Many people freeze up and perform poorly when they present online. I recently coached the President of a local learning organization in preparation for her speech at their annual meeting this year, which, for the first time was going to be on Zoom. Frankly, in initial rehearsals, she was awful: stilted, boring – a real snooze. Why? because she went into a robotic “I-am-now-making-a-speech-mode,” what I call “speechifying.” She had to change. Here is the advice I gave her which ultimately moved her from deadly to dazzling. (My asides to you are in parentheses)
What is it about presentations that makes otherwise talented people go into robot mode when they open their mouths? You know what I mean, when-the-words-come-out-in-an-unnatural-monotone-staccato fashion. Or, if not that, then the phrasing sounds like a car bumping along, starting, stopping, starting, stopping as in “One of the things — we want– to talk about …
I started to use an online meditation app and was struck by the point in today’s session: Get rid of the Mental Trash in the closet that is your head. It made me think of the “mental trash” I see in some people’s heads when they have to present that keeps them from performing at …
You don’t have to be a cook to know that you can’t put ten pounds of stuffing into a five bound bird. Yet, metaphorically, presenters do that when they talk fast in an enthusiastic effort to get everything into a listener’s mind as quickly as possible. The mind can only take in and process so …
Some four letter words offend. Some four letter words are vulgar. And some, like “like” are deadly communication killers. If you have ever listened to anyone (and I am sure you have) whose every other word seems to be “like,” (or, “okay, right, you know, basically, or um”), then you know what I mean. These …
“I’m Dying Up Here,” debuting June 4 on Showtime, is likely to be a very funny new series about stand-up comics, but there is nothing funny when you are “dying” during a presentation or demo. You know the signs: people looking at their cell phones, listeners looking bored, clients fidgeting –some even leaving. Agggh! How do …
Who would think that a comment by Winston Churchill in 1944 would have bearing on how we present and sell in 2016? Among many things, Churchill was celebrated for his wit and his brilliant ability with language to inspire others, particularly through the horrors of World War II. President Kennedy, upon granting Churchill honorary American …
Tony Robbins, recently called The CEO Whisperer by Fortune magazine is also #7 on the list of Top Fifteen Ted Talks, as judged by views (10,425,014). I encourage you to watch his video as well as the others on the list, because if you want to be a presentation pro, it is a good idea to periodically …
When I asked a client why his colleague’s presentation had not gone well, he used a tennis analogy and said, “Basically, he started with his second serve and stayed there.” Although what this colleague said was valuable, apparently his delivery lacked strength, conviction, and passion, the kind of hitting power that you want to see …
The Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking took place this past weekend. After an elimination process over time that involves six rounds of talks, it all comes down to a final test of a 5-7 minute speech in front of 2000 Toastmasters. Daunting, to say the least. The 2014 winner’s speech is not yet on …
When I asked a new client why he selected me from among the three he had interviewed for presentation training for his team, his answer surprised me. I thought he would say the quality of the programs, my willingness to customize, my methodology, or any of a number of other standard buying criteria. Instead, he …