Delivery

16Nov

The Value of Volume When You Speak

What do I mean by the value of volume? The amount of sound we make when speaking in public has impact far beyond simply people being able to hear us. And it doesn't matter if you're highly experienced, or new and nervous: working with aspects of volume is a great way to access greater courage or presence. 1. Let's look at volume and nerves first: If you're anxious, your system tends to shrink and contract. And you may recognise any of these as a result: low breath, low energy, mind-blanks. This contraction happens to both your mind and your body...one follows the other: and the...

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18Aug

Speaking Too Fast When Presenting

If you find that you're regularly speaking too fast when presenting, there can be many reasons for this. Nerves, enthusiasm for your topic, or your natural speaking style are just a few. And when this happens and your mouth is moving faster than your brain, it's easy to feel out of control and say something you don't intend to, stumble or make mistakes. Is this typically you when you speak? You can end up gabbling and accelerating, sometimes chaotically, to the end. And breathing properly? Demonstrating presence? Forget that! Presence doesn't exist when we're not present - and rushing means exactly that. Instead,...

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02Jun

A Key Audience Engagement Piece

Want to engage your audiences more effectively? Remember this key point: the audience nearly always takes their cue from us. If we want them to be more than just informed by our presentation - and we usually do - we need to enable them to follow our lead easily. To motivate, lift, persuade or inspire...all of these need us as the speaker to model that behaviour. I'm not talking about being over the top - unless that's your style. Often quite subtle tweaks make all the difference. Here's how to think of it: An example from music I once worked with a conductor (in my...

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04May

Exhaustive Detail = Exhausted Audience

Exhaustive detail = exhausted audience! If you've ever been in an audience and suffered through a stuffed - and possibly rushed - presentation, you'll probably relate to today's topic in exhaustive detail Cramming too much content into a talk or presentation is a bit like somebody feeding us, and continuing to put food into our mouth before we get the chance to swallow…let alone digest! We end up feeling bloated, distracted and uncomfortable. So if we now flip perspective, and you're the speaker or presenter: do you ever find yourself stuffing too much in? Cantering to the finish line to try to get through everything? I used to do...

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27Jan

To Influence, Think White Space, Not White Noise

To influence, think white space, not white noise Just as visual white space designed into documents and slides is a very good thing, so is verbal white space in meetings, presentations and conversations. Visual white space allows the content to breathe and to be digested without cognitive strain. Verbal white space does exactly the same. Ideas and solutions need room to be conjured up, and to be heard. White space in this sense could be seen as a metaphor for communication opportunities. How often do we get white noise instead? It's everywhere nowadays! So much certainty, so much content being churned out. It's relentless. And...

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09Dec

To persuade, check your tone

To persuade, check your 'tone'. How often do you focus on your tone of voice when you're trying to persuade? One of the issues that can turn people off without you even being aware of it, is speaking in a tone that sounds pessimistic or resigned. Thinking of it as a tone 'scale': Resignation and pessimism on one end, versus enthusiasm and energy on the other - where do you usually sit on that scale? It's easy to be concerned about appearing pushy, "too much" or even cheesy! And we certainly need to be aware of all of those things. But in an effort to...

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07Oct

2 Things To Consume Before Public Speaking

We all know the importance of practising before we give a presentation or talk. But sometimes you may not be so aware that what we eat and drink can have a big impact on our performance too. So today I want to give you some tips into 2 things to consume before public speaking, and why they're so important. And if you skim this post and think you know these tips already: you might just find a couple of tweaks that can make even more of a difference. 1. Water Pretty obvious one, right? We need to stay hydrated to think clearly. And also...

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05Aug

Do you Struggle with Too Much Content?

Do you struggle with too much content when you present? A presentation (a talk or speech also apply here) isn’t the best way to deliver a lot of content, it’s actually very inefficient. The brain isn't designed to take in a whole of information coming at it rapidly, as we know. Particularly nowadays! A good or great presentation or talk is about communicating something where you add value by showing up. You're enhancing and interpreting the information in your own voice and delivery style...and the audience needs you as interpreter. Otherwise why be there? Your audience needs space This is especially important if...

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03Jun

Smile Styles Send Signals When Communicating

Smiling when we communicate. Seems simple, doesn’t it? I used to think so! Yet our 'smile styles' send signals when communicating. And while I don't want to over-complicate things, there are definitely some signals that you want to be aware of, if you're not already. These can apply whether you're communicating to a group, or 1:1. Smile Styles We don’t just smile to convey happiness or warmth of course...we do polite, nervous, embarrassed, ingratiating or submissive smiles too (and more). Some consequences and pitfalls of our different ‘smile styles’: Smiling too little or not at all.  We may forget to smile when it would be a very...

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11Feb

Adding Silence When you Speak – Don’t Stuff Your Audience

How well do you get on with adding silence when you speak to groups? It's not always easy to do, and something I've had to learn and still occasionally remind myself about. I used to cram my talks full of content and worry about running out of time. If you can separate your presentation or talk from you and see it as a living, external entity - it needs space to breathe. So do you. (Especially if you're nervous; even though it's counter-intuitive and all you want to do is get the whole thing over with.) And so does your audience. Let's talk specific timeframes If you're...

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