Can you really tell when your audience has had a full feed of information? Amazingly the answer lies in the eyes and ears of the participants. Look first at the eyes And if you look at the eyes, you’ll think you’re the best speaker on the planet. You’ll think your audience is rapt with attention. […]
Why You Need To Design Learning Around The Exit Sign
How many days does it take to recover from conducting a workshop? Back in the year 2001, it used to take me about a week. Three days after the workshop, I’d be utterly exhausted. And it would be another four days before I could really crawl back to work at normal speed. And it was […]
The Moment of Doubt (And How It Led to $500,000 In The Bank)
Have you ever been to a primary school play? There they are, all the kids, all keen to play their part. And then one kid forgets his part. He stands there dumbfounded. Unable to speak. Frozen in fear. The words seemingly circulating in his brain somewhere. I was that kid! Except I wasn’t five years […]
Announcing: How To Create Black Belt Presentations
I am resending this email in case you missed it on Tuesday For the past year (and a bit) I’ve been working on an incredibly interesting project. It’s a series of books on Presentations. So notice one thing: It’s not a single book. It’s a series. Three whole books. Three whole audio-books as well. Announcing: […]
How To Systematically Use Numbers To Get Attention When Speaking
Do you quickly want to get the attention of your customers when you’re speaking? Well, here’s a quick method to do so. It’s called ‘put in a number.’ Because numbers add a bucket load of curiosity. So what’s a number? A number is a figure. Like 23% Or 55 people. Or $7 million. Numbers attract. […]
How To Get An Audience Back Into The Room
If you’re conducting a workshop anytime soon, you’re going to have one big problem on your hand. The moment you open the doors and let your audience out for a coffee/lunch break, you’ll have a hard time getting them back. And then you become a sheep-dog, having to herd the sheep back into the pen. […]
How To Make A ‘One-Wave’ Presentation
Your brain is like a surfer on the waves. When the surfer sees a big wave coming, he rides that wave. And then he zigs and zags to keep his balance, as the wave rushes madly to shore. But right after the ‘surfer’s wave’ is another wave. And another. And dozens of others. But the […]
Should You Take Questions At The End of Your Presentation?
If you’ve been to a presentation, you’ll find that part of the presenter’s agenda is to take questions at the end. Which means you make your presentation, and then you call for questions—just in case someone needs something clarified or in case your presentation has raised some questions. But do you have to take questions? […]
How The Wrong Example Alienates Your Audience
Examples have a singular goal: They help the reader understand a concept. But could the wrong example actually alienate an audience? And how would you know which kind of example would alienate you? Let’s look at a simple example of a ‘rocking chair.’ So if were to talk about a ‘rocking chair’, for instance, you’d […]
How To Get Maximum Impact From Your Speaking Engagements
Have you ever seen a rock concert where the singer holds out the microphone in the middle of a song. And not surprisingly the audience sings the lyrics of the songs, while swaying madly to the music. Your audience should be so adoring, eh? Well, if you can’t exactly be a rock star to your […]
