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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I love Batman/Bruce Wayne (especially the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight trilogy). Batman’s brilliant as a comic book hero because he has no superpowers. He’s just a chap with gadgets, questionable bedtime habits, and an intense prep routine (a contingency plan for taking down Superman is not paranoia; that’s preparation). Most speakers seem to avoid preparation:
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What makes you tick?What makes you uncomfortable?What do you love?Why are you speaking? Share some or all of these things in the first minute and you’ll create a connection with your audience. Good communication is all about rapport, empathy, relatability, authenticity, humility, and humour. Stand-up comics often start with the most important thing people need
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I’m driven by a fear of failure. My default assumption of most unexpected negative things I experience is that I must have messed up. This became embedded through years of floundering in education and full-time employment. “We’re concerned about…” and “I was hoping that…” are grim, familiar phrases from authority figures I was desperate to
Want to achieve speaking confidence? Of course you do – it’s the key to everything you desire: success at an interview, interest on a date, or being convincing at your work review. I bang on about getting speaking experience, but also vital for your growth is doing the research: I find that while doing research
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