When you’re trying to explain what you do to other people whether in conversation, through the written word or as part of a proposal, remember that ‘concrete is always good’. I’m not talking about the noxious mix of cement, sand and lime used in building, obviously, but it’s a useful metaphor as it’s an almost…
Yes you’ll most often be presenting to a group of people, but remember that that group is composed of individuals with their own particular needs, wants and preferences. Making something relevant to one person is no more complex than for businesses or departments in an organisation. It just takes a bit of care….
I was talking with a friend last night and he’s a no-nonsense sort of man, the Chief Operating Officer of a global consultancy. He’s had to learn the skills of business development and selling on top of his ‘day job’ and he’s done a pretty good job of it too. Here’s what Phil said- “For…
What makes something relevant to someone? People, are most interested in things that help them and their business become more successful. Success for businesses, of course, is made up of specific combinations of – * profit * market share * share price * turnover * customer satisfaction * regulatory compliance Success for business departments, obviously, depends…
When you’re presenting a subject to an audience, you’re looking for ‘relevance’, to make the thing you’re talking about fit a need that they have. Of course you are or what’s the point in speaking? So you could say that the real skill of a presenter, whatever the subject, is the ability to make it…
Great public speakers are really good at sounding like they mean what they say. They practise it, they check for it and they rehearse it because it’s so important. That doesn’t make them liars, unless they’re pretending, it makes them professionals. How many speakers have you seen who seem like they don’t really believe what…
There are many reasons why we give presentations and speeches that just don’t “fit”. All of the reasons though are about the same thing, our message doesn’t fit because we that we don’t have a clear understanding of our audience’s needs and wants from the speech. Finding out, before we start to prepare, is a…