Once upon a time … My Favourite Story Opening
Today I wish to change how you think about public speaking. It’s not a chore to be feared; it’s an opportunity to be grasped. I dislike anything to do with Excel and Accounts. I keep putting this type of work off until the last minute and then do it under pressure, increasing my distaste for the […]
Let’s BAN the words Presentation, Pitch, Lecture, Sermon!
During the pandemic, I decided to educate myself on online presenting as technology is not my strong suit. Using various platforms such as Zoom, Meet, Teams, etc., screen sharing became very popular during the pandemic. They’re all different in subtle ways and each has its peculiarities. I needed to familiarize myself with them all, as […]
The Secret to Being a Great Communicator
Humility is a trait that endears speakers to an audience. On Saturday, in my golf club, the prizes for our Order of Merit competition were presented to the winners. The winner of the men’s Order of Merit acceptance speech was an example of how to be modest while at the same time acknowledging his achievement […]
The BUZZ is coming back
Post pandemic, what am I looking forward to? I’m looking forward to live audiences again; online is fine and serves its purpose, but nothing beats speaking to a group of people and feeding off their energy. Which in turn excites and energizes me to be more creative and provide value to my audience. I will not miss all the restrictions around my personal life. However, […]
The “Fly Me to the Moon” Pitch
Pitching Skill Workshop: “Fly me to the Moon Let me play among the stars Let me see what life is like on Jupiter and Mars In other words,” … Words & Music by Bart Howard 1954 Excite me Today I will show you how to create a pitch that excites both customers and investors. This […]
Stop Selling – Help People to BUY!!
(Are you a reluctant salesperson?) More often than not, the people I work with would not describe themselves as salespeople; they are ‘C suite’ people, or highly technical skilled people who are now expected to sell. Is this why they went to college, got a degree and created a level of experience in the workplace? Yet it’s the experience they have gained along the way which is the highly valuable attribute […]
A Pitch – the 5 Minute Trailer of Your Movie
Pitching Skill Workshop: Pitching Tips & Skills to Master I find that creatives in the visual arts and spoken word are often the most challenged when it comes to pitching for sales or investment. What they do is set aside all the creative skills they have, while attempting to be salespeople! Their creativity, imagination, visualization skills get put aside […]
People Love Stories
Storytelling in Business – My story, once upon a time … Yesterday I met my client for our final preparation session before he goes to speak at a farming conference in the UK. Which he believes will provide a good opportunity to grow his business in Britain and support the staff he already employs over […]
Stand-Up, Start-Up or Senior Executive? – Humour is the KEY to Audience engagement
I am back Recently I attended an event where I met an old friend who I had not met in some 10 years. Firstly, he told me of a tragic event in his life some time ago. And then to my amazement, he spoke about how my articles in some small way had been a […]
Do slides add or detract from your presentation?
Harvard University says they detract! “Harvard just discovered that PowerPoint is worse than useless”, article by Geoffrey James, Contributing Editor, INC.com “PowerPoint was rated (by online audience) as no better than verbal presentation with no visual aids (ouch)” Let me give you my view, based on twenty years as both presenter and coaching presenters to […]