Presentation Skills, Presentation Tips, Public Speaking Aug 18, 2020
These 21 Powerful PowerPoint tips will add enormous value to your presentation to create the impact you want and your audience needs. Eight years ago it was estimated that there were more than 500 million users of PowerPoint globally, PowerPoint had an estimated 95% share of the presentation software market and around 30 million presentations[…]
Powerful Public Speaking Lessons: Inspired by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
Advice, Mindfulness, Presentation Skills, Presentation Tips, Public Speaking Apr 18, 2019
Public speaking lessons: Inspired by one of my favourite authors, speaker and teachers, the late Dr. Wayne W. Dyer. Every day in businesses, conferences and seminars across the world, millions of presentations and public speeches are being delivered; each arguably with its own intention. I believe that if you have a speech or presentation[…]
3 Presentation Tips to Help You to Stand Out From The Crowd
Advice, Presentation Skills, Presentation Tips, Public Speaking Feb 22, 2019
Presentation tips are abound on the internet today; if you’re looking for some and put those two words into Google search you will be greeted with 1,160,000,000 results. The internet is teeming with presentation tips, tools, techniques and valuable advice. Each time I introduce myself as a presentation skills coach I can be confident that I’m[…]
10 Simple Tips On How To Present Complex Information
Advice, Communication Skills, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Feb 21, 2019
Do you find yourself having to present lots of data to people who don’t have the same level of knowledge or expertise as you do? Presenting complex information can be a significant challenge for even the most seasoned presenter. Regardless of the topic, all presenters share the common goal of ensuring that they keep their[…]
Questions: How NOT to answer them like a politician
Advice, Leadership, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Apr 01, 2018
Questions are the Achilles heel of the inexperienced, unprepared and nervous presenter. At least, that’s what most people would assume. Whilst it’s true, it’s not isolated to those groups. In fact, even seasoned public speakers and presenters find the moment they are called on to answer questions the most challenging; even politicians. After all, we[…]
Avoid These 10 Mistakes When Presenting Financial Information
Advice, Communication Skills, Presentation Skills Oct 15, 2017
Presenting financial information, or any complex data for that matter, doesn’t have to be daunting for either you as a presenter or your audience. The route to success revolves around a high level of mindfulness focused exclusively on what your audience needs to know and why they need to know it. Unless you are as[…]
Presentation anxiety is one of the major causes of the incredible fail rate of so many business presentations. You may consider yourself a failure if: Your audience didn’t get it. You were a nervous wreck. They were bored. They forgot most of what you said by the time they got back to their desk. When[…]
We’ve all been a casualty of data dumps in bad presentations. The graphs, charts and tables surrounded by tiny text where the presenter gleefully says, ‘You probably won’t be able to read this so I’ll read it for you.’ Many professionals craft and prepare their presentations in the belief that the key to success is to[…]
Being an entrepreneur doesn’t make you immune to public speaking anxiety but it’s worth overcoming if you want to promote your expertise and grow your business. Finding and taking every opportunity you can to speak at events, conferences and even on the radio can give you a level of exposure that even Google would be[…]
High impact presenting isn’t something you see in most businesses every day. We do however have an opportunity to dramatically transform the way we speak and connect with each other in business in a far more powerful way. Mindful presenting offers the pathway to the art of persuasion, influencing and human connection. It is[…]
Good presentation skills aren’t reserved exclusively as a competence for the annual performance review of the head of department or communication manager. It’s also not an activity isolated to the board or meeting room; it’s fundamental to the personal and professional success of each of us. Whatever you do you can be certain that at[…]
The first leaders’ debate of the 2017 General Election took place last night despite the absence of two key leaders, Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May. The question is, was it worth two hours of prime time television after a hard day at work? From a public speaking perspective some would argue that it was entertaining.[…]
Public speaking skills aren’t necessarily on the top of most people’s personal and professional development list. In fact, many people will tell you quite plainly that they would rather learn to become a lion tamer than to speak in public. For some people the very thought of standing to present their ideas and have an[…]
