Practice, practice, practice…

Wow! You’re a natural… When I was young I wanted to be a good skier. Not easy in England. We don’t have much snow and even fewer mountains. What to do? I joined a ski club, which boasted the longest dry ski slope in England… a staggering 235m! I got to know all the best skiers in the club, had coaching, put in hours of practice, read books, watched videos and eventually I...

How to Write a Speech or Presentation

Writing a speech? Then visit Paris Whenever I visit Paris I always do my favourite walk… from the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe via the Tuileries the Place de la Concorde and the Champs Elyssee. I start from the Louvre, and the great thing about this walk, is that from the beginning, you know where you’re going. This walk has three parts… a beginning, a middle and an end, the...

Eye Contact in Public Speaking

Speak Eyeball to Eyeball! In his book “Great Speaking – Stage Techniques to Tame Those Butterflies” Hal Persons says…… “In verbal communication, your eyes are the most important organ” Big statement, but is he right?… you bet he’s right. Think about it, when you talk to someone in a normal conversation, you speak eyeball to eyeball and you...

Making Public Speaking Easy

Public speaking is as easy as ABC… or is it? With a little practice, we can all speak clearly, we can all make dynamic gestures, we can all talk with passion, but how many of us can do it in front of an audience? There’s a great line in one of the Sharpe TV movies, Sean Bean who plays Sharpe is addressing a group of soldiers who are about to see action for the first time. He looks at the...