But the basic idea is that it is possible to get much, much more value from your comms budget with a far smaller spend on the media you use to reach your customers. Which in this age of austerity and belt-tightening is particularly needed.

What’s the secret to increasing your comms budget’s impact?

Well, actually, there isn’t one. Or, at least, it’s an open secret. It’s good story-telling.

The power of story telling

It’s not really rocket science: we tell stories that we love. We love a good story when we see or hear it for the first time. AND,,, (here comes the bit that most marketeers and ad men don’t understand, but it’s at the core of how you get most value from your budget) we love re-telling the story (or emailing the link) to friends and colleagues. Which is when your budget starts to behave more like a springy elastic band than a tight leather belt.

You can see the stories’ power and memorability if you look at the Channel 4 Greatest TV ads (voted by the public).

Thirty out of the top fifty all use good storytelling:

Nick Kamen in the Levis Laundrette story

Maureen Lipman in the BT ‘Ology’ story:-

Katie and the Oxo family:-

And the other twenty? Well, they all have compulsively catchy tunes, since you ask.

Message in a bottle?

So is it possible to ‘bottle’ what makes these ads such good examples of storytelling? Because, while we tell each other stories all the time, most people don’t understand what a good story needs to be truly memorable. And because if you could bottle it, imagine how much you could save on your comms.

Happily there is a framework you can use, which will ensure your comms are ‘elastic’ not ‘leather’. It’s:-

• Surprising
• Touching
• Obstacles
• Risk
• Individual
• Empathetic
• Simple

Which, it won’t surprise you, spells STORIES. But how can you apply it practically?

If you’d like to find out how good storytelling can help halve your comms budget, get in touch today.

About the author of this article

This article was written by Simon, one of Skillstudio’s consultant trainers.

Simon is based in London and has designed and runs our in-company Powerful Storytelling and Persuasive Writing workshops.

As well as being an experienced trainer and role-player Simon is an accomplished actor, writer and theatre director. He has worked as a writer, designer and film director for a range of large companies and organizations.

Simon has a MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University. He has a wide range of writing experience, in both the commercial sector, as well as for television, film and radio.

You can read more about Simon here.

Like some more information?

If you’d like to find out how good storytelling can help halve your comms budget or would like to find out more about our:-

• Powerful Storytelling or
• Persuasive Writing

in-house workshops and 1-2-1 coaching then give us a call on +44 (0) 8456 444 150 and we’ll get Simon to touch base with you to discuss things further.

Skillstudio also offer a number of other communication and presentation training options. If you’d like some more details, please click here and then get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss your training needs in more detail.

And yet today everyone like you, remotely client-facing, is expected to have the ability to scope out new sales opportunities and contribute to revenue generation – it’s hardly fair. However, there is help at hand, and once you get to know what selling really is, you might become rather good at it and – take a deep breath – get to enjoy it.

The sales transformation of Yves the engineer

A very pleasant, softly spoken Frenchman, Yves, approached me recently at the end of a technical sales workshop I was giving in Paris. He smiled, shook my hand, and asked if I remembered him.

He had attended a 2 day consultative selling skills course I had given the previous year. I told him I did recall the special effort he had made and asked how the selling was coming along.

He told me that he was now selling better and more consistently than anyone else in the firm. He was rated No.1 in the office. This was a fabulous gift for me as trainer, as well as for him. Was this the same Yves, that typically modest engineer thrust into selling against his wishes? Back then things were not going too well for him, and his manager had sent him on my course to gain the skills, knowledge and mindset to succeed.

How did he become a good salesperson?   

It had evidently worked, but how I asked – had he really changed? No, he said, as truthfully as ever. He still didn’t have the ‘gift of the gab’, but instead he was employing far more precious and natural qualities possessed by many technical, scientific and professional people.

He was diligently honing and practising his ability to listen and ask good questions.

These would draw out the client’s needs and encourage them to discuss how his firm might help them. That was it in a nutshell. No hard selling, no metamorphosis. Through effort and daily practise Yves had made the subtle transformation from engineer into someone that sells engineering services. And he was enjoying it!

What made him stand out on the sales training course?

Let’s wind back to that 2 day workshop. Yves stood out, amongst the 12 delegates on the course, not because he was gifted at selling, but rather he had a mindset for continuous improvement.

At the end of the first day I remarked on how hard he had tried in the sales exercises – asking good questions, showing genuine curiosity, listening to the customer, resisting the temptation to talk about his services until he had ‘earned the right’.

Yves sprung to his own defence, of course, highly analytical and critical of his weaknesses and lack of confidence. However, at the end of those 2 days he made a pledge to practise what he had learned, however uncomfortable it felt. For him it would probably feel like wearing his watch on the other wrist.

Sales for non sales people

Wind forward again and here he stood, shaking my hand, smiling, steady eye contact, standing tall with an easy confidence.

He thanked me for setting him on the road to successful selling. For him it had all begun on that 2 day course, when he saw the role of selling in a new way that made sense to him.

About the author of this article

This article was written by Ian, one of Skillstudio’s consultant trainers. 

Ian is based in Kent and has designed and runs our in-company workshops:-  Sales for Non-Sales People and Building High Performing Teams.  He also runs our presentation and communication skills courses.

Ian has worked mainly in the financial markets for over 15 years in senior sales and marketing management positions for Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg, prior to a move into sales training and consultancy in 2003. “I am chiefly interested in helping people increase their skills, confidence and motivation around sales and personal impact. My skill is in getting others to understand where they are currently and where they need to focus to produce better, more consistent performance.”

