Are you tired of feeling nervous before giving a presentation? Are you worn out from spending hours preparing and practicing only to feel like your performance falls short? Well, have no fear! Contrary to what you might think, there are many benefits to not overcoming your fear of public speaking. Let's look at Read More
Elevator Pitch
Common Mistakes Speakers Make
A "Presentation Without Mistakes" is a speaker's goal. That rarely happens. No speaker is perfect and even the most seasoned ones, who regularly stand before audiences, will make mistakes in their presentations. Being aware of what to avoid helps. Some of the most common ones are: Not preparing enough: Read More
VOCAL CUES Are Important Because . . .
They can help listeners understand the meaning of words and the intentions behind them. Vocal cues are aspects of speech that convey meaning or convey information about a speaker's attitudes, emotions, or intentions. These can include things like tone of voice, pronunciation, enunciation, pausing, volume, pitch, and pace Read More
Everyone is NOT Going to Like Your Presentation!
No matter how good your material and how well you delivered it, there will be some in the audience who will give your talk a failing grade. IF . . . You researched your topic well and know it enough to have "Confidence in your Competence." You practiced multiple times. (My Ultimate Practice Tip is HERE.) IF Read More
Stand Out From Others By – SPEAKING!
Because Many Won't! Picture this: You’re at a meeting, seminar, or event and the leader asks, "Does anyone have something to say?" Yes, you do have something important to communicate. You practiced in your mind’s eye, out loud, and maybe even recorded yourself. You start to raise your hand, but . . . You don’t. That Read More
Five Slide Presentation Mistakes
DON'T Make Them! 1. Lots of Text and Bullet Points No one comes to read your presentation. If they are reading it, they are usually ahead of the bullet point you are discussing. There is a dis-connect and they won't get the point of your message. 2. Templates with noisy backgrounds, logos, and multiple lines of Read More
FAQ for Handling Questions!
Questions & Answers: LOTS of Opportunities for MISTAKES 1. WHEN In your Opening, tell your audience when and how you'll be handling questions. Two Possibilities: 1. Take a few questions after each section, but only on that section, and before closing. 2. At the end of your presentation before the Read More
So They GET Your Elevator Speech, . . .
Make it Clear, Concise, and Consistent If people hearing your Elevator Speech aren't 100% sure about what you do. They won't hire you. They won't refer you. So they know WHO you are and WHAT you do, your Elevator Speech should be: Clear Use simple language and words. We don't impress people Read More
Less is often MORE!
For Presentations, Sometimes WAY MORE! From Wicktionary, and spot on for this post: That which is of smaller quantity could be of higher quality. That which is less complicated is often better understood and more appreciated than what is more complicated. Brevity in communication is more effective than Read More
Keep Your Audience’s Attention by . . .
Doing These Three Things! Transcript Fred Miller, NO SWEAT Public Speaking! One of the challenges a speaker has is keeping the attention of the audience. We have the attention span of a gnat! If you lose the audience, they're never gonna get your message. Here Are Three Ways To Combat That. Number One: After your Read More