How to improve presentation skills? Should we be more formal? I was asked the question the other day by a Graduate at a top city firm in London. He’d just given a pretty good presentation, under great pressure in a business simulation in front of his boss, colleagues and other senior people in the firm….
You’re presentation coach will probably never tell you this but if you’re serious about improving your presentation skills, it has to be said: The words are crap so it doesn’t matter how polished you are as a speaker- If Jonny Depp couldn’t save the film ‘The Tourist’ you’re not going to save the sales pitch. Your visuals…
Further to the post earlier this week on the language you must use if you want people to think you’re a bit of a knob or a management consultant (I know!), here’s a much more comprehensive list of ‘things you should never say if you want people to- listen to you. Sleep with you…’ The…
The best presenters have a flexible vocabulary that allows them to ‘fit’ the message in terms of level, language and tone to the audience in front of them. Poor speakers tend to choose jargon, cliches and terms from the word bag marked- ‘corporate tosser’. (Jerk for our US readers).
It’s something that drives me mad. When you hear professional and amateurs alike, talking about ‘passion’ as the most important element in a speaker’s arsenal. It doesn’t make sense, does it?
And he wasn’t talking about fish… Talk endlessly and positively about themselves and their experiences-Because it looks vain and probably is a sign of vanity. Fix: tell stories where you’re the fool and someone else is the hero. Make the link for the audience when the point is obvious- People are generally more intelligent than…
I had a really interesting challenge the other day, to speak to 30 or so 14-16 year old girls about ‘personal impact’. I had 30 minutes to make an impression and help them make the most of the event they were at. The event was a ‘bring your daughter to work’ day, arranged by the fabulous people…
Lovely post from Rhett Laubach at ‘Authencicity Rules’ on ways to ‘build a bridge’ between a speaker and an audience. Authenticity Rules: Top 6 Tools to Engage Literally Any Audience. How to ‘get the audience involved’ is worth a category on its own in any blog, and is the second most asked question on presentation skills…
The full quotation is: “They who honour me, I will honour. They who despise me I will disdain.” It was used, memorably, in the film ‘Chariots of Fire’ to illustrate the conviction and motivation of the hero; and his good grace in the fiercest of competition. It’s a snippet from the Bible, obviously, and though I’m not a…