Ian has a MA in Strategic Marketing Management and a BA in English and communication. He is a member of CIM and a qualified Insights practitioner for self and team development. He works as a trainer for companies internationally and in the UK, developing and delivering courses up to CEO level.

You can read more about Ian here.

Like some more information on our training?

To find out more about Ian’s Sales and Teambuilding in-company workshops:

• Sales Skills for Non-Sales People  or
• Building a High Performing Team

give us a call on +44 (0) 8456 444 150 and we’ll get Ian to touch base with you to discuss things further.

Skillstudio also offer a number of other communication and presentation training options. If you’d like some more details, please click here  and then get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss your training needs in more detail.

Because your audience will take their lead from you. If you believe it’s complicated (which, of course, implies that it’s difficult to understand and, possibly, not worth their valuable time), then who are they to argue with you, the expert?

You’re leading your audience in the wrong direction

Effectively what you’ve done is tell them that they won’t understand. Rather than you work out the wrinkles, the structure, the key points, the easy to follow narrative story, you’ve asked them to do the donkey work.

Of course, you might be lucky: you could be talking to one of the very few people who LOVE complications, whose soul soars at the chance to untangle the big issues from the details, the main theme from the variations. But more usually, you’ll watch the shutters drop over your audience’s eyes as they settle down for some enriching interior monologue time.

How to communicate with clarity

The solution is – naturally – not complicated. You just need to have untangled the knitting before you presented them with the cat’s cradle of the problem. Unravel the different bits of what you want them to remember and they’ll stick in their memories.

So how do you do this? Well, you can break down all the different points by numbers, for example: “There are five main points…”. So they always know how far along the journey they’ve travelled with you. You can order the different parts for them, for instance: ”The central idea is this etc…”

Then, once they’re happy with the main idea, you introduce your wrinkly points or counter-arguments, for example: ”However, some people consider this misses a key area of the data. They’d claim…” That sort of thing.

The benefits of clarity

And, of course, it’s not just your audience that benefits; it’s a great way for you to get straight what you think and feel about an issue.

About the author of this article

This article was written by Simon, one of Skillstudio’s consultant trainers. 

Simon is based in London and has designed and runs our in-company Persuasive Writing and Powerful Storytelling workshops. 

As well as being an experienced trainer and role-player Simon is an accomplished actor, writer and theatre director. He has worked as a writer, designer and film director for a range of large companies and organizations.

Simon has a MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University. He has a wide range of writing experience, in both the commercial sector, as well as for television, film and radio.

You can read more about Simon here.

Like some more information on our training?

To find out more about communicating with clarity and our:

• Persuasive Writing or
• Powerful Storytelling

in-house workshops then give us a call on +44 (0) 8456 444 150 and we’ll get Simon to touch base with you to discuss things further.

Skillstudio also offer a number of other communication and presentation training options. If you’d like some more details, please click here  and then get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss your training needs in more detail.

You’re in the meeting that your colleague was supposed to have got the presentation ready for. But they’re conveniently sick. Instead, it’s you flustering your way through a mass of charts, graphs and figures that resemble nothing less than a Jackson Pollock.

As you speak, you find you’re floating above yourself. Your normal, direct way of talking has been replaced by a language invented by a management consultant in a Magimix.

What’s happened?

Physiologically we all recognise the signs: increased heart rate, dry mouth, difficulty breathing.

But what’s happening psychologically?

It seems that when we’re under pressure, we resort to ‘models of expertise’: the academic, the cultural critic, the surgeon. They use complicated, technical language, your brain says, so if I want to appear knowledgeable and in control I should mimic them.

Of course, you give exactly the opposite impression: as your confidence evaporates, you know just how a beached whale must feel as the tide slips further and further away.

So, how do you keep calm and keep your audience with you?

You can use various stress management techniques. But you can also use a quick and easy technique using clear English.

Focus on the words you’re saying. If they’re technical, jargon, many-syllabled, stop talking, pause for breath and concentrate on using simpler words.

The effort involved helps to calm you, but also to make clearer what you’re saying, both in terms of the content and the structure of your argument.

Your stress levels will go down.

The power of clarity

You may even be able to find the words to forgive your colleague for landing you in it.

But even if you can’t, at least you’ll be able to express clearly and calmly exactly what you think of them.

About the author of this article

This article was written by Simon, one of Skillstudio’s consultant trainers. 

Simon is based in London and has designed and runs our in-company Persuasive Writing and Powerful Storytelling workshops. 

As well as being an experienced trainer and role-player Simon is an accomplished actor, writer and theatre director. He has worked as a writer, designer and film director for a range of large companies and organizations.

Simon has a MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University. He has a wide range of writing experience, in both the commercial sector, as well as for television, film and radio.

You can read more about Simon here.

Like some more information on our training?

To find out more about using clear English and our:

• Persuasive Writing or
• Powerful Storytelling

in-house workshops then give us a call on +44 (0) 8456 444 150 and we’ll get Simon to touch base with you to discuss things further.

Skillstudio also offer a number of other communication and presentation training options. If you’d like some more details, please click here  and then get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss your training needs in more detail.

This can put you under a lot of pressure – which doesn’t help your performance!  But there are some simple things you can do to help avoid falling into some of the obvious traps.

