About a year after I started doing stand-up comedy, while doing a 5 minute spot, I achieved flow, (or as it’s also known, ‘the zone’). Here’s how wikipedia describes flow:‘Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and […]

Control. It’s probably the most important thing that you’ll learn in your life, particularly control over your fear and your anger. And yes, controlling your fear is essential for good public speaking. But don’t try to control the events that happen around you. You’ll achieve control with rehearsal and experience, through which you’ll start to gain a

Here’s how to be brilliant: try hanging out with some other people, brilliant or otherwise. Richard Hall, in his excellent (or perhaps that should be brilliant) book ‘Brilliant Presentation: What the Best Presenters Know, Say and Do’ writes: ‘Brilliance lies in pubs and shops, not desks. This is a serious point. People working with other people

Watch this TED talk by Ken Robinson if you have the time (it’s 19 and a half minutes). It’s informative, entertaining and inspiring, and is the kind of thing I aspire to deliver. Here’s what I think are the most important aspects that you can learn from it: He knows the subject. He’s passionate about

That’s the construction of a joke; the set-up is all the required information, and the punchline is where everything falls into place. Here’s what it means for you and your public speaking: After each piece of information, give its application. Sounds obvious perhaps, but unless you give the audience the reason you’ve told them this particular