Whenever I ask the people in my workshops and coaching sessions what they want their audience to feel by the end of their presentation, I usually hear a very consistent response: most say they want the audience to feel informed and engaged, almost as if audience engagement were the ultimate goal. I understand why, because[…]
Browsing:
General category
I have lost count of how many times I have watched this happen, and I have never quite got used to it. Somebody stops you outside a meeting room to tell you how a piece of work is going, and for three or four minutes they are genuinely good company. They know which details matter[…]
The short answer is that you learn to stop trusting your own sensations. What you feel when you stand up bears almost no relationship to what the room sees, and once you know that, most of what people call confidence follows from it. Everything below explains why that is true and what to do about[…]
Some of the most watched people on earth have stopped trying to persuade anyone. They speak to dominate instead. No ground given, no doubt admitted, the certainty arranged so that disagreeing looks foolish rather than reasonable. It’s deliberate, it’s skilled, and it’s working. I’m not going to name anyone. You’ll think of whoever comes to[…]
Contrast in Presentations: Why the Rain Mattered More Than Six Weeks of Sunshine
General Aug 30, 2026
Over the past six weeks, we’ve enjoyed nearly continuous sunshine, clear blue skies, warm temperatures, and the kind of extended good weather that’s so rare around here. It went on so long that parts of the country slipped quietly into drought. I savoured each day without giving it much thought. This morning, I decided to[…]
If you are the young person this is about, the practical part starts a few paragraphs down, under “So here is what I would say to you instead”. Skip ahead if you want to; the numbers are still there afterwards. On 27 August 2026, the BBC featured a piece by education editor Branwen Jeffreys and[…]