Don’t rush your radio interview

Even though time is limited and the natural tendency may be to speak as quickly as possible in order to get your message across, this can have an adverse effect.  If you speak too quickly on radio the following things may happen

• You will trip up over your words
• You will um and err
• You will ramble on and on………….

Tips for sounding clear in your radio interview

It’s important to sound clear and succinct on radio as any hesitancies are emphasised on air and they are an immediate switch off for the radio audience.  To help achieve this when you are being interviewed you need to speak at the correct speed without rushing.  To help speak at the right speed try to follow the following points:

• Speak in short sentences – one thought per sentence.
• Take time over the first three words of the sentence – so that you don’t rush into the sentence.
• Don’t rush any syllables – make sure each syllable in the word is pronounced.

By adopting these three vocal techniques, you will feel in more control of your voice so that you don’t speak too fast or too slow.  You will sound clear, and your voice will have the required energy needed to sound interesting on the radio.

Listen to the radio interviewer – don’t panic!

It can be especially nerve racking when you are waiting to be interviewed on ‘live’ radio. 

There is that awkward moment when you are waiting for the radio presenter / interviewer to speak to you.  The nerves can build up while you are waiting.  

So use this time to focus on what the presenter is saying before he/she gets to your interview.  You may pick up on some useful information or background context to the interview topic that you can use in your responses to the questions you get asked.

Contolling nerves in your radio interview

Listening is also a very effective way to help control nerves and prepare your responses to questions. 

More often though, we tend to start planning our responses to the question rather than just focus on the question in hand.  So when you are being asked a question by the radio presenter, to help listen carefully, try to do the following:

• Don’t butt in to the question – wait for the presenter to finish asking the question before you respond
• Focus on understanding the question, rather than rehearsing your response in your head
• Buy yourself time at the start of your response with a phrase such as “that’s a very interesting question” – if you need time to think about how to start your answer

These listening techniques will help you to stay calm and prepare your response to the question.

Keep your radio interviews interesting to your audience!

It’s easy to lose energy in your voice when you are being interviewed on radio.  Nerves can make a voice tense and dull.

And even though you may only be speaking for a very short amount of time, the need to maintain an interesting voice is very important. 

To help achieve this, try the following techniques when you speaking on the radio:

• Telling a story – if you imagine each of your responses are a short story – this will automatically inject more energy and expression into your voice
• Emphasise important words – these are the key words that make up the essence of your sentences and will help you to sound more convincing
• Smile – when you smile your voice smiles and it comes across more appealing and personable to the listeners.

Pactise beforehand and develop your media interview skills

You can also practise these three vocal techniques beforehand – so that it becomes natural to speak in this way when you are being interviewed on the radio.

It is common to feel nervous about being interviewed on the radio.  But by using the techniques we have discussed in this article, you don’t have to fear messing up your interview.   So, to help give successful radio interviews remember to:

• Avoid rushing
• Be clear and succinct
• Listen carefully
• Maintain your energy

These simple but effective radio techniques will help you to stay in control of the interview and deliver your responses with confidence and impact.

Media Training from Skillstudio

If you want some expert coaching to ensure you excel at your next media interview and get the media exposure you actually want then Skillstudio are there to help you:-

Executive Media Training & Coaching  – 121 Coaching
Half day or full day, 121 coaching and training in Media Interview Skills by an expert trainer.  Held throughout the UK and always tailored exactly to your personal requirements.

Media Training Courses  – Public Courses
This is a two-day, highly interactive public workshop designed to build your confidence and the critical media skills required to ensure success at your next media interview. Its held regularly in Central London.

Media Interview Training Course  – In-House Workshops
We can also run our 2-day media interview skills workshop for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you excel at your next media interview.

We hope you found this media skills article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.   And good luck with your next interview!

It is also important to understand that effective presentation skills are not solely for the fortunate few who are naturally good communicators but that effective presentation skills can be developed in anyone and that we all have the ability to learn how to become highly effective presenters.

In this article we’ll be looking at some techniques to help you achieve more from your presentations.

Key Objectives of Effective Presentation Skills

The key objectives that underline a good presentation often include the following:

• To establish credibility with your audience
• To communicate information clearly to your audience
• To persuade and/or influence your audience

To achieve these objectives, there are a range of practical skills that you can develop to help you become an effective presenter.

We can categorise these skills into three main areas:

• The ability to create a clear message
• The ability to deliver your message effectively
• The ability to fully engage with your audience.

An effective presentation should cover all of these three areas, so let’s see how you can achieve this.

Presentation Skills – Create a clear effective message

A clear message is normally a simple one. You may feel that you have to go into a lot of detail to get your message across but more often than not – “less is more”. Your audience are only able to take in so much during a presentation, so the clearer the message the more powerful it will be. Keep your message clear and simple by using the following guidelines:

• Have one Key Message only – this should be the most important point that you want to get across to your audience. Restrict it to one sentence that is easier to remember.
• Restrict your content to three main points only – three is the magic number that people tend to remember things in – so if you restrict your presentation to three sections only, your audience will be more likely to remember it.
• Have a strong opening and ending – these are the moments when your audiences’ attention is at its highest so take the opportunity to state and re-state your key message at these times.

Presentation Skills – Deliver your message effectively

So you now have a clear message and structure to your presentation and the next stage is to consider how you are getting it across effectively to your audience. The ability to express your ideas is as important as the ideas themselves and this is a fundamental requirement of effective presentation delivery.

