#Habit 1 Be reactive Don’t prepare properly if at all. Rehearse by repeating your presentation again and again in your head and perhaps by flicking through your presentation slides so that you are familiar with them. Allow yourself to be surprised at what your words sounds like once they come outside of your head. Give […]
I have been preparing for a presentation to be delivered in a few weeks and I’ll be honest with you. I’ve got stuck. More than stuck in fact. I am going nowhere fast. Instead of ideas flowing there is nothing. A great big zero. An awkward silence. A void. A dearth of creative ideas. Nada. […]
I am prepared to go out on a limb here – most people don’t need to be perfectly polished presenters. They just need to be good enough. Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that we shouldn’t aim to design and deliver the highest quality of presentations we can. Not am I saying that […]
I met a solicitor the other day at a recent networking event. We were chatting about how to use the 60 second introduction ( sometimes known as the Creeping Ivy or Networker Introduction) to best advantage. She was relatively new to networking and as a family divorce lawyer she was aware that the service she […]
Delivering a powerful presentation that is clear and compelling and results in action is the aim of the game. And sometimes it doesn’t quite go to plan. Here are some of the things that have happened to me in the past: I have got completely the wrong end of the stick – the […]
Whether they out and out ask you or whether they sit there and think these questions, here are 10 things the audience need to hear from you when you deliver your presentation: 1. Do I need to worry about you? A strange one to start off with and in most cases, audiences need to know […]
I have written before that the standard of business presentations is pretty poor. In fact the three characteristics of most business presentations are predictability, too much information and Death by PowerPoint. I wonder how much time is wasted in meetings and events listening (or even sleeping) to dull, irrelevant and mind-numbing presentations? By the way […]
Arthur Schnabel, the pianist, once said, ‘The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes – ah that is where the art resides.’ Schnabel’s quote reminds me of the art of the pause– the knowing when and how long to pause. Understanding that the pause does more than just […]
Contrary to popular belief, people are simply not born with amazing presentation skills innately persuasive and captivating from birth. While it true that there are some who love the limelight, are not fazed by the attention presenting brings, that does not automatically mean that they are excellent presenters. And having expertise, knowledge and a brain […]
I have been focusing on feedback and rehearsal of late in my blogs and in my private coaching sessions. One question I often get asked is how to ask for feedback. Read one of my previous blogs (Feedback is useless…) for one way to start. It is a brave and challenging thing to ask someone […]
The Day my projector broke…presentation disaster?
Three reasons why PowerPoint stinks
Feedback is useless…
Could you present on anything?
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