Internalise don’t Memorise
If you’re preparing for a talk or an interview, and you write down the exact words that you want to say first and then try and remember them in the event, you’ve potentially got an issue.
05Jun
08May
Asking Questions
When you give a presentation, do you ask enough questions? Even if they’re rhetorical questions, many people don't have enough questions in their presentations. It's simply a series of statements. And the higher level thinking or the more familiar the topic, the more involved we are, the less easier it is to remember that sometimes we need to flip and turn a statement into a rhetorical question. For example, I was working with a client in sustainability who had some incredible stats, that she simply clicked through to on the slides and… there they were. And that was a perfect moment, which we...
24Apr
Grounded Triangle Pose
Grounded triangle pose: a technique for you if you're nervous or know you lack presence. When you speak it's easy to become what I call "a head on a stick". You might rush because of enthusiasm, too much content, or nervousness. You might not want to pause in case you forget your next point… or you're worried that the audience might think you've forgotten! When this happens, our centre of gravity rises: imagine an inverted triangle from your head to your core. You make it all about your thinking brain, and you won't be very well grounded.
What we want instead
What we're after...
27Mar
To Sound Authentic, Use Spoken Language, Not Written
If you ever prepare a script before an event - maybe you're doing a presentation, speech, or video voiceover - you want to make sure it's created for your audience's ears, not their eyes!
I still come across many instances where clients speak but it doesn't sound natural, because they sat down and wrote what they wanted to say first...then read that out exactly as written. This often means that they push through densely packed or complicated language or sentence structure, often getting tangled up along the way. It's disconnecting and disconcerting for the audience. And potentially for you: you know as you're...
12Mar
How strong is your mind-to-mouth connection?
One of the things we’re always aiming for when we speak is to be clear. Sometimes to be impactful as well, but definitely to be clear.
[Video content is below, too, if you prefer to watch.] And one of the key reasons that we don’t achieve this clarity goal is when our mouth is ahead of our mind: we don't have a strong mind-to-mouth connection. When our mouth is running the show, any of these issues can happen. I'm sure you'll recognise yourself in at least one of them! Most people do at least one of these on a regular basis. We: Ramble ...
28Feb
Do you Prefer “I feel” or “I think” when you Speak? And Why it Matters.
Speaking with a younger client hoping for promotion this week, she was telling me about meeting a partner in her firm to discuss her concerns about a team process.
And I noticed in her retelling of the conversation with him that she was continually using “I feel” and “I felt” to describe what she was observing. Even though there were feelings involved on her part, using this language can be a concern for a few reasons: For us. Saying “I feel” - it’s personal. It’s closer to us. We are actually priming ourselves to attach more strongly to the idea we’re expressing. This...
12Feb
Don’t fight reality when speaking in public
Many of my clients try to fight or deny the reality of their situation when they have a presentation or important event coming up. And I've found, interestingly, that while it’s more for fearful or anxious clients, it's also common with highly confident clients who lack the time or focus to devote to their talks or presentations. Fighting your reality plays out in three different timeframes. You may recognise all, or just one of them:
1st: leading up to the event.
You procrastinate and put off preparing your slide deck or notes. In fact you may not give yourself any thinking time at...
21Sep
Start Speaking Strongly – Simple Tip
Start Speaking Strongly
A video tip for you today on starting cleanly and precisely in a way that can potentially give you more impact if you're chairing a meeting or emceeing an event or you're giving a presentation. https://vimeo.com/sarahdenholm/start-strongly?share=copy It's probably something you've never thought of before, and it's an easy one to try. This will work in all sorts of scenarios too - even socially. And if you're a nervous speaker who's never quite sure what's going to come out of your mouth when you start to speak, it will definitely help you too. Keep your mouth closed, literally, until the first words have...
06Apr
How Far Does your Energy Reach as a Speaker?
How Far Does your Energy Reach as a Speaker?
Does your energy reach your audience? If you're nervous, or a low-key or particularly introverted speaker, you'll probably find that you're not expanding your energy (or voice) towards your audience in a big enough way. Of course I'm talking about being live in a room with an audience - a meeting or presentation for example. However this can also apply when you're sitting in front of a Teams or Zoom meeting. If you're nervous, or a quieter personality, it's likely that what you're signalling isn't strong enough for your audience to pick up and...
09Dec