Although not everyone is naturally expressive, we all have the ability to develop our personal resources to help us enhance those expressive qualities required to help us become more effective presenters.

The way you speak and look has a huge impact on what you say and how you come across to your audience and there are some simple techniques you can adopt to help enhance your overall image. Try to incorporate the following when you next give a presentation:

• Speak at a slower pace – we tend to speed up when we are nervous so by consciously slowing down you will end up speaking at the right pace and controlling your nervous tension.
• Imagine you are telling a story – by doing this, you will automatically increase the expression in your voice and sound more interesting to your audience.
• Make eye contact with your audience – it may feel awkward at first but if you actually look directly at people you will feel as though you are having a conversation with them and this will feel less intimidating

Presentation Skills – Fully engage with your audience

To deliver an effective presentation, it’s also important that you fully engage with your audience so that you can see things from their point of view and “speak in their language”. It’s therefore important that you have a full understanding of your audience. To help achieve this gather as much information as possible about your audience before you present. There are three main areas where you can gather information about your audience as follows:

• Audience Make-Up – this is who will actually attend. Ask yourself, from what departments/oganisations they will come from, what level of seniority they will be, what level of expertise will they have about my subject etc
• Audience Motivation – this is the attitudes of the audience and how they may react to you. Ask yourself what is their interest in my topic, their attitude towards me, any misconceptions or preconceived ideas they may have etc
• Audience Environment – these are the external factors that may influence you and your audience. Ask yourself how many will be in the audience, what will be the length of my presentation, what sort of room/venue will I present in etc

By considering these factors you will be able to plan your presentation to accommodate the attitudes and needs of your audience. This will make it easier for you to ‘buy in’ their trust in you and make it easier for you to engage with them.

Presentation Skills – The holistic approach

We have now looked at three areas where you can develop your effective presentation skills to enable you to be the effective presenter that you would like to be.

By addressing all three areas you will equip yourself with the confidence needed to communicate effectively with any audience and in any presentation situation.

Invest in your own presentation skills

There are no hidden secrets to being more effective and successful when you present. You can develop these skills through training and practice. By enhancing the ways in which you present and communicate you’ll be able to develop a much stronger influence on your audience and thus encourage them to respond to you in the way you want!

To get some expert advice and coaching and enhance your presenting, click on one of the links below:-

Presentation Skills Coaching – 121 coaching
Business Presentation Courses – Open to members of the public
Business Presenting – In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this presentation skills article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

So what is it that stops us from maintaining a relaxed style when we go from speaking in an informal conversation to speaking in public?

Public Speaking Training can help you conquer your fear

If you want some expert coaching to help you overcome your fear and enhance your public speaking skills then Skillstudio are there to help. We provide:-

Conquer Fear of Public Speaking
A 1-day public workshop for absolute beginners to presenting and public speaking held in Central London, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh & Glasgow.

Effective Presenting & Public Speaking
This 2-day Public intermediate level workshop is held regularly in Central London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Advanced Public Speaking Coaching
This 2-day Public course is held regularly in Central London.

We can also run our public speaking courses for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe. We also offer 1-2-1 coaching in all aspects of public speaking throughout the UK.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

Use your natural resources to conquer the fear

One of the most common reasons why we are not able to maintain a calm relaxed manner when we have to stand up and speak in public is a fear of embarrassment. We are afraid to make fools of ourselves and because of this we don’t take full advantage of all the natural personal resources we have to help us break through the fear factor.

One of our most powerful resources is ourselves. What we do physically when we speak in front of an audience can have a tremendous impact on how we feel.

Positive actions

For example – try the following exercise standing in front of a mirror:

• Hunch your shoulders
• Hang your head down
• Look towards the floor

Now try to introduce yourself in a positive and enthusiastic way. It’s almost impossible to do.

Now try again but this time but this time stand in front of the mirror

• Straighten your back
• Lift your head
• Look directly in front at yourself

Feel the difference compared with the first time.

What you have done is given yourself a strong starting position that helps you to look more confident to your audience. If you do this before you start to speak in public, you are bound to feel more confident.

You can do a similar thing if you have to speak sitting down. Take a strong sitting position with your back fully supported by your chair, your feet on the floor and ideally your arms in an open relaxed position.

Make the most of your body language for public speaking

There is no prescribed starting position that is best for you. It just needs to be something that works well for you and doesn’t give out any negative body language signals that you are unaware of but the audience will be very aware of.

Here are some exercises to try out – to help you become more aware of how to transfer negative body language into positive body language:

• Hunch your shoulders and then release them – feel the difference when they are lowered
• Grasp your hands tightly together and then shake them out and let them hang loosely at your sides to allow a more open body language
• Lean into one leg and then adjust your balance so that it is evenly placed on two feet – feel how much stronger this stance it
• Frown as much as you can and then release as if your forehead is being ‘ironed out’ This is good to do in front of a mirror – to see the different effect it will have on your audience.

Once you have found a good starting position, practise getting into it. The more you practise it the more it will become automatic to do before you start to speak. By creating a strong starting position of your own, this will help you to generate more self-confidence and help you to control of any fears or anxieties you may have about speaking in public.

Public speaking coaching

For most people, becoming more successful at public speaking is a relatively slow and painful process with many never really achieving their true potential.

But it doesn’t have to be like that.  

