Presentation & Public Speaking Skills Archives

Loose Briefs Cause Grief - and I'm not talking undies...

We’ve all been there, right? You check your inbox at the end of a busy day, and there it is: a last-minute email from your boss asking if you can “quickly cover” something for tomorrow’s leadership meeting. No details on what they really want, no context, just a “thanks heaps” at the end. You’re left wondering, “What am I supposed to focus on? How much time will I have? And, wait—do they even need slides?”

The Best Books on Presenting...That Aren't About Presenting

I often get asked to recommend books on presenting and public speaking, but I've found some of the best books to improve your presenting skills aren’t about presenting at all.

No such thing as an ‘update’ presentation

No presentation really is ever just an ‘update’. There’s always a deeper purpose. And once you know that, you don’t just have a compelling presentation – you also have the chance to go further. Read more.

Defeating Story Fatigue

Recently, I was working with a client who is the tech officer in charge of his organisation’s IT, and he was struggling to come up with a way to open his next presentation.

The Problem with ‘Presenting Skills’ as a Brand

With the end of the year just around the corner, I wanted to look forward at what presenting could mean for 2024 and beyond.

Does Your "Update" Presentation really do Anything?

Sometimes I hear that an inform-style presentation is “just sharing information.” “But why are you informing?” I’ll ask. “It’s just an update. We’ve always done it this way.” And then I channel my inner toddler: “But why? What do you want them to know?”

Waffling Woes: Is Your Leadership Style Lacking?

I've previously mentioned a common type of presenter: The Waffler. Despite good intentions, I've recently seen a team get completely derailed by a Waffler Leader who struggled to explain ideas, tasks, and strategy clearly. They were lost in the fog.

Cut the Cord: Overcoming the Rise of the ChatGPT-Generated Presentation

AI is everywhere, and it’s cropping up in more places, making some pretty convincing pictures, deep fake videos, and articles. The New Zealand Herald even briefly used an AI image as part of an article for International Womens’ Day earlier this year

How do you prepare a presentation when you don’t know your audience?

Recently I was asked this question at a workshop. So I did what I always do when this question comes up: I pushed back. “Give me an example of when you don’t know your audience,” I asked.

You don’t have to be the best presenter to be the right presenter

A lot of books out there focus on the leader’s duty to deliver inspiring messages, unite teams, and drive people towards a common purpose. But what about the presentations that happen at every level of your organisation? What do you do when you’re trying to persuade your people, and you’re not at the top of the heap?

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