COMMUNICATE YOU BLOG
Fearless Speaking
Tips from Ireland’s Top Coaches (Part 1)
This article is a very special one for Communicate You blog. I’ve gathered together some of Ireland’s leading public speaking and presentation coaches to garner some top tips and advice. Here are some of the topics covered in the post: Advice for a beginner speaker Dealing with stage fright Connecting with an audience Catherine Moonan […]
6 Steps to Successful Public Speaking
When faced with delivering a speech or presentation many of us worry about what we are going to say or how the audience will react… But trust me, there is no need to be worried! My aim with this post is to present a simple, yet hugely effective method that you can apply to help you prepare and deliver well structured, […]
Talking About Toastmasters
Toastmasters International is a worldwide organisation devoted to public speaking. The first club was started by Ralph Smedley in California in 1924 at a local YMCA to meet the need for speech and leadership training for young men. His initial “Ten Lessons in Public Speaking” still forms the core of the Toastmasters educational program as […]
Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking
Numerous studies confirm what most of us already know: People fear speaking in public. In one academic study, over 40% of people claim public speaking is their biggest fear. With this blog post my aim is to address two important questions: Why do people fear speaking in public? What can you do to overcome the fear? To overcome the fear of public speaking, we must first […]
Preparing a Speech
Public Speaking: How I Prepare
Think about the situation. Your boss at work has just asked you to do a presentation at next week’s meeting about a key milestone the company has just achieved. At this stage most people will do one of two things: Instantly open up PowerPoint and start dumping information onto slides Write out a script on paper […]
Rule of Three in Speech Writing
According to a Business Insider article written by Ira Kalb of USC’s School of Business: “Our brains evolved in a way to protect us from harm. As part of our protection system, we like to have choices. We know that if we don’t have choice in a dangerous situation, we may not find a way out of […]
What? So What? Now What?
A powerful way to help you remember the content of any presentation you’re making is to provide a meaningful structure for your content. In fact research has shown that people retain structured information up to 40% more reliably and accurately than information that is presented in a more freeform manner. There are many presentation structures on which you […]
5 Effective Ways to Open Any Speech
In their research for The Definitive Book of Body Language, Allan and Barbara Pease claim that up to 80 percent of an audience’s first impression of a speaker is formed within the first four minutes. When preparing your speech remember that the early period is the peak time of the audience’s engagement level. As a result the opening minutes […]
Speech Delivery
How to Deliver a Technical Presentation
In today’s world, technical people including scientists, engineers, and programmers are being challenged more and more frequently to give presentations to others. And not just to other techies. Often they are speaking to people with little or no technical expertise. Nothing will bore an audience faster than if you jump into a jargon-filled and overly-technical speech. So […]
Public Speaking Secrets of Comedians
There’s no doubt about it – comedians are master public speakers. But why? Let’s try and figure it out. In this blog post I am assessing some of the most common techniques used by comedians to make their shows memorable. The simple five-step formula in this article can help any speaker to transform their presentation. Let’s jump straight in […]
Presentation Lessons from the TED Stage
TED is a nonprofit organisation devoted to spreading ideas, in the form of short, powerful talks. TED began in 1984, where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics, from science to business to global issues, in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities all […]
Ultimate Guide to Body Language 1
Believe it or not, more than fifty percent of everyday communication takes place nonverbally. You are constantly sending nonverbal messages. When you speak in public, your listeners judge you based on what they see, as well as what they hear. Communication is Not Just Verbal You Know! The aim of this blog series is to help you learn to use your entire body […]
Creating Connection
The Ultimate Guide to Storytelling
Let’s picture the scene. You are sitting in an audience waiting for the next presentation to begin. For the past hour your time has been consumed by data, bullets and lots of technical information. Now imagine the next speaker takes to the stage and launches into a PowerPoint presentation full of complex text and cluttered […]
How to Communicate Like Bill Clinton
Watching his performances in later years, it’s easy to forget that former US president Bill Clinton was almost booed off the stage early in his speaking career. At the Democratic Convention of 1988 the relatively unknown Clinton was scheduled to speak for 15 minutes, but droned on for over a half-hour. His biggest applause line came at […]
How to Present Like Steve Jobs
The late Apple CEO Steve Jobs (1955-2011) was well known for his electrifying, inspiring and entertaining presentations. It was Jobs’ unique presentation style — which fans referred to as a “Stevenote” — that helped make his keynotes so impressive. He was equally impressive when he delivered his Stanford commencement speech. The aim of this blog post is to examine […]
How to Connect with Any Audience
If you are a regular Communicate You reader you will probably have realised by now that a speech is just like any other conversation. The speaker (or presenter) is tasked with communicating ideas or information to a person or people, and to do this they need to build rapport and make a connection. But with modern technology, and an onslaught of […]
Visual Aids
How to Create Powerful Visuals 1
Communication is supposed to be about the transfer of emotion. Communication is supposed to be about getting others to adopt your point of view, to help them understand why you’re excited (or sad, or optimistic or whatever else you are.) Communication is not supposed to be about Death by PowerPoint! With this blog series my […]
6 Websites for Free PowerPoint Templates
Still the king when it comes to presentation software, Microsoft PowerPoint was born in 1990 (the same year as me as it happens!). Today an estimated 350 presentations are given each second across the globe, using PowerPoint. Visual aids, such as PowerPoint, are exactly what it says on the tin – something you layer over a message to aid the […]
A Death By PowerPoint Experience
Microsoft PowerPoint was born in 1990 (the same year as me as it happens!) and today an estimated 350 PowerPoint presentations are given each second across the globe. PowerPoint’s share of the presentation software market remains a healthy 95 percent, leaving relative newcomers Apple Keynote, Google Presentation, Prezi, and SlideRocket in the shade, according to a study by Meinald […]
How to Use Props in Presentations
As a public speaker you are essentially a performer and you have an obligation to use whatever means necessary to get your message across. So let’s experiment! The term “PROP” is actually a shortened version of the theatrical term “property” which is a word used to describe any object used by an actor in a performance. This post […]
Expert Interviews
My Interview with a World Champion
I’m delighted to introduce an interview with Pres Vasilev. Pres Vasilev rose above 30,000 contestants from 122 countries to become the 2013 World Champion of Public Speaking. He is the President of Pres Says, Inc., a company specialising in training business leaders and sales teams to achieve greater influence, productivity, and profits. During my chat with Pres […]
My Interview with Eoghan McDermott
A couple of weeks ago I sat down for a chat with Eoghan McDermott. Eoghan is a Director of The Communications Clinic and Head of Training. He provides public speaking and presentation advice and training to government departments and agencies, political parties and organisations in industries as varied as banking, accountancy, legal, engineering, sport, media, insurance […]
5 Lessons from Communicate You Interviews
The following is a guest post from Danielle Nocon, a presentation design enthusiast with a dream to help spread the visual approach to presentation design. This is your big chance. You’ve been given the opportunity to speak in front of an audience…to share your ideas and be known outside of your immediate friends and family. You […]
My Interview with Garr Reynolds
I’m delighted to introduce an interview with Garr Reynolds. Garr is an internationally acclaimed communications expert, and the creator of the most popular site about presentations on the net: Presentation Zen. A much sought-after consultant, his clients include many in the Fortune 500. In this post you’ll read about Garr Reynold’s advice and approach to: Storytelling in presentations […]