Presentation Skills
How to Make a Great PowerPoint Presentation
Why do you think so many people still ask me to tell them how to make a good PowerPoint presentation? Surely by now everyone would have worked out that the typical corporate PowerPoint Presentations don’t work! Well apparently not, judging by the number of appalling examples I still see on a regular basis. My theory for…
Read MoreOvercoming Public Speaking Fear – Embrace Your Vulnerability
One of the most common reasons for public speaking nerves is our fear of making a mistake in front of others. Maybe we’ll dry up, or say something stupid or … In other words, we are scared to let others to see that we are anything less than perfect. Interestingly, some of the best…
Read More(Q1xD)xQ2=R – A Formula for Sales Success?
Sometimes it’s the simplest ideas that are the most useful. I recently attended a networking meeting and the group leader shared a formula which has helped me think more productively about my business. In this post I’m going to share this formula for sales success with you. To be honest, when (Q1xD)xQ2=R appeared on the…
Read MoreBoost Your Influence by Fine Tuning Your Intonation
In this post, I’d like to show you how a greater awareness of one particular area of your vocal delivery can boost your ability to influence others. Intonation is the way we change our vocal tone within a sentence, and it can dramatically alter the meaning of the words we speak. You can harness the power…
Read MoreWhat to do When Your Managers Suck
I read a recent article demonstrating the difference made by effective managers which seemed to sum up a lifetime of experience. It summarised a number of recent research articles looking at the value of effective managers within any organisation. Did you know that effective managers can increase productivity between 12% and 25%! Another study by Wharton business school,…
Read MorePresentation Design Tip – Dare to be Different with PowerPoint
In the corporate world it’s often seen as wrong to swim against the tide and challenging the way that things are done can take real guts. I’ve recently been working with a client to help him transform a bullet point heavy PowerPoint presentation into something that supports, rather than competes with, his clear and energetic…
Read MoreOlympic Lessons for Presenters Who Want to be the Best
The dust has settled on the London 2012 Olympics and the UK can get back to normal but are there any lessons for presenters from the 2012 Games? I could be negative and have a go at the professional BBC commentators who managed to entertain us with a vast selection of bloopers, contrived alliterations, uhms…
Read MoreCoaching Lessons From Strictly’s Darcy Bussell?
The new series of Strictly Come Dancing has launched here in the UK and I have to own up to being an avid fan! This year the series has a new judge in the shape of retired English ballerina Darcy Bussell and it was Darcy’s feedback on the show that prompted me to write…
Read MoreAre You Afraid of People Looking at You?
I have had a number of presentation coaching clients who have avoided making presentations because of an acute fear of being looked or judged. The technical name for the fear of people looking at you is Scopophobia and can be a very debilitating. Whilst some cases need specialist 1:1 therapy, many find that simple techniques like…
Read MoreHow to Memorise a Speech
When it comes to mastering the art of public speaking many people ask me for help with how to memorise a speech. Some people say why bother, why not read from a script but the reality is that reading scripts tends to result in a flat and lifeless monologue that is likely to put your…
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