Stories are the key to a high impact business presenting. They are the jewel in the crown of public speaking. Stories are the most powerful route to connecting emotionally with an audience. Whether you are looking to lead change, inspire action or unify a team, you have to tell them a story worth getting behind.[…]
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Presentation Skills category
STORIES – The Key to High Impact Presenting
Presentation Skills, Public Speaking, Storytelling May 13, 2018
Mindful Presenting – 9 Ways to RESPECT your Audience
Communication Skills, Leadership, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Apr 08, 2018
The first commandment of mindful presenting is, to respect your audience. The most precious resource we all have, is of course time. Each time we present we are using peoples most valuable asset, time. We live in such a fast-paced world with so many demands on our time that we scarcely find moments to value[…]
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[…]
6 powerful principles of persuasion in presenting
Communication Skills, Leadership, Presentation Skills Mar 25, 2018
If you are presenting or speaking in public in any form, it’s highly likely that persuasion is high on your agenda. Whatever your position and role is in the workplace today, you can be sure that you will be required to persuade others to understand your perspective and agree with you. Whether you are pitching[…]
Stephen Hawking – The A to Z of Mindful Presenting: O – Original
Communication Skills, Leadership, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Mar 17, 2018
Stephen Hawking is a name that will be remembered for an extraordinarily long time to come. A British cosmologist and physicist loved, admired and respected all over the world for his notable scientific work was also a brilliant public speaker. World class public speaking is normally associated with political leaders or motivational speakers Last week[…]
Signal Over Noise: The Mindful Way to Present
Mindfulness, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Mar 03, 2018
We live in an age defined by noise. Most of us are jolted awake each morning not by sunlight or intention, but by the shrill insistence of an alarm. Before our feet touch the floor, many of us have already reached for our phones to check what we missed: messages, notifications, headlines, and opinions.[…]
The Mindful Presenter: Why Awareness, Not Slides, Is the Future of Communication
Mindfulness, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Feb 18, 2018
Mindfulness in presenting has nothing to do with incense, lotus positions, or forcing your mind into silence. It isn’t an escape from thought; it’s a return to presence. At its core, mindfulness is the art of connection: first with yourself, then with the people and world around you. Most professionals see mindfulness as separate from[…]
What You Reveal About Your Leadership Every Time You Speak
Communication Skills, Leadership, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Jan 28, 2018
Leadership isn’t something you turn on when you enter a meeting room or when someone gives you a title. Instead, it is revealed consistently, quietly, and often unintentionally through the way you communicate. Every conversation shows something about who you are, what you value, and how you influence the world around you. In a[…]
Every Presentation Is a Conversation — And Kindness Is the Most Powerful Tool You Have
Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Jan 22, 2018
Every presentation starts long before you speak. It begins with the intention you bring into the room, and when that intention is kindness, kindness towards yourself and towards the people you’re speaking with, everything about the experience changes. Imagine the impact you could have on your audience, and on yourself, if kindness was the foundation[…]
Your Audience Isn’t Listening for Information — They’re Waiting for a Journey
Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Jan 15, 2018
When you walk into the office on a Monday morning, and your boss says, “Don’t take your coat off, we’re going straight out,” your mind immediately searches for clarity. Where are we going? Why are we going there? How are we getting there? Your audience feels exactly the same way the moment they sit down[…]
Oprah Winfrey: Public Speaking at its Finest: I – Inspire
Leadership, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking, Storytelling Jan 08, 2018
Oprah Winfrey delivered a stunning speech whilst accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement at the Golden Globes. It was a speech which touched the hearts and minds of her entire audience, bringing them all to their feet in unified applause. There is so much to learn from Oprah Winfrey during this extraordinary[…]
Why Presenters Develop Bad Habits — And What They’re Really Trying to Tell Us
Anxiety, Mindfulness, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Dec 28, 2017
Most presenters assume their bad habits are technical flaws: speaking too fast, fidgeting, pacing, saying “um”, hiding their hands, and reading slides. These behaviours aren’t signs of poor skill or lack of discipline. They are often unconscious self-protection responses, the nervous system’s way of creating safety when we feel exposed. Presenting doesn’t just reveal[…]
The Secret to Confident Presenting: Meet Your Audience’s Human Needs
Leadership, Mindfulness, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Dec 19, 2017
If public speaking or even the thought of presenting your ideas at work fills you with dread, you are not alone. Some of the most intelligent, creative, and capable professionals lose sleep over presentations. We feel exposed when we present. Even when we know our topic, our minds often flood with paralysing what-ifs, but[…]
Presenting With Focus: The Key to Presentation Success
Mindfulness, Presentation Skills Dec 10, 2017
Presenting with focus is the foundation of every memorable presentation. At Mindful Presenter, we believe the most important thing to focus on is simple but often overlooked: how you want your audience to feel. We’ve been communicating with each other since the dawn of time. Many believe it’s a complex skill reserved for the[…]
A presentation, meeting or training session that fails to meet audience expectations is more than disappointing; it’s disheartening. In a world that moves at extraordinary speed, where many people feel overwhelmed by information, people guard their time carefully because they already feel stretched, rushed, and overloaded. When someone chooses to spend that time listening[…]
