Standing up and speaking before an audience is a scary thing. Many people ask me how can I control my nerves. How can I be more confident when I am public speaking, and how to appear more confident when feeling nervous? Other people want to improve their public speaking style by presenting without notes, or by standing away from the lectern or by …
There is nothing worse than getting a difficult question, left field question or one that is a little off topic after you have presented your talk. Or is there? How about being part of a question and answer panel of experts and getting a question that you can not answer, is left field and a little off topic and you …
When we do public speaking we often try and create a vision for our audience to improve our communication skills. A vision of what we want to achieve, a vision of where we want to go or a vision of a better future. It is this vision that will help an audience to decide to follow you, accept your way …
All of us at some stage will face those difficult conversations, those pointy ended discussions that we would rather avoid than have to deal with. And in these conversations, it is so easy to blame others and not take ownership for our own contribution when dealing with these difficult situations or with people we find challenging. Every difficult conversation, difficult …
Congruence in communication and public speaking is very important, as it adds to your authenticity, credibility and rapport with your audience. As a speaker congruence in communication helps build trust and connection. They say that “people buy from people they know, like and trust”. I also think that “people listen and learn from people they know, like and trust.” Congruence …
A smile is such a simple thing to do for effective public speaking. And a smile is so powerful when public speaking. Charles Garfield used to coach the Russian Olympic weight-lifting team. He noticed that when the team members had lifted as much as they could, to the point of exhaustion, they would invariably grimace and frown and screw up …
