You can find Michelle Cederberg on Twitter @Cederbergspeaks Do you ever find yourself struggling to hit a decent balance between all the activities and responsibilities you have on your plate and the energy you have to actually do all those things? Heavens knows I do, and I know plenty of others who do as well. The frustration…
Is your speech plagued by umms, ahs, and other pointless filler words like “so, like, y’know,” etc? I’ve got a question from Tamara on this very common issue: Hi Lauren – I find myself saying “um” and “ah” a lot when I give a presentation, and I hate it! It’s distracting and makes me…
The first few minutes of your speech or talk are critical. Putting together a really solid opener can be tricky, and Ian is looking for advice on how to create stronger openers will grab his audience’s attention from the start: Hi Lauren, My name is Ian, and I’m in the financial sector. I give lots…
You can find Roger Haskett on Twitter @rogerhaskett Communication is all about connection. If you want to get people to want to genuinely connect with you, then you have to figure out how to engage them first. Engagement can be something of a buzzword, especially in today’s corporate environment. But to help us deconstruct…
So you made a mistake during your presentation. Even if the rest of the presentation goes great, it’s the mistakes that get burned into our brain. Yes, everyone makes mistakes, but how to you get over a mistake when the memory of it makes you want to hide with shame? It’s important to figure this…
What does your pre-presentation stress look like? I’ve been speaking for many years. I’ve spoken to big audience and small, for teeny local associations and big international corporations. And I still get stressed. Somewhere between T-20 hours and the time I arrive at the venue, I morph from my usual energetic, cheerful self into…
It’s a presenter’s nightmare: some jerk in the audience decides to give you a hard time, asking impossible questions, challenging everything you say, making snarky comments, and trying to make you look like an idiot. Congratulations – you’ve got a heckler. Hecklers can really throw you off your game, and it happened to Laura who…
You can find David Papp on Twitter @DavidPapp Whatever it is you do, you’ve been impacted by communication technology in some way, shape, or form. And the rate of change in communication tech right now is staggering. It usually leaves us with a lot of questions like “What sort of apps am I supposed to…
You’re about to give a talk. You’ve practiced, you think you’re ready, but then…your heart starts to pound, your mouth gets dry and your hands get sweaty, your brain goes blank, and you feel like throwing up. What’s going on? Welcome to the wonderful world of speaker’s anxiety manifested in the famous “Flight or Fight”…
How much time should I spend on my presentations? This is the wrong question to ask. A better question to start with would be “What kind of presentation do I need to give? Is this a utility presentation, one I’ve give loads of time and am already familiar with? Or am I creating…