You can quickly develop these skills with Skillstudio through expert coaching and practice.  And by enhancing your public speaking skills you will be able to develop a much stronger influence on your audiences and reap the business success that goes with that.

To get some coaching in public speaking, click on one of the links below:-

Public Speaking Coaching  - 121 coaching
Public Speaking Courses – Open to members of the public
Public Speaking for Business - In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

A professional presentation style requires the confidence and ability to convey the right image that you want your audience to see. 

In this article we’ll be looking at some techniques to help you achieve more from your presentations.

Presentation Training can make all the difference

If you’re a company executive and want some expert coaching to help you enhance your presentation skills then Skillstudio are there to help. We provide:-

Professional Presentation Skills 121 Coaching
Half day of full day, 121 coaching in business presenting by an expert trainer. Held throughout the UK on a date and time to suit you and tailored exactly to your personal requirements.

Introuctory Level Presentation Skills Training
These 1-day public courses are held regularly in Central London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow and are ideal for any of your staff who are new to presenting.

Effective Presentation Skills (Intermediate level course)
These 2-day public courses are held regularly in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Advanced Presentation Skills in London
This 2-day Public course is held regularly in Central London.

We can also run our presentation skills courses for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

Creating a more relaxed style

It’s very hard to project a relaxed and confident image when your nerves have taken over and you are feeling anxious and flustered. So it’s important to have some key techniques at hand to help you control your nervous energy before you begin. Even the most experienced professionals have their own preparation rituals to help them achieve a calm and relaxed state before they present – although this is often unknown to their audiences.

There are lots of ways to help you to control nervous energy before your presentation and ensure that you start off the right way – relaxed, in control and confident. Nerves have a tendency to make you speed up which, in turn has a negative effect on your professional impact.

To help you calm your nerves before you start trying the following breathing technique:

• Take a deep breath before you start. Start by breathing out through the mouth for as long as possible and then breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth again. If you breathe out for as long as possible – this will help release any hidden tensions in the body.
• Breathe deeply – from the abdomen, as this creates a more sustained breath. To help achieve this keep the chest and shoulders relaxed – don’t raise them up when you breathe in.
• Aim to complete two full breaths in the 20 seconds before you present. This will help you to calm any nerves, release hidden tensions and encourage a more relaxed style.

Presenting a polished image

To convey a polished image it’s important that you use your personal resources to your full advantage. One important thing that can be overlooked but is crucial in creating a professional image is that you look and sound confident, even if you aren’t necessarily feeling this way. However, if you act as if you are confident, this can help you to feel more confident. But if you act in a nervous way then the opposite can happen.

Think about what you are doing when you are standing in front of the audience – especially the first few minutes when the nerves tend to be at their highest. Some of the typical habits that people can fall into are that they

• Fidget
• Fiddle with hands, a pen, clothes etc
• Look tense
• Look down at the floor

All these will give away the fact that you aren’t feeling that confident and you will not come across as professionally as you would like.

In order to make a strong first impression and project a professional image at the start of your presentation, try to do the following before you start to speak:

• Move forward towards your audience to address them at the start. This will help you build immediate rapport with the audience.
• Take two to three seconds to look at your audience before you start to speak. This gives the impression that you are commanding them to pay attention to you and conveys an image of authority.
• The delay in speaking also allows you to make a mental note of the size of the audience – how large the seating area is – so that you are more likely to look at different sections of the audience during the presentation.

Talking like a professional

It may be easy to talk about your presentation topic in normal conversation but as soon as you are standing in front of an audience, you may become more hesitant and sound less fluent.

To talk like a professional you must speak with enough clarity and confidence so that the audience hear every word you say. If they can’t hear every word they will soon start to lose interest and switch off.

To help maintain a clear and confident style try the following vocal technique:

• Take your time over every word you say – don’t snatch at or merge words or syllables together.
• To do this you must open your mouth (it’s amazing how many people try to speak through a tense, closed mouth!) and move it enough to make all the word sounds.
• The consonant sounds are like the muscles of the word. They give the voice greater clarity and conviction. It is important to pronounce them clearly otherwise your voice can sound mumbled and you will look hesitant and unconvincing to your audience.

Taking care to look and sound more confident is something that can be overlooked when you are focusing intently on your presentation content. But by applying the simple techniques described in this article, you can develop a more relaxed, confident and convincing style to create a more professional image.

Invest in your own professional presentation skills

There are no hidden secrets to being successful when you present. You can develop these skills through training and practice. It is worth the investment. By enhancing the ways in which you present and communicate you’ll be able to develop a much stronger influence on your audience and thus encourage them to respond to you in the way you want!

To get some expert advice and coaching and enhance your presenting, click on one of the links below:-

Professional Presentation Skills Coaching  - 121 coaching
Business Presentation Courses – Open to members of the public
Business Presenting - In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this presentation skills article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

However, although you may know your subject well and have no difficultly in being interviewed in a face to face conversation, when there is a camera in front of you, tensions can set in and you may come across more stilted and hesitant. This means that you are unlikely to present yourself or your company/organisation in the best possible light. So how you avoid this happening at your next media interview?

Prepare yourself beforehand

You may feel nervous before your television or camera interview and nerves can prevent you from coming across relaxed and professional, so it’s important to spend a few moments to work through a few relaxation techniques beforehand.

Take a few deep breaths before you start – focusing on breathing out for as long as possible, to help control any hidden tensions in the body that may interfere with your voice and body language.

