I recently had an inquiry from a reader regarding the embedding of my avoiding death by PowerPoint video. This got me thinking. I quite often use video clips within a presentation for a number of reasons. They are great for demonstrating a particular technique. Ever tried to explain how do do something using only words?…

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I was at a local business conference this morning and happened to be introduced to one of the speakers prior to the start of the meeting. During our chat we discussed his presentation and he said that he had been told to remove the pictures from his slides and replace them with words because this…

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In have been living with my iPad for almost a month now and I thought you might be interested in my early experiences with this much hyped bit of gadgetry. I have used it at home and on the road and have performed a number of common tasks including checking and writing emails, reading books,…

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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…

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This morning I attended a networking meeting in Winchester with members of 4Networking, it was a great event with some really great people and I was particularly impressed by the communication skills of some of the group members. They spoke with confidence, authority, humour and engagement. One member had volunteered to give a 10 minute…

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It was a beautiful Saturday here in the UK,  sunny and warm yet I spent three hours of it in a hall listening to some of the best speakers in the South of England at a Toastmasters  speech contest.  Why?  Because I  learn so much from listening to and analysing great speakers.      Iain Upton, from Solent…

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First impressions really do count, whether you are making a full blown presentation complete with PowerPoint , or you  just speaking informally to clients, colleagues or networking group members.     You probably spend enough time preparing your content but do you spend enough time thinking about your delivery? Whilst I see and hear some outstanding elevator pitches   ,…

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Today I went on a Horse Whispering taster day with Debby Reilly from Understanding Equus and Lynne Ewer-Carrington from Challenge Manager.   To be honest I went because I was both curious and sceptical about what I could learn from a “horse trainer” but by the end of the day I was convinced. So what did…

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