She stood there her mind blank. This was the time for her to speak, wasn’t it? It felt like the right moment. But what to say? And how to start? For Catherine, at that moment, there was an opportunity to stand up and speak out…but she bottled it. In the absence of knowing what to […]
Archive | communication
Primary words and how to be clear when presenting
On primary words and being real I came across the phrase ‘primary words’ recently. They are words that say what they mean and say it immediately. We need to be using them. For example, I could say that you are perhaps having some auditory difficulty in perceiving my attempts to achieve communication with you Of […]
Written English is different to Spoken English
By Catherine Sandland on November 5, 2019 in clarity, communication, Language, memorable, personality, rehearsal, Structure
I’ve been reminded this week that written English is different from Spoken English. Why am I stating the bleeding obvious? Because when we write scripts or go to the laptop or notebook first when preparing our presentations, we run a very real risk that we’ll write our talk. And we write differently to how we […]
When are actions more important than words?
By Catherine Sandland on August 5, 2019 in clarity, communication, Engaging audiences, mistakes Speakers make
I’ve been reminded this morning about the quote which says We judge ourselves by our intentions but judge others by their behaviour. Agree? I refer to this frequently in my workshops on feedback and when I’m working with managers around how to build strong working relationships. But it’s also so so relevant when we think […]
Are you informational speaker or an inspirational speaker?
By Catherine Sandland on April 19, 2019 in Boring presentations, clarity, communication, Engaging audiences, powerful speaking
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 […]
Public speaking – boiled down to three fundamental principles
By Catherine Sandland on March 19, 2019 in communication, Experts who present, Presentations, Professionals who present
Communication as a word is totally useless. It’s too big a word with a myriad of different categories and definitions. It means different things to different people. But how about this as a way of thinking about communication (and therefore presentations) can you say things in a way that other people ‘get’? can you say […]