Presenting data effectively remains one of the biggest challenges faced by professionals today. Every presentation includes data, numbers, facts, ideas, insights, updates, stories, and information. Whether you realise it or not, everything is data. Many presenters think data only exists in spreadsheets, charts, graphs, and complicated diagrams. At Mindful Presenter, we see it differently;[…]
It’s Time to Stop Presenting. Start Connecting
Communication Skills, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Nov 11, 2017
Before each presentation skills training or public speaking coaching session we lead at Mindful Presenter, we ask every client one deceptively simple question: “What do you want your audience to feel?” The most common responses are predictable: informed, engaged, interested, but at Mindful Presenter, we believe that’s far from enough. No presenter, regardless of[…]
The Power of Presentation Brevity: Why Less Will Always Be More
Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Nov 04, 2017
Conciseness in presentations is no longer just a stylistic choice; it is a vital discipline for anyone aiming to maintain an audience’s attention, interest, and respect. A few years ago, I wrote an article titled ‘Why Most Business Presentations Are Twice as Long as They Need to Be’. That message is even more urgent[…]
Acres of diamonds is a powerful story for presenters
Mindfulness, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Oct 28, 2017
Acres of diamonds ‘Acres of Diamonds’ is a story by Russell Conwell about an African farmer who heard tales of other farmers who had made fortunes discovering diamond mines on their own land. The story explains that the farmer sold his farm and spent the rest of his life searching unsuccessfully for diamonds across Africa.[…]
How to Present Financial Information Without Losing Your Audience — or Your Credibility
Advice, Communication Skills, Presentation Skills Oct 15, 2017
Presenting financial data or complex information has always been difficult. The human brain can manage complexity, but it was never meant to process dense data quickly while also listening, understanding, and making sense of it. The key to success isn’t in impressing people with spreadsheets or bombarding them with details, but in approaching the[…]
The Hidden Source of Presentation Anxiety That Most Professionals Never See
Communication Skills, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Sep 23, 2017
Presentation anxiety is arguably the most discussed challenge in the world of public speaking. People may accept awkward storytelling, weak structure or an unpolished style, but the moment nerves take hold, everything else becomes insignificant. At Mindful Presenter, we observe this every week: professionals who are articulate, intelligent and capable, yet deeply troubled by[…]
Why Presentation Nerves Aren’t a Personal Flaw — and How to Take Control of Them
Anxiety, Mindfulness, Presentation Skills, Presentation Tips, Public Speaking Aug 18, 2017
The Fear No One Prepared You For Most people don’t fear presenting because they lack the ability; they fear it because no one has ever taught them how. You can go through life for decades without standing in front of a group, and then one day, without warning, you’re expected to speak with clarity, confidence,[…]
The Art of Presenting Data: How to Make Numbers Meaningful
Advice, Presentation Skills, Presentation Tips Aug 05, 2017
Presenting data doesn’t have to be as difficult as many presenters make it out to be. We’ve all been victims of the dreaded data dump, the slide crammed with charts, tables, tiny text, and the inevitable line: “You probably won’t be able to read this, so I’ll read it for you.” There’s a persistent[…]
Do You Have a Presenter’s Inner Critic? – The Voice That Arrives When We Stand to Speak
Anxiety, Presentation Skills, Presentation Tips, Public Speaking Jul 29, 2017
A story about the voice that tries to stop us and the mindfulness that sets us free. The Voice That Arrives When We Stand to Speak Many presenters, no matter how seasoned or self-assured, carry a quiet companion into the room. It waits patiently until the moment we stand to speak and then, as if[…]
The Story Behind Mindful Presenter
Anxiety, Communication Skills, Leadership, Mindfulness, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Jul 22, 2017
How a single moment exposed a global issue and ignited a movement. A Journey Begins in the Sun Two weeks in the Cypriot sun have a way of softening the noise of life. Warm sea, quiet mornings, and the kind of stillness that lets your mind wander to places you’ve been too busy to[…]
Why Presenting Is the Most Human and Most Misunderstood Skill at Work
Advice, Presentating training, Presentation Skills Jul 04, 2017
There is a moment in every working day when something far more significant than we admit takes place: someone steps forward and tries to make their thinking land in someone else’s mind. Someone presents in the doorway before a meeting starts, in a rushed Teams call between tasks, in a high‑stakes boardroom, or in a[…]
Do You Have the Leadership Presentation Skills Your Team Truly Needs?
Communication Skills, Leadership, Presentation Skills Jun 24, 2017
For years, organisations have dismissed presentation skills as a “soft skill.” At Mindful Presenter, we believe that the label is not only misleading but also dangerous. There is nothing soft about communication; it is the hardest, most consequential skill a leader uses every single day. Whether you look to Maslow’s hierarchy or Tony Robbins’[…]
Would You Like to Be a Better Public Speaker?
Communication Skills, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Jun 18, 2017
Have you ever felt that flicker inside, the quiet belief that you could be a far more confident, compelling, and influential speaker than you are today? Many people feel it. They sense there’s another version of themselves waiting to step forward… but something keeps it just out of reach. At Mindful Presenter, we believe[…]
How Do You Really Feel When You’re Asked to Speak in Public?
Image Advice, Presentation Skills, Presentation Tips, Public Speaking May 12, 2017
For most people, public speaking doesn’t sit neatly at the top of their personal or professional development list. In fact, many would genuinely rather learn to tame a lion than stand in front of a room and speak for five minutes. For some, even the thought of speaking in public is enough to trigger a[…]
Mindfulness in today’s hectic world – is it boring, impossible or critical?
Mindfulness, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Apr 28, 2017
Mindfulness isn’t a recent trend, nor is it fashionable, and it isn’t a passing fad. People have been practising it for over two and a half thousand years, long before smartphones, deadlines, and inboxes began vying for every second of our attention. It has endured because it works. Today, many of the world’s most[…]
