The best colour for shoes during a presentation is black. The smarter the presentation, the more important it is you stick to black – without the white socks, that is! For gents, socks should match the trousers, not the shirt, and your belt should also be black. Ladies – you know what to do.

What looks best when you’re doing a presentation, walking around or standing still? Surprisingly the answer lies somewhere in betweeen. Fidgeting while standing indicates you’re nervous, while pacing does much the same. So when you decide to stand still, then plant yourself on the ground and stand still. If however you want to move, do […]

Watch out for the irritators. They can be repetitve gestures or fidgets, or a phrase like OK, basically or in terms of. But they can kill off your presentation in a few minutes. Practice time should create the awareness and experience will eliminate them if you focus consciously on them.

Ever considered where vocal sounds come from? It’s the muscles in and around the diaphragm pushing air out of the lungs, through the trachea, over the vocal chords and out through the mouth. We’ve become so skilled at using our voices that we can fashion sounds to come out exactly as we please. Funny then […]

Carrying on from last week, if you haven’t been videoed doing a presentation lately (or don’t practice your talks in front of the mirror) you may not be aware of what your body language is telling your audience. Your popularity will be determined 55% by this factor alone. Words account for only 7% and your […]

Question time is the death of many a well intended presentation for mainly two reasons: 1. The presenter positions question time at the end of the presentation 2. The presenter is drawn into an argument and becomes defensive. Here are two simple remedies. First, allow yourself time for a strong summary and conclusion after question […]

We worry about the content, we tweak the structure, we spend hours on the slideshow, we lose sleep, and we may even make the time for practise. But we forget this: Most times when you do a presentation, you do it on your subject of expertise. So you need not worry about the content at […]

If someone asks you a question you are unable to answer, admit you can’t, endeavour to find out the answer and then get back to them. Release yourself from the burden of having to know everything, and sieze the opportunuity to demonstrate your honesty and sincerity.

Before you start, ask yourself this question: Why did they come to listen? When you have answered this, you have discovered what it is you need to do. When we present our focus is all too often on ourselves – it shouldn’t be. Your focus needsto be on the needs of your audience, giving them […]

You only really find out the true value of backing up your slideshows when you get stuck without a backup. Here are some suggestions: 1. Back up your most frequently used presentations on a disc (CD or flashdrive preferably) 2. Keep a set of overhead transparancies with you (they may be outdated, but failing all […]