1. Lights Up Avoid turning the lights down during a presentation. If your visual support requires a darkened room, ensure it’s not long enough for them to take a nap! 2. ‘Be’ the visual… Use your arms and eyes and expression to show us the size of the fish you caught or how quickly your More…
$100 million habit: Janine Allis keeps it simple and solves 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…
Useless advice and business presentations
Have you been given any useless advice about public speaking and presentations skills? Check out this discussion between ‘Mr Rules’ and Jennifer as she prepares for a big Presentation in the boardroom… Feel free to comment.
Does technology make us better communicators? (Part 1)
The short answer is ‘No’. The full answer is sometimes yes and other times no. Many people believe that if the visual aspect of the presentation is professionally put together, they will be more effective. It’s not that simple. Slick visuals do not mean that the two vital ingredients of a successful presentation are in More…
Finding poise: do you shrink under pressure?
In a previous article, I talked about a condition known as over-efforting, where we use far more energy than is required for a particular activity. This is quite common in public speaking, as people think they need to perform and exaggerate their voice, gestures and body language to have greater impact on the audience. And More…
FAQ: How do I answer questions briefly?
Q: “How can I answer questions more briefly at the end of my presentation? During the Q & A session of a major presentation I answered questions to death!” A: Sacrifice… …It’s human nature to try to demonstrate how much we know about a subject – to show we have a right to speak about More…
Steve Jobs’ iPad: not such a vivid message
As promised at the end of my last post, ‘Steve Jobs- structure helps engage’, here are the reasons I think Steve Jobs missed his message with the launch of the iPad… The iPad launch on January 27 2010 was not greeted with the positive reviews that Steve Jobs might have come to expect from major More…
Public Speaking: how to stop racing through presentations
Q: “How do I stop racing through presentations? I always find myself rushing. What’s the best way to pace myself?” This is a common thing when speaking in public. The question is WHY are you rushing through your presentations? Is it because you are nervous and want it to be over now? Is it because More…
