Them: “Hey, just be yourself.” You: “Why would I do that? I don’t want them to know what I’m really like.” An easy mistake to make. After all, you’re not particularly interesting, are you? You’re not really good at anything – and I mean really good – but you want to put across a professional, […]
Authenticity – Scary But Useful Read More »
There’s a lot of Britishness in Star Wars (Episode IV, A New Hope) – Peter Cushing’s creepy Tarkin and Anthony Daniels’s pompous C-3PO in particular spring to mind, but the most inspiring to me is Alec Guinness’s gentlemanly Obi-Wan Kenobi; he’s relaxed, polite and ready to fight. And that’s a powerful combination. Old Ben Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi is the Greatest Speaking Hero Read More »
The enemy of great presentations is verbosity: too many slides, too much text on each one and even too many themes. Yes, they’re an intelligent audience (never assume they’re not) but we need you to simplify things, because: We’re not going to remember much more than three key points. Probably best that you reduce what
Easy, Simple Presentations Read More »
Some speakers have a slide for everything: the funny metaphor they’ve just used, the next subject heading. You name it, there’s an accompanying visual. Why? Because they think that’s what you do. Unfortunately, it’s mildly tedious for the audience, but a great source of comfort to the speaker because it’s a support, plus they think that ‘the
Speaker vs. Slides Read More »
The Problem: Fear You’re asked to give a presentation, which fills you with dread. And that’s fine, it’s a normal reaction; standing up in front of people to speak can be stressful, and fearing it is sensible and logical. You must prepare something. But more than that, you must deal with your fear. The Solution: New
The Heroic Version of You Read More »
