monkey with hands over ears, Hey Mr Executive Speaker, why should anyone listen to you?

Today, many executive speakers rely on their job title to hold their audience’s attention rather than their content or delivery style. Those that do are deluding themselves. Why would anybody listen to you unless you have something worthwhile to say? Something that grabs their attention by the scruff of the neck and holds it.

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Dont be afraid of spicing up your corporate presentations

Last night I was talking to a friend at my local Toastmasters public speaking club when he talked about his challenge to make his work presentations more engaging.   It transpired that he had recently received feedback that his delivery at work was “a bit flat” when giving a corporate presentation. “I’d love to be able…

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adult and childs hands touching effective hand gestures

Way back in May 2008 I wrote a post to answer the question posed by many nervous presenters – “What do I do with my hands?”   In it, I focussed on a comfortable resting place for your hands when not gesturing. In this new article, I want to take things a step forward and look…

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Picture of a pimped up VW camper Van with caption "How to make a dull subject interesting

Sometimes we have to speak about topics that our audience may initially find boring or dull.  Our challenge is how to make a dull subject interesting, relevant and memorable. Recently I heard a presentation on IT for small business owners that pushed all the right buttons.  Afterwards, I thought I would share some of the…

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 “What makes a great presentation?” First of all you have to ask yourself,  who is qualified to decide whether a presentation is “great” or not. Is it the experts like me?  Or is it the audience for that particular presentation? Ultimately every presentation is a unique communication between the presenter and his or her audience.…

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One of the most common fears associated with presentations and speaking in public is the fear of not being taken seriously.  Whether you are presenting in front of a few colleagues at an internal team meeting, or standing up in front of thousands at a major conference, credibility is essential if you are to influence…

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