Whilst I am a fan of the intelligent and sparing use of PowerPoint and other presentation tools  I am always on the lookout for great examples of presentations which use props to bring their messages to life.

I recently came across this short 10 minute video on TED and I commend it to you.  Hans Rosling is an inspiring and creative presenter and I love how he uses a simple and readily available prop to help his audience understand some mind [...]

Ikea replaces Powerpoint! is a post from: Inter-Activ Presenting and Influencing

Seminars are a powerful business building strategy when done right. They are a great way to strengthen relationships with existing clients and showcase your expertise to new ones.

If done well you can also create an environment where existing happy customers “sell” your services to prospective customers naturally and unobtrusively.

Recently I was privileged to attend such an event run by one of my clients, a large accountancy firm. I had been helping one of the partners put together [...]

The secrets of successful seminars is a post from: Inter-Activ Presenting and Influencing

Ever since humans developed language we have used stories as a powerful method transfering knowledge. We teach our children through stories. We build relationships and bonds through sharing stories. We are entertained by stories.

I would argue that we spend much of our non-work time storytelling.   Socially we understand that the best stories are engaging, entertaining, and memorable.  Yet when it comes to business communications we have a tendency to throw all our experience [...]

Storytelling in speeches and presentations is a post from: Inter-Activ Presenting and Influencing

Most of us probably can’t rely on the luxury of a professional speech writer to craft our presentations but that doesn’t mean we can’t pick up some great speech writing tips from the pros.

In this post I want to share with you how  you can use the same strategy to write speeches that Walt Disney used to create his cartoon masterpieces.

Disney used a three stage strategy which has been modeled by NLP expert Robert Dilts.    Dilts labelled these three stages Dreamer, [...]

Speech writing tips the Disney way is a post from: Inter-Activ Presenting and Influencing

The most asked question I get is “how can I overcome my fear of public speaking”. In this post I want to share my top tips for managing your anxiety and encourage you to add yours.

1) Breathe! I know this one sounds like a no brainer, but when we are nervous, our breathing gets shallow and rapid and we deprive ourselves of vital oxygen. Deliberately talking two or three slow deep breaths is a great way to relax. With each in [...]

Nine awesome techniques for managing presentation and public speaking nerves is a post from: Inter-Activ Presenting and Influencing

Recently, at a networking event, I had the pleasure of speaking to lovely man called Peter Moore who runs a small domestic electricians business along with his son Russell.

We were talking about public speaking and he was telling me how he started out as a nervous and reluctant presenter and that that how, after forcing himself to practice, he now feels much more confident. [...]

Harnessing the power of self talk to improve your presentation skills is a post from: Inter-Activ Presenting and Influencing

In this post I want to share my top tips for managing your anxiety and encourage you to add yours

1) Breathe! I know this one sounds obvious but when we are nervous, our breathing gets shallow and rapid and we deprive ourselves of vital oxygen. Deliberately talking two or three slow deep breathes is a great way to relax. With each in breath imaging breathing in pure White, cleansing [...]

Nine awesome techniques for overcoming fear of public speaking is a post from: Inter-Activ Presenting and Influencing

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

In a previous post I recommended that that speakers  avoid using  jokes in favour of self deprecating stories. Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Jan Jack of PerfectVerse who used to be a corporate secretary but is now a professional swriter, speaker and comedian.

Jan  specialises in writing humorous poems for special events and corporate speeches. During our conversation she told be how she had been commissioned by the CEO of a multinational company to help him make [...]

Building humour into your speeches and presentations is a post from: Inter-Activ Presenting and Influencing

The most engaging presenters are those who are both knowledgeable and passionate about their content. We can tell that they are passionate because of things like their animation, energy, vocal variety, eye contact and enthusiasm.

But what about when you have to present information that you are not passionate about?    Well in an ideal world I would be tempted to say don’t present it at all.   Of course this may be  unrealistic, especially the presentation is part [...]

Developing a passion for what you are presenting is a post from: Inter-Activ Presenting and Influencing