Stay neutral in your media interview

Remember that your media interviewer and audience will pick up on your body language and make judgements about you and how you are coming across. Your face is a strong focal point on camera – and so any facial expressions you make will send out strong signals.

It’s important therefore to control your facial expression so that you don’t show any emotions that you don’t wish the interviewer or audience to see.

Frowning on camera

Frowning is a natural facial reaction that occurs when you are concentrating on a question or thinking about your response. However, to your media interviewer or audience, frowning sends out certain negative vibes. The interviewer may think you have been riled by the question and they will exploit this further – to try to get you to say things that you don’t want to.

To your audience, frowning gives the impression that you are not in total control of the situation – maybe you don’t know how to answer the questions and you don’t have the necessary expertise.

Camera control technique for successful media interviews

So how do you avoid frowning when the natural tendency is to do so? The way to control it is to replace it with something else that you can use when you are feeling tense. To do this you need to make a conscious effort not to frown and instead adopt a calm, neutral face when you are listening to the question. Try the following exercise to help you master this technique.

• Stand in front of a mirror and make a strong frown which you hold for 5 seconds
• Then release the frown and imagine that you are smoothing out your forehead
• Feel the difference between the frown and the smooth position
• Repeat a few times until you are used to the smooth position

Having done this a few times you will get used to taking on the smooth position so that you can adopt it when you would normally feel a frown coming on. You can then apply this technique when you are being interviewed to help you avoid frowning on camera.

Make the most of your media exposure on camera

Media Interviews on camera are normally very short and it’s easily to find that you have finished before you’ve managed to get your message across properly.

To help avoid this it’s important to prepare as much as possible so that you plan what you want to say.

Key Message for your media iterview

Your key message is the one most important thing that you want to say in your media interview. Work it out your before your interview and learn it off by heart. To make sure that it has the desired impact make sure that your key message is:

• Clear and succinct
• Easy to say
• Is reflected in your face as well as your voice.

To help achieve the above three points you need to learn your key message off by heart and practise it in front of a mirror. Once you’ve learnt it off by heart, try to say it with your face only – to see what sort of expression you want to convey on camera. This is important as if your face doesn’t match your words, your will lack conviction on camera.

By rehearsing your key message beforehand, this will help you to incorporate it into your responses to some of the questions you are asked. Try to deliver your key message near the start of the interview and at the end – to ensure that everyone remembers it.

Being interviewed on camera by the media can be a daunting experience especially if you are inexperienced. But with a little preparation beforehand, you can learn how to convey a confident and professional manner for all media interviews on camera.

Media Training from Skillstudio

If you want some expert coaching to ensure you excel at your next media interview and get the media exposure you actually want then Skillstudio are there to help you:-

Executive Media Training & Coaching  – 121 Coaching
Half day or full day, 121 coaching and training in Media Interview Skills by an expert trainer.  Held throughout the UK and always tailored exactly to your personal requirements.

Media Training Courses  – Public Courses
This is a two-day, highly interactive public workshop designed to build your confidence and the critical media skills required to ensure success at your next media interview. Its held regularly in Central London.

Media Interview Training Course  – In-House Workshops
We can also run our 2-day media interview skills workshop for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you excel at your next media interview.

We hope you found this media skills article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.   And good luck with your next interview!

For any of these and other situations, your voice plays a key role in making a powerful impact on your listeners.

What makes a good voice?

A good voice is one that is easy to listen to, that holds your audiences’ interest and is confident and inspiring. A good speaker will :

• Command the attention of their listeners
• Communicate their messages clearly
• Influence and inspire their listeners

Training the voice

Most people don’t like to listen to the sound of their own voices. You will often see people cringe when they have to hear themselves being played back on a camera or recorder. You may think that a good speaker is born that way and that you are stuck with your own vocal limitations.

However, training the voice to sound better doesn’t need to be a complicated or lengthy process. It’s easy to develop some simple but key vocal skills to help you sound more confident and interesting. And many of these techniques can be applied straight away to make an immediate difference.

Controlling the way you speak

Nerves play a very important factor in influencing your voice. When you are nervous your natural tendency is to speed up. The effects of this can be that you

• Lose your thought track and start to waffle on
• Mumble and become unclear
• Sound monotone and uninspiring

You therefore need to control the speed of your delivery so that you avoid falling into these bad habits. There is one key way to do this. This is to use a pause -which acts like a brake pedal to help you slow down.

When you first start to speak, aim to pause for about 2 – 3 seconds after your first sentence. This may seem like a life-time but it will actually help you to control your speed and avoid racing ahead of yourself. It will also seem very natural to your audience as the pause allows them time to adjust to your voice and take in what you have just said.

Vocal exercise to help control your voice

A good way to practise getting use to pausing is to read out aloud a piece of text. This can be from a newspaper or magazine etc. When you get to a full stop make sure that you pause for 2-3 seconds before moving on to the next sentence. This will help you to train yourself to pause at the end of your sentences and maintain a steady pace.

If you practise this exercise, the next time you have to speak to a group of people, the effect will be quite noticeable. You will come across with greater:

• Focus
• Clarity
• Confidence

Training the voice to sound more interesting

So now that you have learnt how to develop greater control over your voice, the next thing is to learn how to sound more interesting.

Some of the most common turn-offs to an audience when listening to a dull and uninspiring speaker are:

• A monotone voice
• A voice that is too quiet
• A voice that lacks emphasis

You need to speak with energy and enthusiasm if you want your audience to want to listen to your every word.

