Presentation Planning & Public Speaking Skills

The short direct flight I was booked on had been canceled. I was rerouted to deliver my public speaking seminar via a long and twisted path. The clothes I planned to wear were tumbling soaking wet in the dryer as I ran out the door to catch my rebooked flight. Picture a slightly disheveled and determined woman doing a mad dash through my neighbourhood to catch the airport train (who may or may not have caused a few people to clear out of my way). When I finally sat in my seat and clipped the seatbelt together I was thinking about things that can go wrong even when you think you’ve made plan a, b, and c. I’ve attended events

For a change of pace let’s tease apart a very well executed TED Salon presentation. This one caught my eye because the topic is something I’ve been struggling with. I’m working on learning Spanish. It’s been slow and challenging. I have lots of excuses but I’ve whacked back my inner critic more times than I have fingers and toes to count and keep chipping away at improving beyond the basic hola and ¿como estas? Let’s jump into the video. It’s called ‘The Secrets of Learning a New Language‘ and the presenter is Lydia Machova who describes herself as a polyglot that learns a new language every few years. Many of you have shared with me your anxiety about how you

Have You Ever Forgotten Your Lines During a Presentation? “It was an okay performance,” she said. “No”, I told her, “It was brilliant”. I knew what she was thinking. She thought that having to stop halfway through her story to gather her thoughts to retrieve her next few lines had made her presentation not as perfect as planned. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Career coach, Lara Marchionni, had been working with me for a few months on the story she told at the Dress for Success Bounce event – Moving Stories of Moving Forward. She is a force to be reckoned with. The energy that exudes from her and the things that she makes happen are beyond brilliant. In

I’ve been asking my newsletter subscribers for communication and public speaking questions. The questions that are stumping them and keeping them up at night. I tackled this reader’s question first about audience engagement because it’s the one that I’m asked most often: As a presenter, how do you handle the fact when the audience doesn’t feel engaged? (e.g. they don’t ask questions, etc.) Standing in front of your audience and getting the feeling your audience is not engaged haunts many speakers. It can be a speaker’s nightmare. But there are lots of ways to not get caught in the trap. Sometimes What You See ISN’T What You Get Let me start with a caveat that you’ll probably think doesn’t answer your

What’s the difference between a good and great presentation? Here are three secrets that will make the difference between your next presentation being ‘good enough’ or you taking the leap and delivering a speech that is great. Let’s deconstruct one of my favorite TED talks, Half a Million Secrets by Frank Warren to show you how.  #1 Use Pauses Silence and pauses can speak louder than words. In Frank’s talk, he pauses in between each of the secrets he shares with us. These pauses help us see and hear the deep connection and respect he has for each person who has sent him a secret on a postcard. For the audience, it gives them time to take in Frank’s messages. Using pauses also

It can feel like you’re able to give a great big (yet, nerve wrecking) performance every time you step on stage. However, you may be compromising something important to delivering a bold and memorable presentation. That component is audience connection. Let’s break down the difference between a performance and a presentation A performance is ‘performed’ by an actor on stage. In the role of an actor, you step into character and become someone else. You are bound by a script. When you deliver a presentation, you are sharing an idea or telling a story you are passionate about. You aren’t becoming someone else. It’s just you, your idea, and/or your story. It can feel vulnerable. The audience is asked to clap

A colleague sent me this juicy article about a woman who went to a public speaking workshop and invited the speaker coach to critique her. He recommended she be more direct and forceful with her words. As I began reading I was thinking…yes (!) and bravo for the speaker coach’s perspective. That was until I continued reading the article. The author lamented how women shouldn’t have to speak like men in order to be heard. They should (in an ideal world) just speak as they normally do. I don’t agree. One of the pearls of wisdom that my dad shared with me (so many times I’ve lost count) was, “You play the rules of the game if you want to be part of the game”.

Your voice has the power to command room. Imagine sitting in a presentation where the speaker has no passion in their voice and speaks like a drone. You would likely forget the presentation and the speaker pretty quickly. By using your voice as the fine instrument you can make your presentations stick in the minds and hearts of your audience. Here are three tips to use your voice to command a room.  1. Remember to take a deep breath The breath is one of the least talked about but is one of the most effective ways of harnessing your voice. I’d like you to pause for a minute and notice how you are breathing right now. You may find that