I was listening to an interview with the authorised biographer for Victoria Woods on the radio last week. Apparently, she was a hard taskmaster to work with and knew exactly what had to happen and what had to be said. (And of course, she was right so colleagues trusted her and did what she asked) […]
Archive | clarity
Are you informational speaker or an inspirational speaker?
Lots of presentations are informational. They are designed to be full of (useful and/or necessary) information. They are content designed and content–led. Often the first question presenters of this type of presentation ask themselves is ‘What is it that I have to say?’ The best informational presentations will then answer the (unsaid but oft thought […]
How do I prepare for a presentation – here are the questions you should be asking!
How do I prepare for a presentation? Actually, most people don’t ask me that question. Most people ask either, ‘How do I write a presentation?’ Or ‘How do I give a presentation?’ And yet, because most of the people I work with are intelligent people, they know that preparation is key. It’s just that we […]
How to tell a story in a presentation
I come from Yorkshire and there’s a phrase often used there relating to how people tell stories – “from t’thread t’ needle”. In other words, every detail is included, every side street, every nuance, every deviation… It makes for a great conversation and a good night out over a beer or glass of wine but […]
How to give the best presentation – ever
I attended an event where I heard one of the best presentations I’ve heard for a long time. It wasn’t a professional speaker. It wasn’t very long. And it wasn’t especially professional. But it did three things: It engaged me from the get-go and I never once lost attention The speaker reached out to me […]
Number one step in preparing for a presentation…
It’s all about the message right? It’s not just the words we choose to say or even the sequence and structure we employ to express those words. It’s the meaning behind all that, it’s what the audience will take away and remember, it’s how the listeners will be influenced by what you say and the […]
Got a lot to say? How to simplify and clarify.
I’ve got too many things to say! Where do I start? I’ve been coming across this a lot just recently with both clients and other connections. Whilst most people who want to stand up and speak (or have to) get that there needs to be something to say – a clear message – getting to […]
Do the words we use REALLY matter? – speaking, responsibility and obligation
Does it really matter what we say? Isn’t it all a game of style and substance and the interplay between the two? Surely actions speak much more loudly than words? These are questions I think about especially when I am working with clients who are working out what their ‘message’ is. Especially when I hear […]
Are you a ‘Point and Shoot’ kinda person or a Deliberate Designer…lessons from photography, part 2
Back in April I wrote a blog about the lessons for speaking I had learned from starting to develop my photographic skills. You can read it here. Just recently, as I continue to learn more about wielding the camera and capturing that perfect shot I have been thinking about how this relates to presentations and […]
Spooky happenings and getting into the flow of presentations
My 7 year old son came home from school the other day and announced he wasn’t sure who had written his story in his school book. He remembered starting it but it was almost as if it wrote itself! Spooky? Or maybe he was just ‘in flow’ I have been thinking about ‘ease’ recently and […]