Millennials, centennials, generation Z. Call them what you will but let’s all be clear on one thing, they are the future. If you were born any time in the last 30 years or are being born as I write this blog, it is you who will be shaping the world for further generations whatever we choose[…]
Public speaking and presenting is not a skill that most of us are taught and it’s certainly not something most people enjoy doing; for many the very idea of it fills them with dread. Despite our personal anxieties most of us only have to update the board or management team, give a quarterly update, impress[…]
Storytelling has become the new strategic business tool of presenters to change attitudes, mind-sets and behaviours. In a world where professionals are overwhelmed with information and demand for our attention is at an unprecedented high we can all take solace in a good story well told. This weekend marks the end of National Storytelling Week,[…]
The art and science of public speaking and presenting has been a passion of mine for a very long time. Largely because I realised at a very young age that the way we speak verbally, physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually is the key to our success in most aspects of life. Thankfully, the US presidential[…]
As far as public speaking is concerned Donald Trump’s inauguration speech was clear, decisive and delivered with the appropriate pace, passion and even a few pauses. Apart from his signature circling of his finger and thumb which drove most people mad during his election campaign, which we saw again yesterday, he looked like he had[…]
Donald Trump is moments away from becoming the 45th President of the United States of America. I wonder what he will say in his inauguration speech. Here is a perspective on what he perhaps should say. My fellow-citizens of the United States: Today I stand before you with a heavy, humble yet hopeful heart. I have[…]
It’s no secret that President Obama is one of my favourite public speakers as I’ve written many articles expressing my admiration for his style. His powerful use of descriptive and creative words, his mastery of the ‘pause’, his brilliant use of metaphors, his command of repetition, humour and the skilful way he uses his voice[…]
Powerful presenting is something that that many people aspire to and with the New Year rapidly approaching it can be far easier than you may think. Knowledge, process and emotional expression are the critical elements that every presenter needs to be mindful of. They are so important that people have been speaking and writing about them[…]
The Queen’s Speech on Christmas day opened in a curious way as she began by referring to this year’s British Olympic medal winners in Rio. Of course, 67 medals and 147 at the Paralympics is a stunning achievement definitely worthy of recognition. It wasn’t quite what I expected though. In a year in which we[…]
I’ve written many articles extolling the virtues of high impact presenting and public speaking and in some I’ve even gone on record as promoting it as the most important skill in business today. Its significance is only paralleled by its difficulty. In a world where there are so many demands placed on our attention, where[…]
Yesterday Donald Trump demonstrated unequivocally the impact the spoken word can have not only on a country but the entire world. The announcement that Donald Trump was to become the 45th President of the United States of America to hold the most powerful leadership position in the world was not only a historic one in[…]
One of the greatest concerns in the world of public speaking and presenting is bad habits. In fact, it is within the top 3 requests we hear from delegates on every one of presentation training workshops. ‘How can I remove bad habits that affect my presentation?’ Before we explain why we believe it’s a phenomenon[…]
There is public speaking and then there is speaking in public with 100M people watching you. Most people don’t like the idea of the first and for those that don’t mind it the majority would perish at the thought. Presidential candidates are different of course and many would argue that they relish the limelight. Last[…]
Having dutifully registered my EU referendum vote on Thursday I set my alarm a little earlier than usual for Friday morning to hear the result of our Nations fate. Whilst all of the votes hadn’t yet been fully counted at 5am it was unmistakably clear that the majority of my fellow citizens had decided that[…]
I often find it interesting that whichever aspect of life you may choose to focus on there is always an ‘exception to the rule’. When it comes to presenting and speaking in public many consider the number one rule to be the expression of passion. Every now and then a speaker raises his or her[…]
Growing up as a young boy I was lucky enough to have had not just one but two super heroes in my life. If you are under the age of 45 you have probably never heard of my first hero; ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ aka ‘The Bionic Man’, but you can be forgiven for[…]
