2-Minute Tip: Be Your True and Honest Self We talk a lot about authenticity because it matters. And while it may seem daunting, it can actually make things easier. When you don’t try to fake it, you don’t waste brain cycles and energy trying to maintain a façade. There are 3 questions to ask yourself when you prepare to talk to an audience: Who are you really? What do you…
2-Minute Tip: Practice Breathing Breathing is, of course, an essential step in speaking. After all, it’s how we make sounds. But it’s more than that. Getting adequate air into our lungs calms us down. It helps us counter act the nerves many speakers experience. It ensures our brain has the oxygen it needs to stay on task. And it enhances the volume and confidence with which we speak. To practice…
2-Minute Tip: Identify Your Biggest Take Away To deliver an effective presentation, first identify the biggest take away for the audience. If they remember only one thing, this is the thing it should be. To figure that out, start by doing a brain dump on a piece of paper or whiteboard. Then go through all theses random ideas that are in someway related to your topic. What…
2-Minute Tip: Create a Presence Live everyday to create a presence that has presence when you’re not present. As a speaker, in order for your message to have impact, it has to be something that sticks with your audience when you are not there. You can do that by being a powerful, memorable speaker. But that’s not the only way. Give clear guidance. Develop a…
2-Minute Tip: Note Something interesting Everyday It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking we are not creative. Or that we have nothing to say beyond the basics of our message. Or that writer’s block is impenetrable. Or that we are just going to bore our audience. That can happen because we take our own experiences for granted. We think our lives are just boring or normal….
2-Minute Tip: Act as If When you are nervous, or think you don’t see,m confident, don’t tell yourself not to be nervous or just be more confident. That rarely works; it usually just makes things worse. Instead, think about other speakers you know who don’t appear nervous (they might actually be). How do the act? Can you adopt some of those behaviors? Try to act like you’re not nervous….
2-Minute Tip: Connect with your Audience Often you don’t need to adopt a high energy approach and dance around the stage. Focus instead on making a connection with your audience. Share stories. Help them see the things they have in common with you. That makes your presentation more credible and memorable. Post Tip Discussion: Meet NursePreneur Catie Harris I connected initially with Catie Harris through the work…
2-Minute Tip: Zoom In With you present during a webinar, there are lots of things to consider. I talked about several of them way back in Episode 014. This week, I add to that list by suggesting you zoom in the web cam tighter on your face. This will block some of the clutter in your background and it will make it easier for the camera to…
2-Minute Tip — Know the thing that lights you on fire Melissa Bird explains that the key to success is to know what lights you on fire. When you know that fire and can speak to your passion, it becomes so much easier to let your voice through regardless of the audience size. But how do you figure out what your fire is if you…
2-Minute Tip: Poll the Audience A simple way to increase audience engagement and inter action is to poll the audience. Ask them if they’ve had some sort of experience, like dealing with a tough customer or a misunderstanding with a boss. You already know the answer (probably) so you can use that to lead right in to your next point. When you poll the audience be sure to…