“The ability to talk to a lot of people is freakish”. Chris Rock utters these words when chatting to Jerry Seinfeld on Seinfeld’s web show ‘Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee‘. The whole thing’s good, but that particular bit is at 8:52. Watching Seinfeld and Rock (perfect casting for a ’48 Hours’ re-make right there) discussing courage […]
Forget Presentations, Try Conversations Read More »
“How can I improve my Powerpoint?” “How can I make my boring subject interesting?” “How do I engage the audience?” These are the sort of questions I get asked a lot. The answer to all of them is simple, really: deliver it to someone who’s outside your industry – I’m ideal for this, by the way* – and ask
Powerpoint Doesn’t Kill Presentations – People Do Read More »
I have two approaches to unknown situations: Learn as much as I can about it before committing to a course of action. Get stuck in and learn as I go. Which is best? Number 1 is the sensible choice obviously, but number 2 is really good fun if there isn’t much at stake. For speaking,
Break Stuff. Learn. Repeat. Read More »
I don’t need to know how my TV works to use it: I press buttons, magic happens and I get to watch House of Cards. Public speaking was (and stand-up comedy is) like that to me: I know what works because I have the proof of my experience, and I don’t think about the mental
Art Versus Science Read More »
Which is most important? That what you’re saying matters. That what you’re saying matters to you. Talking about something important doesn’t guarantee that you’re going to have the audience’s attention, even if they ought to be interested. Talking about something with absolute passion guarantees the audience’s attention for at least the first few minutes. Booooring! I often get
