opening your speech - Improve Your Public Speaking Presentation and Influence Skills Training Coaching Melbourne Australia

03Oct

Two Great Ways to Open your Talk, Especially if you’re Nervous

Make your Audience Think to Focus and Engage Them The opening of your presentation is often the part where you're most nervous or self-conscious. You're faced with pairs of eyes looking at you, the audience feels like it's one big stare, and you're not enjoying the sudden attention. What can you do to take some of the unwanted focus off yourself, and create an engaging, effective start to your speech? Here are two ways which really work: Make a statement Ask a question Keep reading, because I probably haven't convinced you that these ideas are all that startling or great just yet! I'll explain why they...

By Sarah DenholmAudience Management, Content, Mindset, Overcoming Nerves, Public Speaking and Presentation Skills Blog, Selling, Structureaudience focus, engaging presentation, engaging speech openings, opening of talk, opening your speech, using questions during presentation2 CommentsRead more...

08Aug

7 Ways NOT to Open your Presentation

The opening of your talk is crucial: your main goal is to capture your audience's attention and show them why they should listen to you. It also sets the tone and direction of your presentation. This is often the time where you're most edgy, and the audience is most focused on you, so you don't want to get it wrong! So with that mind, here are some suggestions for what NOT to do at the opening of your speech. With these tips, I'm assuming that you're speaking to a group for the first time, or one which you don't know very...

By Sarah DenholmAudience Management, Content, Delivery, Public Speaking and Presentation Skills Blog, Structureapologising at start of presentations, audience attention, audience focus, good public speaking, opening of talk, opening your speech, rapport building public speaking, using jokes in public speaking, visual aid0 CommentsRead more...

26Jul

How to Open a Business Presentation Strongly

Business presentations need a strong opening, without being dramatic or hyped-up. When a more punchy, 'wow' opening is required for a group, there are various ways to do it: you could ask a powerful question, give a startling statistic, or tell a short anecdote, to name just a few. But if you're giving a quarterly update to your team, or presenting to senior management, for example, these openings are not appropriate. In this case, you need to deliver a solid, clear, concise position statement that connects your content to your audience: why you're all there in the room or virtual space. The opening sets the tone...

By Sarah Denholmbusiness meetings, Content, Public Speaking and Presentation Skills Blog, Structureaudience attention, business presentations, opening your speech, presenting senior management, speech content, starting your speech0 CommentsRead more...

12Apr

Mind-trick That Can Help With Public Speaking Fear

Here's a mind-trick for public speaking fear that many of my clients have found very useful. Imagine that you've just given a talk and it's gone well. You're now successfully on the other side of it, and have just been congratulated by your boss...or you phone your friend and tell them that it went well. This mind-trick - imagining that you've already successfully presented your talk - can work really well to counteract the negative, pessimistic thoughts or images which will inevitably surface at some point before you get up to speak (unless you're a supremely confident speaker, in which case...

By Sarah DenholmMindset, Overcoming Nerves, Public Speaking and Presentation Skills Blog, Rehearsalfearful public speakers, good public speaking, negative thoughts public speaking, opening your speech, positive outcome public speaking, practice public speaking, prepared for presentation, preparing talk, presentation skills, procrastinating about practising your presentation0 CommentsRead more...

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