Presentation Skills
Presentation skills – Don’t let your comfort zone hold you back
Have you ever stopped yourself from doing something because it took you outside your comfort zone? Giving a speech? Applying for a promotion? Even eating a new type of food? We all have a comfort zones for everything we do, including speaking in public, and by definition, doing something outside our current comfort zone “feels”…
Read MoreAnother Great Presentation Skills Infographic
Despite having said in an earlier post that I am not a great fan of Infographics, I wanted to share a new presentation skills infographic that was sent to me by Clem Lepers, entitled “9 Tips for an effective presentation“. It has some excellent content and tips and is well worth a look if you…
Read MoreDont 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…
Read MoreA New Presentation Skills Infographic
I was recently invited to take a look at a new presentation skills infographic. I am not normally a fan of infographics. It’s not the premise behind them I dislike. I love the idea of distilling key facts or ideas from many sources and then presenting them in a visually appealing way. What I dislike is…
Read MoreTips for impromptu speaking – learn to trust yourself
I love it when readers leave comments and ask me to write about specific topics. Recently someone said, “Hey Gavin; your posts help me a lot, but I have a problem. I am awful at extemporizing when given a topic I don’t know anything about. It would be helpful if you wrote a post on it.” That’s…
Read MoreBecoming a Better Presenter with the Learning Cycle
Tips for becoming a better presenter Every time we learn a new skill we go through a cycle of learning. Understanding this cycle can help us to learn better and learn faster. In this article, I’d like to apply this process to becoming a better presenter. Overview: There are four distinct stages to the learning…
Read MoreDo You Know When to Listen, and When to Pitch?
I find the Dragon’s Den TV programme presents an endless supply of pitching lessons. Recently I was watching a replay of one episode, which featured a young guy called Joe Nelson pitching for investment in his They Fit, custom condom business. It was a fascinating pitch which amazingly managed to avoid degenerating into schoolboy humour.…
Read MoreIs This the Best Presentation Skills Book You’ll Read This Year?
I hope you can excuse a little piece of shameless self-promotion, but I am delighted to say that my new book, The Presenter’s Edge, is now available globally on Amazon Kindle. It’s the first in a series of bite-sized business books and, as its name suggests, tackles the thorny subject of presenting. Now of course I may…
Read MorePresentation Slide Design – Stop Animations Spoiling Your Presentation
PowerPoint, Keynote, and Skyrocket can create some excellent visual aids. Sadly, many presenters have never been taught the principles of presentation slide design. In this post, I’d like to focus on one element of presentation slide design called animation. Animation refers to the ability to control how the words and images on your slide appear. It allows you to…
Read MoreEffective Hand Gestures for Better Presentations
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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