All the preparation in the world will not save you from unpleasant stress if something goes wrong with your set-up for a presentation and you’re running out of time. I strongly suggest one or both of the following: 1. Give yourself an “additional time cushion” of 30 minutes for traffic/set-up. 2. Where possible have your […]

Nervousness is displayed by different people in different ways. Some sweat and shake, others fidget, some use repeated irritators (like “basically or “OK?”) and some people shuffle their feet. One of the keys to eliminating the irritators is to remain aware of what you are actually doing, instead of just focussing on the content of […]

For some reason we all seem to feel a sense of being under scrutiny when we speak in front of people, that they’re just waiting for us to “mess up” so that they can fall about laughing at us. If you were an audience member, is this the way you would approach a presentation? Probably […]

In truth it’s an Oscar Wilde quote that touches the heart of what we’re all afraid of, but desperately need – constructive criticism. “A true friend stabs you in the front.” – Oscar Wilde. Others will see what we can not see objectively no matter how hard we try – mainly because we usually do […]

Do your homework: Your selection of the correct attire for a presentation will go a long way in making you feel at ease at the start of your presentation. But what is the correct attire? Try to establish ahead of time how the majority of your audience will be attired, and dress one step up, […]

The most important thing… We spend most of our preparation time putting together the structure of our presentation and creating a visually pleasing show. What we should be spending most of our time on is ourselves. Because no slide show can persuade. Only you can do that.

Believing you can [2]. Stop and think of the significance of this statement for a moment: All people can talk when they get mad – Dale Carnegie. It follows then that we speak best when we lose our inhibitions. If nervousness is one of your barriers to public speaking, this could be a key focus […]

You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere.

The most important tool you can give yourself for pulling off a successful meeting or presentation is trust in your own ability grounded in self belief. In some, this happens quickly, in others it takes a little longer. But through patience, practice and perseverance this advantage is available to every one of us. The tragedy […]

The best, the second best, and the worst. The worst thing ever invented for presentations is the electronic visual presentation, better known as Death-by-PowerPoint, although it may just as easily be Freelance Graphics. Of course, I’m really referring to electronic visuals used badly, which is how most presenters use them. This also makes electronic presentations […]