If you’re like most people, you get nervous before a presentation. It’s okay. Even professional speakers occasionally experience presentation anxiety. The difference is in how it’s managed. You can let the anxiety drive you crazy and even affect your performance, or you can meet it head-on and at least subdue it, if not quite conquer … Read more
If you ever have to handle a hostile audience at a meeting or when giving a presentation, here are a few things I learned the hard way. How hard? Like an employee interrupting a CEO’s speech to yell at him and then storming out of the room hard! That experience taught me a lot about … Read more
Virtual presentations have always been hard. Audiences are restless, distracted and can easily tune out since no one’s watching them. But doing a virtual presentation from home is even harder — both presenters and audiences are dealing with isolation, disruptions and limited technology. So if you want to make a real impact and achieve your … Read more
With millions of people working from home right now due to the coronavirus, it’s a safe bet that many of us are going to be leading or taking part in more and more virtual presentations and online meetings. So I put together this 35-minute video tutorial designed to take the pain out of online communication: … Read more
Remember 1999? It was a magical time: The dot-com boom promised an unbroken era of universal prosperity. George Lucas introduced us to Jar Jar Binks, destined to be an all-time fan favorite. And PowerPoint 2000 was released, ushering in a Golden Age of Business Oratory. Yeah, not so much. Maybe Prince was right. Party over, … Read more
There are certain phrases speakers use that set off alarm bells in my head. They signal a lack of preparation, audience focus or commitment to the opportunity. And it is an opportunity. You have a roomful of people who came to hear what you have to say and are hoping it will change their world … Read more
Being a professional speaker has absolutely ruined my ability to watch other people’s presentations. I can’t help but critique them, especially since working with people to improve their presentation skills is a big part of my business. Here are some of my latest pet peeves — the mistakes most presenters make at conferences I attend. … Read more
A few years ago I spelled out my 11 Deadly Presentation Sins — the key factors that can make or break any presentation. But 11 of anything is more than a handful, so I’m often asked to narrow it down to my top three. That always felt like an impossible task. But I’m happy to report that … Read more
A new client came to me with a common problem: she was assigned to deliver a PowerPoint presentation that was created by someone else in her company but that she knew was no good. The slides were data-heavy and the script was boring and not audience-focused. All the recommendations I would normally give were non-starters: … Read more
A British professor recently conducted an informal (and wonderful) study showing that boring speeches are more likely to go longer. (Wouldn’t you know it? The pain of sitting through an awful speech is compounded by time!) His findings point to the importance of brevity and discipline. So here are seven ways you can better focus … Read more