While helping the President of a multinational company with a $20 million pitch, we needed to dispel a common myth before he could move forward. (By the way, they got the $20 mil.). You must have heard this one. ‘People form their lasting impression of you in the first 30 seconds’ (or 8 seconds depending More…
Crazy over gestures for 70 years
Found this old film from the 1940s that runs through the ‘basics’ of effective public speaking. It’s absolute rubbish, but very funny, with an over-emphasis on body posture and forced gestures. There’s some hilarious footage here; especially in the scene demonstrating how not to make gestures when speaking. And in the final “live” speech the speaker’s motions are More…
Release the anxiety for effortless public speaking
We can gain some insights from the work of F.M. Alexander. One hundred years ago Alexander developed a technique to use our bodies more effectively yet with less effort. Forcing a style can damage your health Alexander was an actor, but when he performed in front of an audience he would rapidly become hoarse. This More…
Get a method! Rules stop you thinking clearly
Public Speaking courses often focus on ‘Dos and Don’ts’ – a list of things you should always do to be successful. And a (typically long) list of thing you should never do. The core idea behind the Rules approach is that by simply following the rules you will be a great speaker. It doesn’t work. Why? Because rules don’t More…
How to develop poise as a Speaker
Poise is a lovely word. It implies ‘calm’, ‘balance’ and ‘assuredness’ and it underpins powerful delivery skills. Most speakers don’t have poise because they don’t fully understand the (normal) anxiety that comes with public speaking. The ‘Stress Response’ to danger/uncertainty/fear actually causes us to shrink, tighten and contract our muscles. When you understand what’s happening to you – and when More…
Vital secret from the King’s Speech (movie)
King George in the movie ‘The King’s Speech’ was naturally left-handed, yet forced to use his right hand at a young age. His speech therapist, Australian Lionel Logue, explains that this is quite common in stutterers. The implication; forcing people out of their natural style can interfere with efficient mind-body coordination. Particularly in relation to communication. We More…
Confused about public speaking nerves? (you’re not alone)
Confusion creates fertile ground for anxiety, so it’s important to understand how public speaking nerves work. You might recognise parts of this conversation with a successful and confident senior manager. It’s similar to 100 or so conversations I’ve had about public speaking anxiety. Note the words in bold… CAM: What do you do? SM: I manage More…
Focus on the gaps, not just your words
I recently attended a conference where two of the speakers raced through their talk without pausing. It was so exhausting. And their ideas seemed less important with the speaker racing through them. We all crave a START and/or an END: The human mind responds instinctively to the start or the end of anything so when More…
$100 million secret: Keep it simple and solve problems
I’m a fan of Janine Allis. A recent article in The Age outlines her story and secret to success with Boost Juice (250 stores, $130 million turnover). In a nutshell: ”What I’m good at is solving problems and keeping things simple.” One of the great things about Janine’s story is that her formal qualifications from Knox Tech (which she More…
PM Gillard ‘Robotic and rehearsed’
An interesting article in The Age newspaper about Prime Minister Julia Gillard which echos what I’ve been saying for some time. While message management and media management are important skills for those in the public eye, you need to throw us some scraps of authentic and natural. The key skill is message management, not gesture More…
