8 tips to make your eye contact more powerful
December 2, 2009
Even a newbie at public speaking knows they should make eye contact.
But the term eye contact is rather vague. It can infer just making fleeting “contact” with a person then moving on. Don’t make eye contact – make “eye connection”. Eye connection means spending time with each person so that person feels like you’re just talking to them. Eye connection has two major benefits:
- People in your audience will feel that you have genuinely connected with them and that you care about their reaction.
- Because you’re talking to people as if you were in a one-on-one conversation, you’ll come across as conversational. That makes you easy to listen to and engaging.
How getting in the beam makes you a better presenter
September 17, 2009
Public speaking and presenting are full of silly rules. One such silly rule is that you shouldn’t walk into into the beam of the projector. I disagree – it can be incredibly effective to get in the beam.
Hans Rosling gets in the beam
Why you should get in the beam
How Obama could eliminate his ums (and so could you)
May 26, 2009
A number of high-profile presentation bloggers and authors have commented recently on Barack Obama’s speaking style – when he doesn’t have his teleprompter in front of him.
In interview settings particularly, and other informal communication situations he has a lot of non-words (ums and ahs) and his eyes cast down more often than not. These are not the hallmark behaviors of a leader. Pausing and looking directly, always, will correct these confidence leaking distractions.
How to prevent and recover from mind blanks
May 7, 2009
Are you concerned that you might suffer a mind blank during a presentation? The fear of a mind blank can be a large part of the fear of public speaking for many people. It happened to Sally Field in her Emmy Acceptance speech in 2007:
How can you avoid this happening to you? [Read more]
Little-used methods to make the delivery of your PowerPoint stand out
May 1, 2009
There’s a revolution in the design of PowerPoint slides, but not the delivery.
Most speakers still rely on their slides to cue them. They click, they talk, click, talk, click, talk…
Here are five methods that will make the delivery of your PowerPoint presentation stand out.
1. The Reinforce method
You don’t have to slow down to be an effective presenter
April 24, 2009
Have you been told to slow down when you’re presenting?
There’s only one legitimate reason for slowing down. That’s if you go so fast that your words get blurred. Otherwise there’s nothing wrong with speaking fast. Watch this video of Gary Vaynerchuk – would you want him to slow down?
This is the way Gary speaks. He’s being himself.
If you’re a naturally fast speaker and you try and slow yourself down, you won’t be being yourself. It will be an effort for you and you’re unlikely to come across as natural and conversational. Speak the way you normally would in a conversation.
8 states of mind that will make you a more compelling presenter
April 22, 2009
I believe in the inside-out method of presenting.
Rather than thinking about what I’m doing on the outside eg: a specific gesture or movement, I choose what’s going on inside – my state of mind. My state of mind is the biggest influence on how I come across.
Different states of mind work for different people. So here’s a selection of states that may work for you. Experiment with them and see what works best for you.
If you’re nervous
6 ways to engage your audience through the social channel
February 24, 2009
Just as we have a verbal channel for words and a visual channel for images, we have a social channel for non-verbal signals.
That’s the big idea of Alex Pentland’s book “Honest Signals”.
Alex Pentland is a professor at MIT Media Lab. He and his team have used a specially designed digital sensor called a sociometer to monitor and analyze non-verbal signals between people. Pentland calls them “honest signals” because we send them out unconsciously and therefore they’re difficult to fake. His research shows the great influence this social channel has over our communications.
In my work as a presentation trainer, I emphasize the importance of having well-organized, logical and engaging content ie: the verbal channel. When I first started reading this book I felt a little unnerved – would this research refute my approach.
How to inspire an audience like Nick Vujicic
January 11, 2009
Watch this video and be inspired.
Nick Vujicic is an amazing man. His ability to shift the audience’s emotions is something else. And with the hardest audience – hundred of teenagers in a school gym.
Within seconds he’s created fun, excitement, and laughter. He’s got them. He shifts to sombre and serious. And then inspires them.
How to project your voice
November 1, 2008
A reader has asked:
I always feel that I am not able to project my voice and articulate the words properly. Is there any material / information on how I can improve these areas?
Presenters often want advice on projecting their voice. They see voice projection as a solution to not talking loud enough. But when I work with presenters who say they want to project their voice, I hardly ever end up teaching them that – because we solve the problem in other ways.
So I want to backtrack. First, let’s look at whether there is a problem. [Read more]
