Biesenblog
Riveting Insights on Communication, Storytelling and Presentation Skills
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How to Use Video to Improve Your Presentation Skills
One of the best ways to improve your presentation skills is to watch yourself on video. It's not always a pleasant experience to see ourselves as others see us. In fact it's no wonder that the “hide self-view” feature in Zoom is so popular! So if you haven't done it...
Presentation Anxiety? Don’t Forget to Breathe!
If you feel presentation anxiety before stepping up to the podium or lose your composure when something goes wrong, there’s one important thing you can do to calm yourself. Best of all, it’s simple. It something you do thousands of times every day without even thinking about it. If you...
The Gladwell Method: The Route to Powerful Storytelling
If you want to tell more powerful stories that engage and persuade, try what I call the “Malcolm Gladwell Method.” The celebrated author didn’t invent this style — in fact, PR pros will recognize it as plain old feature journalism — but it’s a great way to grab audiences from...
6 Tips for Handling Negative Feedback
Handling negative feedback is always hard, whether it’s after a presentation, in a performance review or via a passing comment from a colleague or friend. Sometimes it's enough to make you question your worth or even your very identity. (Is that the way people see me? Am I bad person?) I...
How to Connect: A Tale of Two Sidneys
When adults used to ask my tall-for-his-age son where he went to school, his answer would perplex them. "I go to B4," he'd say. They'd look at me quizzically, probably wondering, "Before? "Before what?" I'd explain that B4 was his room number at pre-school. Now to him, that was a...
A Speech is Like a Christmas Tree
With the coming holiday season I’m reminded that a corporate speech is like a Christmas tree. You don’t need to celebrate Christmas to understand the analogy — you just need to have spent a few moments working on a big presentation inside a company or other organization. Is it going...
Boost Your Creativity: 7 Tips
Time and again I hear people say, “I’m just not a creative person.” Nonsense. You’re more creative than you think. You just need to break through some of the common barriers we put in our own way. Here are seven tips to help you boost your creativity. 1. Overcome Your...
6 Tips For Returning to In-person Presentations
Remember what a shock it was in 2020 to be thrown into the world of virtual presenting? It was definitely an adjustment for me, and I’ve been doing virtual for over a decade. And now we’re living in the “in-between” — some of us returning to in-person presentations, some not...
Eulogy for My Mother
This summer, on my mother's birthday, we held a memorial service honoring and celebrating her life. This is the eulogy I delivered. I’ve long felt that my mother was born at least a decade early. As the Baby Boomers dominated popular culture, more than once I heard her remark, ruefully,...
5 Keys to a Pitch-Perfect Presentation
How often has this happened to you? You’re watching one of your leaders or clients speak at an event and they’re absolutely bombing. Yet they go on and on, oblivious to the palpable restlessness, confusion or annoyance in the room. How do they not recognize what’s obvious to all of...
Win Business and Influence People Through Public Speaking
Sharing your wisdom from the stage at professional and industry conferences and other venues is one of the best ways to raise your profile, advance your career or boost your business. Public speaking will get you noticed and help build your reputation as an expert. And that can attract all...
How to Control Your Emotions When Speaking: 10 Tips
Even in the best of times, it can be hard to control our emotions. But we haven’t been living in the best of times. Most of us have experienced some level of stress or even trauma as a result of the pandemic. So it’s natural to be feeling a little...