“Forget everything else, and just say it to me. Say it to me, as a friend.”– Lionel Logue, ‘The King’s Speech’, 2010. I think this piece of advice is wonderful. It may seem silly to try to imagine your audience as one person, but I believe that the best speakers make every audience member feel
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Need some inspiration for your next talk? Visit some really old buildings. This is an angel in the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur in Paris. In Cambridge, there’s the Fitzwilliam Museum, King’s College Chapel (a mini-cathedral) and many university buildings. London has countless interesting old buildings – I recommend the Natural History Museum. Take inspiration from these
I talk a lot about writing and delivery to communicate effectively, but there’s an additional aspect you need to master: your non-verbal communication. Here are my favourite ways (outside of material and delivery) to make an impact, persuade and make your audience feel really good: Do Your ResearchLook at their LinkedIn profiles, read their articles,
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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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