If the audience can’t hear you they will switch off very quickly. To avoid this you don’t need to shout but you do need to learn how to project your voice.

To help project energy and power into your voice, emphasise the key words in your sentences, which will catch the attention of the audience. For example, take the sentence

“I encourage everyone to work together as a team so that we all achieve greater success.”

You could pull out the key words in this sentence such as

• Everyone
• Team
• Greater Success

By emphasising these words you will automatically project energy and passion into your voice and your voice will sound stronger and more confident. Emphasising words also tends to lift the pitch in your voice – so that it is no longer monotone but more varied and interesting to listen to.

Vocal exercise to help you sound more interesting

It doesn’t take long to get used to using emphasis in your everyday speech. With a bit of practice it can happen very easily.

You can practice in a similar way to the exercise on vocal control. Use your piece of text again and this time before you read it out aloud, underline the key words in the sentences.

When you read it out aloud emphasise these key words. The more you practise doing this, the easier it becomes to emphasise words naturally.

Making the most of your voice

We have looked at two simple techniques to help you make the most of your voice:

• Using the pause to control your voice
• Using emphasis to help make your voice more interesting

There are many more easy-to-practice exercises that help to bring out the best qualities in your voice. If you attend a voice training workshop or have some personal coaching with a voice coach, you can learn how to unlock the power of your voice. You will learn to develop a much greater awareness of your vocal potential and how to use your vocal qualities to help influence others in a positive way in all speaking situations.

Like to develop your voice to its full potential?

Voice coaching from an expert can help you to discover your true voice; develop your own vocal strengths and thus communicate with greater influence in all situations.

To get some expert advice and coaching and enhance your vocal skills, click on one of the links below:-

Voice Coaching - 121 coaching
Vocal Impact Courses – Open to members of the public
Voice Coaching Workshops – In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, job interview skills and body language awareness.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our voice training can help you or your team.

We hope you found this article interesting

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

The skills you display at your job interview play a critical role in whether or not you get that job offer.  And with interviews in short supply given the current economic climate it’s probably never been more important for you to make the right impression and succeed when you have an interivew.

Job interview skills – it’s all about attitude

Being successful in an interview has as much to do with the attitude that you go in with as what you say. If you think that the interview is about catching you out and finding out what you can’t do, then you are more than likely going to fail.

The real reason for the interview process is to give you the interviewee, the platform to demonstrate your abilities, capabilities, credentials and talents. There is a certain amount of self promotion needed here.

There is no question that humility and modesty are admirable qualities. However, these very admirable qualities also can be stumbling blocks on the road to success. There are so many talented people whose skills, achievements, and potential go undiscovered due to their desire to remain modest.

Through the proper use of self-promotion and understanding of modesty, one can remain both humble and modest while being recognised for your achievements and talents.

Job interview skills – putting some flesh on the bones

Put your self in the interviewer’s position for a moment. If you wanted to employ someone, wouldn’t you want to know as much about them as possible before you make the decision? You can only gain a very basic idea of what someone is like from their CV, it is really only a few pieces of the human jigsaw. At best, it provides the interviewer with a basic skeletal frame-work; it is during the interview that you have your chance to fill in the missing pieces.

If you were faced with 2 potential candidates who seemed pretty equal, you are more likely to choose the candidate who can express themselves with clarity and confidence and takes a certain amount of pride in what they have accomplished. If you are not prepared to tell the interviewer what you have achieved then the interviewer will never know.

No one ever won a job based on what they didn’t talk about.

The 3 Cs of your job interview

If you demonstrate your skills in the 3 Cs of interview, then you are well on the way to fulfilling most interviewers’ major requirements:

Capability

This is where you show the interviewer that you have the technical skills and expertise that are required. Don’t just talk about your aptitude in theory; find examples or stories that prove that you can do the job effectively. Use your past achievements to demonstrate that you have experience and initiative required.

Chemistry

How you come across to the interviewer is a vital skill. The more genuine you are the more likely the interviewer is to like and trust you. It is much more enjoyable talking to someone who is confident in who they are and comfortable about what they have to say, as opposed to having to continually ask questions to extricate all the information out of them. Most of us would prefer to work with someone who is open, warm and friendly.

First impression count, so working on your tone, facial expressions, posture and body language can go a long way to enhancing your interview skills, making the right impact, and make you feel more confident.

Commitment

After spending so much time, money and effort trying to find the right person for the role, an employer will want to believe that you are going to be fully committed to the job. It is your responsibility to demonstrate to the interviewer your enthusiasm and desire to work for their organisation. Make sure that you have done your homework and know as much about the organisation and work requirements as possible. If you really want the post you will make the effort to find out.

The interviewer will also wants to feel that you are there for the long-haul and not just using them as a temporary stepping stone to other things. Although, it never does any harm to express your interest in personal development and what opportunities they can provide within their organisation.

Interviews are not just for the interviewer to find out about you, it is your chance to find out more from them. Never be afraid to ask them questions, as this again demonstrates your interest and confidence.

Communication is key

Interviews are all about building relationships and building relationships are all about communication.

Excellent communication skills are vital to your interview success. 

So make sure that you can communicate all the elements that makes you the right person for the job.

About the author of this Job Interview Skills Article

This article was written by James, one of Skillstudio’s consultant trainers. 

