He promised to be controversial and he delivered on that promise! Uncomfortable as it might have been to watch Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes, he undoubtedly knew what he was doing, but should the rest of us mere mortals follow his lead? There is actually a really important lesson here for the average speaker…
I was working with a client last week and all through the session, I could tell there was something bothering her. I always assume that it’s something I’m doing that she can’t get over. My aftershave, accent or irritatingly intense manner. But this time I was wrong. She told me, eventually, that she didn’t like…
You know who he is. He’s the zeitgeist shaping writer of such popular classics as ‘Outliers’, ‘The Tipping Point’ and ‘Blink’. He’s popularised performance psychology and brought millions of readers to consider some fundamental human questions like – Q.What’s the difference between Bill Gates and me? A. Not much. Q. Is success all about hard…
I see his point, and feel no need to comment, or disagree. In short, he says- To this day I have yet to see a Prezi presentation that would not have been better had the speaker used something else, including nothing at all. Many presentations would be better if the speaker just spoke, sans slides…
I get a bit frustrated with the ‘PowerPoint is evil’ brigade. They’re out in force on the internet, and they have their right to a point of view. I just think they’re wrong. PowerPoint, Prezi, Articulate or whatever, are evil or good in precise proportion to the person using them. The ‘go naked’ idea seems…
Oscar Wilde made a good point when he said that- ”Playwrights tell lies to make a general truth” And as presenters we often have to do the same thing. We have a point to make and we want to make it powerfully and well. And if we have any soul we’ll realise that we’re…
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…
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 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…