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So, Um, Er Stop! Avoiding common presentation pitfalls

17th June 2019 in /by

“SO! Before I begin, I’d like to start today by saying thanks to everyone for coming. Today I’m going to talk to you about… is this thing on?… Oh yes. Before I begin, can everybody hear me ok?… I’ll take that as a yes. So, let’s crack on as I know some of you are […]

Harnessing the power of language

13th May 2019 in /by

A fact about the South American country of Suriname – the lingua franca of 500,000 inhabitants of this country is Sranan Tongo, also known as Taki Taki. Why is that relevant? Because Taki Taki, is listed as the language with the fewest words, at only 340. By comparison English, widely recognised as the language using […]

Effective Presentation? Sometimes, Less is More…

24th April 2019 in /by

“Do you have any tips for improving slide presentations?” is a question that has come up on several occasions in recent times. Powerpoint, Prezi, Haiku Deck, Pickit… there are many presentation packages out there offering great user options but we must never forget that at the business end of every great presentation tool is the […]

A Good Technical Presentation. Is it Possible?

27th February 2019 in /by

Hello, good morning and welcome to my technical presentation. Please turn off your phones, settle back and prepare to spend the next 45 minutes to an hour being bored out of your mind… Not the best introduction, I know, and one that, in my experience at least, has never been used as an opening salvo […]

Believing in What You Say

14th January 2019 in /by

It’s crunch time for Theresa May and her Brexit vision this week when she will be hoping for a miracle in the form of a Parliamentary majority that backs her deal. According to a recent poll, 70% of MPs think Mrs May has done a bad job of negotiating with the EU, however there is […]

Find Your Edge For Optimum Presentation

4th December 2018 in /by

I have often written on here about the need to prepare for an effective presentation. It is a mantra I urge every professional stepping up to the podium to adopt! However, in this blog I am going to consider the disadvantages of being too prepared. That’s an oxymoron right? Well yes, but no! I stand […]

The Secret to a Good Theresa May Speech

2nd October 2018 in /by

Theresa May is back in action at the Tory party conference this week and is probably now running through her lines as she prepares her keynote speech. The eyes of the many will be on the Prime Minister as she takes to the podium on Wednesday. If there was ever a time to pull a […]

Making a Fortune From Public Speaking

10th September 2018 in /by

Motivational speaking is a real skill and I recommend watching some of the most popular speakers currently doing the circuit. More often than not they are not breaking ground with anything particularly new, but have the knack of being able to inspire with a fresh twist. There are always presentational lessons to be learned from […]

Small Talk Tips for Holiday Parties

31st July 2018 in /by

Summertime and the livin’ is easy… at least according to the 25,000+ recordings that have been made of this classic George Gershwin number which he wrote in 1936. However skip forward a tad over 80 years and one wonders if the livin’ is so easy as it once was. Back then, for example, there was […]

Brexit. Give to us straight!

3rd July 2018 in /by

Social media loves the sort of meme that shows a group of photos with accompanying captions stating;  ‘What society thinks I do’, ‘What my friends think I do’ etc, ending with a self deprecating ‘What I really do.’ The Government got served with one last week, courtesy of TV hard man Danny Dyer. For any […]

Using the Head to Win Big

21st June 2018 in /by

Have you come down with World Cup fever yet? It is an affliction that tends to afflict the non-football crowd just as much as the football crowd every four years. Inevitably there can only be one World Cup winner and from 32 nations competing, 31 will be feeling the pain at some point in the […]