Slide decks have become a huge part of corporate life. An essential, everyday communication tool serving multiple purposes, often all at once. From guiding and prompting the delivery of the time-poor, under-rehearsed speaker, to illustrating their words for the audience – and sometimes becoming the… Read More »Visual Aids. The Speaker’s Friend and Curse
Stepping up your performance in front of new and larger audiences is something for which everyone needs a warm up. It’s not just the intellectual challenge of facing something new. There’s an important physiological, even visceral component to it too. You need to feel alright… Read More »Fear of public speaking is natural. So, what’s the solution?
Good speakers often have elaborate pre-performance routines that go well beyond rehearsals of the words they’ll be delivering on stage. I’ve written before about the need to rehearse before any important speech or presentation. But my focus here is on three other components, which can… Read More »Warming Up
Most actors and public speakers rehearsing before speaking to an audience will have heard this before from a well-meaning but impatient critic: “Just give it more oomph!”
Have you noticed how many of us will find any excuse for not rehearsing their delivery before a speech or presentation? Rehearsing is as normal as breathing for experienced speakers, but for those who aren’t born show ponies it often feels awkward. Best avoided, even… Read More »Reading aloud