I had reason to sit in on a brief, fifteen minute lecture recently, where an SEO specialist was setting out Search Engine Optimisation tactics to a group of amateur Mum bloggers. He started off well, giving a quick round-up of what SEO actually means – it’s about improving where your website gets ranked in Google search results….
Fit, Focus and Flair is our model for making sure each of your presentations are great – not just one in ten, when the stars are aligned and your stock speech just happens to suit the situation perfectly. Find out what we mean when we say ‘Fit, Focus & Flair’. Put simply, Flair is how…
We’ve talked for a few times about ‘elevator pitches’, and as so often happens, we like the idea of having an interesting, short, enticing pitch for all seasons but we don’t ever get round to creating one. I’m not a great fan of the ‘elevator’ because I think even 30-45 seconds is too long when…
Here’s a great post from the ever interesting ‘Idea Transplant’ blog by Jan Schultink, consultant, pitch guru and design enthusiast. It’s a post about the kind of things that inexprienced pitchers for finance do with their pitches and it has resonance for all of us doesn’t it? It’s relevant because mostlywhen we stand up to…
I work with some great speakers in my day to day existence. People who lead businesses and do great things, and the last thing they need from me is coaching on the ‘how’ to deliver a relevant, focused message. They know how. They tend to use me as a source of stories, anecdotes, facts and…
At a fundraiser for the Globe Theatre in London last night. Listening to playwright Howard Brenton talk about ‘Anne Boleyn’, and its successful run at the Globe in 2011. He was very interesting on creating a story and reminded us of an Oscar Wilde quote- ‘Playwrights tell lies to make a general truth…’ A brilliant…
We all know that there’s a right way to speak in public, when we’re singing for our supper – As professional speakers we’re taught to use: The right language for our different audiences Words that are not too long- nor too complex Jargon thoughtfully Latin seldom The ‘F ‘ word carefully Clichés never All so very good, and very…
So what’s the point of presenting anything? To make it more likely that they’ll remember a relevant, tiny fraction of the message we shared, to their benefit. By using all of our skills to make it impossible to them to forget.
Jan Schultink makes a valuable point very simply when he shows us how to make an endless listing of our products into a relevant, logical introduction for our customers’ benefit. In short, put the poor customer first in your thinking. Give them some background to help them understand you and your products, then ‘share’ a…