When you’re nervous about an upcoming presentation, it can cause stress on your body and mind which will impact on your ability to communicate your message effectively. In this article I outline a simple exercise to help combat the symptoms and instil a sense of calm; it can be done anywhere at any time you feel a little scattered, apprehensive or anxious.
What's the best piece of advice you've received about public speaking? In this article I share the two words that changed EVERYTHING for me about how I prepare and deliver presentations.
Long ago I lost count of the number of people who have said to me “I HATE public speaking!” But what if I told you that you could learn to love public speaking?
If you fear or loath public speaking and avoid it at all costs, you may be missing out on opportunities to promote your business, progress your career or share a few words about a special person at an important occasion such as a wedding or a funeral.
Having the right speakers and break out session facilitators is crucial to the success of an event. Therefore, if you’re in charge of planning, it’s important to put time, effort (and money) into finding the right speakers who will engage and inspire your audience and ensure your event is talked about for years to come. In this post I share my top tips to help you book the ideal speaker.
Whilst watching The Jacksons in concert recently, I loved their showmanship and ability to really connect with the crowd. We can learn a lot about how to improve our presentations from their theatrical approach, so in this blog I share 11 techniques that you can apply to take your audience engagement to the next level.
What can you learn about presenting from Sesame Street? What are the best techniques to build confidence? And why should you disregard most public speaking advice? Answers to all of these questions and more can be learned in my latest conversation with the amazing Pegine Echevarria, best-selling author, award-winning business woman and one of the world’s top leadership motivational speakers.
As presenters we are in the privileged position of being able to share our knowledge, experience, and passion with an audience. However, with this privilege comes responsibility – a responsibility to ourselves to ensure we don’t kill our credibility, but more importantly, a responsibility to our audience to ensure that our message is relevant and interesting to listen to. It is vital that you avoid these 11 mistakes that will make your audience cringe...
In this post I’ve written about three of the sessions at the Professional Speaking Association’s ‘Refresh!’ online conference. I have included the main takeaway messages as well as my observations on what the speakers did well so that you can consider using some of the techniques to enhance your own presentations.
How often have you been in a meeting or at a conference where one or more of the presenters have gone on and on beyond the time that has been scheduled for them? Getting the timing of your presentation right is crucial; if you go over time it’s disrespectful to your audience, the organiser and other speakers. Read on for tips on how to keep your presentation on time.
Would you like to learn speaking tips from hundreds of professional speakers? October is the month for the annual Professional Speaking Association ‘Inspire’ conference which aims to support professional speakers with their speaking and the business of speaking. In this post I share some of the tips and observations that could help you to improve your speaking and your business in general.
TED talks have changed the speaking landscape and I was honoured and privileged to be one of the speaker coaches once again for the Glasgow TEDx event at the SEC Armadillo. In a day that showcased 16 speakers some of them were more memorable than others, so in this post I look at some of the talks that stood out and examine the reasons why. Read on to find out how you can use the techniques to make your own communication more powerful.
Often people worry about whether they can use notes during a presentation and there are arguments for and against it. Having some notes to jog your memory can help ease nerves but it’s important to ensure they don’t detract from your presentation. This post covers several options for using notes and provides tips on how to use them effectively.
One of the biggest buzzwords in business at the moment is ‘storytelling’. And for good reason. Stories make us think, and more importantly they make us feel. And they help us remember ideas and concepts far more effectively than facts and figures. I was privileged to have the opportunity recently to see well known Scottish businessman, Bob Keiller, delivering a Business Storytelling workshop and in this post I share his tips.
Though most of us have the ability to speak, many are not able to speak well when in front of a group people. Yet, being comfortable and confident when speaking in public has the potential to enrich your life both professionally and personally. Here are 19 benefits of being good at public speaking...
What does your voice say about you? Whether you like it or not, people will make judgements about you based on your voice. They’ll make assumptions about where you’re from, how well educated you are or how confident you are. Regardless of the words you speak, your voice will impact on how engaging a speech or presentation is for your audience and how well your message is received.
