In a previous post I encouraged all presenters to start by asking the question”What do I want my audience to do as a result of this presentation?”

A “one size fits all” approach may be appealing when we are pressed for time but it seldom produces the kind of results you want.

Recently I was listening to a presentation about Linkedin.  The audience were [...]

Start with the audience. is a post from: Inter-Activ Presenting and Influencing

When I ask the people who attend my workshops what is the difference that makes the difference between and average speaker and a great speaker they often come up “presence”. When I go on to ask them to be a bit more specific about what they mean by presence, they tend to struggle.

So what exactly is presence? And more importantly how can anyone develop this quality in themselves? Well I am not sure I know all the answers but [...]

How do you develop presence? is a post from: Inter-Activ Presenting and Influencing

The other day I attended a talk on procurement by a university lecturer who had vast experience in the corporate world.  The talk could have been really interesting but wasn’t.  Why? Because he assumed that his audience were all larger companies with full time purchasing and procurement departments.   In fact we were the opposite and had he done his homework he could have turned the talk around 180 degrees and looked at ways that smaller organisations can negotiate effectively with [...]

Make it relevant to your audience is a post from: Inter-Activ Presenting and Influencing

I spent some time in George Best International airport in Belfast recently coming back from a fundraising workshop with the charity Concern Worldwide UK

When I entered the airport departure lounge I saw the usual television screens with departure and arrival information but I also saw something I had never seen before…

Normally, when your flight has not been called, the screens show the message “Please wait in lounge”  but in Belfast airport thy had a different message!   Somebody had clearly thought [...]

Influencing secrets – Tell your audience what you want them to do! is a post from: Inter-Activ Presenting and Influencing

Why is it that so many business presentations are dry, dull and innefective? Well it could be the presenter’s delivery style or it could be the tedious and wordy powerpoint slides they insist on using but I think there is an even more dangerous principle at work here.

I think that most business presenters think that emotions are left at the door when one walks into the office. People want facts right? Disspassionate, rational arguements supported by [...]

Presentation emotion – the key element! is a post from: Inter-Activ Presenting and Influencing

I heard my good friend Jim Culverwell use the phrase “pitching beyond the room” last night whilst discussing his approach at networking meetings like BNI and Peer Group Learning.  I loved the phrase  because it sums up a truth that most people who network seem to completely ignore and I had to share it with you.

Many people join networking groups because they just want to sell to the other people in the room.  The challenge is that most groups are [...]

Pitching beyond the room is a post from: Inter-Activ Presenting and Influencing

Today I was phoned by a guy who I have met on a couple of occasions at local networking events.  he works for a company called the disc directory, a local on-line business directory covering Portsmouth and Southampton.

Now I’m pretty hard on tele-sales people but his approach was so refreshing that I just had to post on it.   He called me up, started by saying something like ” Remember the good looking guy who’s been bumping into  you around [...]

A cheeky sales approach that worked is a post from: Inter-Activ Presenting and Influencing

Even the most experienced managers can be paralysed by nerves.    I see it almost every time I run a course and I know that, with the help and support of a good coach and fellow students this  fear can be overcome.  There are lots of techniques to help including;

The problem is that most of these only provide symptomatic relief.     In order to get to the root of the problem once and for all we [...]

Use conscious attention to dissolve your nerves is a post from: Inter-Activ Presenting and Influencing

I was running an influencing skills workshop earlier this week and part of the course involved a presentation by me on Prof Robert Cialdini’s six principles of influence.  (NB: If you haven’t read professor Cialdini’s book on Influence, you really should!)

One of the principles is called consensus and it embodies the idea that we are more likely to take an action if we hear, see or read about other people like us doing the recommended action.    During the Q& A one of [...]

Influencing Cultural Change in Organisations is a post from: Inter-Activ Presenting and Influencing