Blog Posts Archives - Page 4 of 8

Communicating in a hybrid environment

Early last year I ran a training with a large professional services firm. Some of the team were in-person in Auckland and the other half joined virtually from Wellington. The Wellington crew were all in a meeting room and joining from one video conference unit.

Suzi McAlpine's interview with Russell

Recently I had a blast chatting to my good mate Suzi McAlpine about my new book Step into the Spotlight. Suzi is author of the bestselling book Beyond Burnout and pens the award winning blog The Leader's Digest where she writes and chats about all things…you guessed it…leadership.

Handling questions like a pro when presenting

One of the questions we’re asked most often is how to handle, well, questions. And we have answers! A Q&A can seem nervewracking, but generally if you know your subject it can be the most engaging and convincing part of your presentation. Imagine it’s quiz night, but all the questions are on your specialist topic. You win the bar tab, your table is cheering, there’s karaoke later, life is beautiful. This could be you at work too. How? Glad you asked.

Are you a nervous presenter?

Are you, like Mr Brooke, a nervous sailor when it comes to business presenting? It might depend on how you regard an open sea. The sea can be calm and smooth under an untroubled blue sky. Foils in the water, spinnaker doing whatever spinnakers do, filled with opportunity and adventure and the odd superyacht. Like Rod Stewart, we are fricking sailing, yo.

5 Tips for Better Virtual Communication

Okay Zoomers, it’s déjà vu all over again. But virtual communication is part of life now, and hopefully the basics are familiar enough to really start finessing your skills.

Presenting is not about acting...or is it?

We tend to think of acting as pretending – as something constructed or contrived. However, great acting is the opposite. It’s about truth. Great acting isn’t really about acting at all – it’s about being.

Imposter syndrome: are you faking it?

Imposter syndrome: a lurking doubt in your achievements and abilities. What if you’re actually not competent and no one’s noticed yet? Surely the truth will eventually come out. You’ll be humiliated, but ultimately relieved that you can stop this insane charade and take up an enticing new pastime, like rocking gently in a corner. Here’s the thing: you’re probably fine, and you deserve to feel fine about it. Let’s work through this.

Glossophobia, Alektorophobia and more...

You’ve heard it a million times: the number one human phobia is Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking. It seems like nonsense, doesn’t it? That speaking in public could be more terrifying to more people than, say, death, or being stuck in a lift with Kanye West. But consider the consequences.

Is Persuasion a Dirty Word?

A few weeks back I had an interesting discussion with a long-standing client. She was getting some push back from a member of her team around her idea of wanting to put them through our Secrets of Influence and Persuasion programme. His concern was the perceived ‘ick factor’ of persuasive speaking skills. He was worried they would turn from careful, considered experts into Donald Trump!

More fun devices to play with

Last year we shared with you some of our favourite rhetorical devices and their infectious-sounding names. Have you managed a pleonasm yet? That’s okay, it’s perfectly natural, it’ll happen when you’re ready. Rhetorical devices are just communication tools, and we use them every day without realising it, so let’s get on a first name basis with a few more fun ones.

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