Last week I attended my first Independent Publisher’s Guild UK (IPG) Conference. I was there at the recommendation of Antonella Pearce, the excellent Publisher Relations Manager of the Publisher’s Licensing Society who suggested I should attend to learn a little more about the world of publishing. I love going to conferences. Particularly those where I have no agenda for being…
One of the biggest gripes of people who regularly sit through presentations is that they rarely finish on time. Yet as presenters, we know how difficult it can be to make sure you fit all of your information into the time given. Here’s a five step process to help you to save your breath and…
iThoughts HD – $9.99 iThoughts is a simple mind-mapping app, which looks great. Simple to use, with more flexibility than pencil and paper, you can concentrate completely on brainstorming your presentation ideas. Plus, with it’s image inserting capabilities and flexibility, iThoughts could help you to create simple presentation visuals. Sadun’s Whiteboard – $2.99 Although modern…
Janine Shepherd’s 18 minute TED talk is truly inspiring, and not only because her story is incredibly moving, tragic and brilliant. For public speakers, it is a master-class in drawing your audience in to your story. In fact, I’d recommend everybody watch this video – we could all learn a lot about becoming better story…
Let’s get one thing clear: everybody is afraid of public speaking – whether it’s Barack Obama giving his fifth public address of the day, or a college student presenting to ten of her classmates. Standing up in front of a group of people is always a high-pressure ask. Public speakers never truly overcome that initial…
In yesterday’s post, I discussed some tips for moderating a panel at a conference or business event. Today’s post provides some advice for participating in a panel. Of course, your aim when participating in a panel is the same as when giving a presentation – to provide your audience with valuable information, which they can…
Public speaking isn’t always about giving your information in a set time. Sometimes you’re asked to take part in a panel, or even to lead one. Today we’re sharing our advice on how to moderate a panel, and tomorrow we will share some advice for taking part in a one. Of course, all of our…
As presenters, we can learn a lot from actors who stand up to speak to hundreds of people each night. Patsy Rodenburg is a famous acting coach, and her idea of us having ‘three circles of energy’ describes how we use all have and use different ‘energy’, which in turn affects our actions and voice…
I love geeks but sometimes they don’t seem to love me. I’m not stupid but I’m often made to feel that way when I hear brilliant engineers, scientists and systems analysts ‘trying’ to explain what they do. It’s a crying shame really, because my starting position is admiration of expertise and excitement of the possibilities…