Managers often come to us and ask how they can help their team members get a handle on the nervousness they experience when presenting. This isn’t surprising, of course, since this type of nervousness is a real issue for a lot of people. We all experience it differently and to varying degrees, but the reality...
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As you know, if you’ve ever participated in one of our workshops, we talk a lot about the use of engagement skills, eye contact, and pausing. We say that using these skills to engage listeners in the conversation reduces nervousness, brings listeners into the conversation, and helps you avoid the hazards of a canned performance....
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Recently I had a lively phone call with a potential client. It was clear that he had done his homework on us and our competitors and had prepared some tough questions for me. Here’s my favorite question: “What’s the biggest barrier you face when working with people in your workshops?” I love this question. My...
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When we’re working with trainers on their facilitation skills, one of the common issues we see is the trainer’s attempt to get to the “right” answer as quickly as possible. No matter how subtle or complex the question might be, many trainers are frantic to get past A so they can get on to B. We’re...
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For the past few weeks, I’ve been doing a lot of writing. My writing project is a book for business presenters. It began as a simple update and expansion of the Reference Guide (the booklet we give participants in our presentation workshops), but the scope of it expanded to the point where I’m now writing...
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QUESTION: According to most public speaking experts, the first 30 seconds of a speech are extremely crucial for the success of a presentation. So, what’s the best way to start a presentation? ANSWER: We get this question a lot in our presentation skills workshops. I also read similar questions on discussion boards on LinkedIn. Unfortunately,...
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