Stand-up comedians are very keen on creating new material; that new bit can be the most exciting thing they’ve created, because it’s a spark of magic, the newest bit of the set. They learn to notice *everything*. Then they see the patterns. Then they create a perspective which delights their audience. For your material, do […]
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In 2022, I delivered a 45-minute talk at the Develop Conference to a room full of game developers, during which I had a very real crisis of confidence. Let me set the scene: an hour and a half earlier, I walked to the venue, the Metropole hotel in Brighton. It was a hot day (Develop
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Boring talks/presentations are a crime! And they’re usually boring because there’s zero relatability, no story. I once sat through a presentation that was technically excellent: clear structure, strong slides, impressive data, and it was good, but I couldn’t tell you what it was about. Later that same day, someone stood up and told a short
When people think of confident speakers, they often imagine big gestures, strong voices, or powerful words. However, the real power often sits in the silence between the words. Most people rush. They speak too fast because their brain is racing ahead: worrying about what’s coming next, how they sound, or how people are judging them.
Self-doubt is a proper demon, isn’t it? In my attempts to fight it, I’ve used breathing exercises, posture tweaks, power stances, tongue twisters, in fact the whole confident speaker all-you-can-eat buffet. And yes, those techniques did all help, but only became truly effective until I did the one thing I didn’t think was significant: actually
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