Waiting to speak to a group of internal IT experts in a global banking business last week. Listening to their boss talk to them about why networking was so important to them, however difficult they may find it. He said a really interesting thing-
In January 2005, Eric Cantona, a gifted, French footballer, then playing for Manchester United, launched himself into the crowd at a thug who had spent minutes hurling the most vicious abuse at him. He had had enough. He had been spat at, mocked, insulted and he’d reached his limit. For his crime, he was arrested,…
At the Tower of London again for a session on The Globe Theatre’s 2011 production of ‘Anne Boleyn’ with writer Howard Menton and star, Miranda Raison talking about the play and the theatre. She said a really interesting thing about ‘connecting’ with an audience, that’s relevant to actors, but to us presenters in a business…
I’m a speaker, speech writer and speaking coach. I work with very capable people, helping them to show their brilliance to the rest of the world. Charisma is a subject that often comes up in discussion. It’s something that many of my clients would give their right arms to ‘be’. But most of them worry…
Here’s another example of a brilliant woman who is also an excellent public speaker- Featured on Marion Chapsal’s engaging public speaking and cooking blog (my dream day at work, actually)- Simple, Direct, Authentic, Engaging. Lessons from an International French Woman Speaker. | Geronimo Coaching Now. In Marion’s words – What strikes me most, watching her speak on…
Here’s how to make a great point with metaphor and a blackboard. Viktor Frankl keeps an audience spellbound and makes a point that is still valid today. One of my heroes, proving that if you’ve got a relevant message, then the technology and the visuals ad a little emphasis and no more. But if you ‘aint got a message it doesn’t much…
Here’s a lady that you probably won’t know. Rachel Willis, of Virtual Studio TV Ltd. Based in Cambridge, UK. She’s a model for female presenters in corporate life. She’s calm, professional, confident and feminine. And more than anything else she’s being herself. What I like about her style is that she blends- The formal/informal style required for most…
There are three types of people in business- Those people who take away energy and enthusiasm from a room- ‘dementors’ if you like Harry Potter. Those people that leave the energy and enthusiasm the same in the room after they’ve left as it was when they were in the room- ‘Neutrals’ for want of a better expressions Those…
Lovely post from Simon Raybould on his refreshingly opinionated blog- ‘Telling People’. He makes the point that ‘errr’ is a natural human sound that people make when they’re looking for the next word, and most people in our audiences don’t notice it, but lots of presentation trainers do. His thesis being ‘a little bit is fine’ and presentation coaches can get narrow in what they work on with their clients. Here’s the blog and a recommendation that you read lots of it.