Watch this presentation and put your “big ears” on
This video clip serves four purposes for students of presentation and public speaking skills: It demonstrates the value of a clearly structured message It shows how things like eye contact, body language and vocal variety engage the audience It shows how simple visual aids with well chosen images add to the presentation It contains a…
Read MoreKicking your audience into action
I have had a slow puncture in one of the rear tyres of my car for a few weeks now. I kept noticing it but I kept putting off going to the tyre depot and getting it fixed. I thought I couldn’t afford the time or the money right now so all I did was…
Read MoreHow do you build confidence in nervous presenters and speakers
I have just returned from a camping holiday in Dorset and whilst away I had the delight of lighting and then tending a camp fire every evening. As I was gazing into the embers one evening it suddenly struck me that there are a number of similarities between lighting a camp fire and developing someone’s…
Read MoreA cheeky sales approach that worked
Today I was phoned by a guy who I have met on a couple of occasions at local networking events. he works for a company called the disc directory, a local on-line business directory covering Portsmouth and Southampton. Now I’m pretty hard on tele-sales people but his approach was so refreshing that I just had…
Read MorePresentation Tips Workshop – Listen to the Presentation Doctor in Action…
Recently I gave a talk on presentation tips to the members of JCI Southampton. We had a lively evening in the lovely Jury’s Inn Hotel and I was able to record the talk so that I could share it with you too. The talk lasts about 45 minutes and covers a range of public speaking and…
Read MoreSlides for Presenting V’s Slides for Reading
Olivia, One of my regular readers posted a comment on my last post regarding the issue of slide design in relation to whether the slides are meant to be a backdrop to a presenter or are meant as an online presentation to be read without any audio component, here is my reply “Thanks Olivia you…
Read MorePracticing what you preach – Simple Slides
I have been getting some great feedback recently regarding the quality of my slide sets. Of course all are built using the principles I advocate in this blog and in my workshops i.e. no bullet points, minimal text, great pictures and logical story flow. At one recent talk a delegate said that he didn’t know…
Read MoreGreat presenters – born or made?
I had a fascinating conversation today over lunch which I thought I’d share with you. I was speaking to a colleague who does a lot of work as a professional master of ceremonies and facilitator at conference and events Our conversation covered a range of interesting things including voice projection and accents but we happened…
Read MoreWhat makes or breaks a conference presentation?
As part of a recent presentation skills coaching programme for a large client, I have been reviewing videos of some of their top directors presenting at a company conference. Some presenters got it right and got great evaluations and others clearly didn’t and,as an external observer the reasons for the latter were clear Lack of…
Read MorePresentation Zen – A Must Read Book
I have just finished reading Garr Reynolds fantastic book Presentation Zen and I just had to blog about it. Anyone who is serious about improving their presentations needs to read this book. Why? It is well written and full of great quotes about what it takes to communicate effectively in todays information overloaded world. It…
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