Monthly Archives: October 2014

The audience is not your enemy

little 14 days old kitten hiding

I figured out long time ago that nearly everyone is nervous to do a presentation.The difference though between an experienced and non experienced speaker is that experienced speakers know how to deal with these nerves and ACT confident.They come close to their audience, they will rarely hide behind a lectern. They smile before starting and ‘connect’ with their audience. They make big gestures from their shoulders, they don’t make themselves small. Know that when you present your brain subconsciously might perceive the audience as the enemy. Your natural reaction is to hide from that enemy and protect yourself (you should sometimes see how people stand incredibly unnaturally to hide). Do the opposite and reinsure your brain that the situation is safe by coming close, looking for eye contact and stand in a powerful way!

Do you really need PowerPoint?

I just witnessed an interesting converstation while waiting at a reception desk. 2 ladies just met their contact, and the latter proposes to have a coffee first and sit in a relaxed area. She even proposes to have the meeting there and asks ‘or do you really need to show a PowerPoint??…’ The other 2 ladies answer yes, they have prepared a PPT and their faces show apologies… Wouldn’t it be easier to have dialogues and conversations instead of monologues with PowerPoint?…