Stop signs are red. Police lights (in Europe) are blue. Warning signs are yellow. But as every child knows, if you mix all those bold colours together, you don’t get a multicolour tutti-frutti, you get a boring brown mess. It’s the same with talks and ideas. Talks are a mess…
No matter how you became a leader, it will be your communication skills that help you stay there. Great leaders speak like leaders. They are almost always great communicators. In fact, most leaders will agree that communication skills are their number one skill. When we see or hear leaders speak…
Is PowerPoint the best way to communicate your ideas? That's a big question. In his latest letter to shareholders, Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon addresses the question of PowerPoint and shares what they do at Amazon. Surprisingly, at the most senior level, they have banned PowerPoint. Instead they use memos. …
How To Harness Powerful Language For Leadership Communications Great leaders use Power Language to add interest and colour to what they say. There are ten core techniques that great leaders use to make their talks and presentations more powerful. These are the ones we share with our clients to help them…
Leaders use storytelling so that audiences listen, remember and act on what they say. In fact, stories are “the single most powerful weapon in a leader’s arsenal”, according to Harvard University professor and noted psychologist Dr Howard Gardner. But many business leaders shy away from storytelling because they don’t know…
Spoken language is the most powerful communication tool we possess. Unfortunately, many of us use it like amateurs. While we may all have worked away at our written English, few of us learn how to craft outstanding spoken language. Using just a few simple rhetorical tricks, you can quickly bring…
We’ve all experienced Death by PowerPoint - it’s one of the most unattractive aspects of business today. As advertising legend David Ogilvy (nearly) said, “most people use PowerPoint like a drunk uses a lamppost – for support rather than illumination.” It’s almost as if we’ve forgotten how to present without…
Do you want to give high impact talks and presentations? Do you want to engage your audience? And do you want to look and feel confident when speaking? If your answer to any of these is ‘yes’, then these techniques are for you. We’ve been coaching business leaders to become impressive…
In our day to day business lives, we regularly want to be more persuasive. You may want approval from your boss for a new project; with clients you want them interested in buying from you; with investors you want them to back your new fund. While each of these situations is…
If you are a panelist or a moderator on a conference panel this year, you want to make it a success. Panels are excellent marketing opportunities and a great way to raise your profile. Businesses and careers have been launched with great performances on conference panels. So that you shine…
Globalisation means that multilingual audiences are now increasingly common. Multilingual audiences provide a unique challenge for speakers and presenters. How can you be clearly understood, without dumbing down your topic or patronising your audience? In addition, if English is not your first language, you may feel at a disadvantage when using it…
96% of business leaders believe video conferencing improves productivity, according to a recent Polycom survey. The benefits of video conferencing are clear, but there are also challenges and pitfalls to navigate. Ensure that your next virtual meeting runs smoothly and effectively, by following our five steps to effective video conferencing: …
Your leadership talks need to be persuasive As a leader, every talk or presentation you give is an exercise in persuasion. By the time you finish, you hope that your audience will agree, feel differently, or take action. You also need to persuade people to pay attention while you’re speaking. After…
Do your public speaking skills inspire, motivate and influence others? They should. Many leaders are nervous of public speaking. Some even avoid it. According to Forbes magazine: 20 per cent of business leaders say they would do anything to avoid giving a presentation. Yet, 70 per cent agree that presentation…
The best (or worst) visual aid for your talks is you. You are the focus of attention in your presentations. Not your PowerPoint slides. In fact, many of the best speakers - politicians, comedians, TED presenters - don’t use any supplementary visuals at all, just their own face and body.…
Our clients frequently ask, "What should I do with my hands?". As soon as we become conscious of our bodies, they get in our way. When we’re faced with an audience, we become like learner drivers, unable to operate all the controls smoothly. Advice to ‘act naturally’ isn’t useful, as…
Championship boxers aim to finish fights by throwing a knockout punch. Great speakers do the same thing with their conclusions, using powerful language in place of right hooks. Using a verbal knockout to end your speech gives maximum longevity and impact to your message. The second-most important part of your…
Do you know what you want to say, and the order you want to say it in? Try this quick test of your presentation structure: Rearrange the order of your slides and/or your presentation notes. Do the headings still make sense? If your answer is yes, then you don’t have a strong presentation structure because…
There are simple ways to make a boring presentation more interesting. If you talk about a dry topic in a dull manner, your audience will struggle to stay attentive. Instead, you need to make an impact and make it memorable. This can feel intimidating: some topics don’t appear to offer much…
A great elevator pitch is an essential part of your toolkit Last month I chaired the Quickfire Showcase at Berlin’s SuperReturn, the annual Private Equity Conference. Funds get just 90 seconds to pitch to a room full of investors, who collectively have over $100bn to invest. It's a high profile elevator…
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