James is based in London, is an excellent trainer; and runs many of our job interview skills; presentation skills; and media training sessions (from 1-2-1 coaching and small group courses through to Masterclasses). 

Read more about James’ bio here.

Convince the interviewer you’re the best candidate for the job

If you want some expert coaching from James or one of our other job interview skills coaches to ensure you excel at your next job interview and get that job offer then Skillstudio are there to help.  We provide:-

Job Interview Skills 1-2-1 Coaching
Half day of full day, 121 coaching in Interview Skills by an expert coach.  Held throughout the UK and always tailored exactly to your personal requirements.

Job Interview Skills Public Courses
This is a one-day, highly interactive public workshop designed to build your confidence and the critical job interview skills required to ensure success at your next job interview. Its held regularly in Central London, Birmingham, Leeds & Glasgow.

Job Interview Technique In-House Workshops
We can also run our job interview skills workshop for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you excel at your next job interview.

We hope you found this job interview skills article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.   And good luck with your next interview!

The exposure the media can give you and your company is enormous and equivalent to thousands of pounds worth of advertising. For this reason it is worth being prepared so you can make the most of what is essentially a golden opportunity.

Why are Media Interviews a Challenge?

When we talk to the media we are required to use all our personal style and communication skills to put over our message clearly and effectively. For anyone who has had experience of this will know that it is not an easy thing to do, even for the professionals, as it requires extensive preparation and more specialised communication skills than we use normally.

Below are some of the fundamental rules to follow when giving a media interview:

Media interviews are never neutral

The journalist will always have their own perspective, so you need to make sure you have your own angle. You will need to think about who your audience is – find out when the interview will be aired or published and consider who may be watching, listening or reading.

Try to identify the issues and subjects that will most appeal to your audience. Television, radio and print interviewers are often focused on presenting a lively, entertaining article/program – not on promoting you or your company. If your angle can fulfill the journalists brief as well as your own, then you have more chance of succeeding in getting across the message you want.

Preparation is vital for your next media interview

Do your preparation thoroughly and try to cover who, what, when, how and why. Be confident in your knowledge, you should know your subject better than the journalist. Make sure you have prepared some notes on the subject you will be talking about before the interview.

If a journalist comes on the phone for an immediate quote spend at least a few minutes preparing your ground before you call them back. Try to anticipate what questions the journalist is likely to ask you and rehearse your replies.

Learn to Speak in Sound bites

Because of the nature of media interviews being in very short segments, it is good to come up with short statements or phrases (sound bites) around which you can build your interview. Most audiences will only remember 2 or 3 statements so it is best to work on a maximum of 3 sound bites.

Work on making your sound bites memorable; try using: Strong emotions, analogies, quotes, bold actions or statements, or rhetorical questions. A good test of the effectiveness of your sound bite is, does it answer the “So what?” question. The more succinct you are the more memorable you will be to your audience.

The 3 main Principles

Be confident in what you are saying – You are the expert after all and the audience/readers want to feel that they can trust what you are saying.

Use a concise and conversational style – Try not to patronise, lecture or get too technical.

Keep control – Use sound bites, stick to your prepared plan and make sure you get your pre determined message across.

About the author of this Media Skills Article

This article was written by James, one of Skillstudio’s consultant trainers. 

James is based in London, is an excellent trainer; and runs many of our media, presentation and interview skills training sessions (from 1-2-1 coaching through to Masterclasses). 

Read more about James here.

Media Coaching from Skillstudio

If you’d like James or one of our other media coaches to help ensure you excel at your next media interview and get the media exposure you actually want then Skillstudio are there to help.  We provide:-

Media Interview Training & Coaching  – 121 Coaching
Half day or full day, 121 coaching and training in Media Interview Skills by an expert media coach.  Held in London,  Reading, Oxford, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and throughout the UK and always tailored exactly to your personal requirements.

Media Training Courses  – Public Courses
This is a two-day, highly interactive public workshop designed to build your confidence and the critical media skills required to ensure success at your next media interview. Its held regularly in Central London and Birmingham.

Media Interview Training Course  – In-House Workshops
We can also run our 2-day media interview skills workshop for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe. Our in-house workshops can also be tailored to your specific needs – both in terms of content and duration.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you excel at your next media interview.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.   And good luck with your next interview!

Managing the Media

The prospect of being faced with a media interview – whether it is with the print media, radio or television, can be rather daunting. Common concerns you may have are:

• You will be mis-quoted
• You wont be able to get your message across properly
• You will be made to look stupid
• You wont make the best of the situation

The worst thing you can do is just try to ‘wing it’ on the day, especially if you are not used to being interviewed. Preparation beforehand is important, so that you can be ready for whatever questions you are asked and you are able to respond in a way that promotes yourself, your company or organisation in the best possible light.

Know your facts

You may be an expert on the topic that you are going to be interviewed on but it is also important to have your facts ready to hand when questioned, as when nerves kick in it’s easy for your mind to go blank. Key facts that may be useful to refer to are facts concerning your:

• Company/organisation
• The product or service you provide
• Financial information
• Current issues concerning your sector etc.

It is useful to prepare a factsheet to help you remember the most important detail to use in the media interview. You will then be more likely to provide an accurate and clear response when you are questioned on points such as turnover, how long your company has been trading for, how many employees your company has etc.

Know your media audience

A journalist will always be thinking about their audience and what story their audience will be interested in, so it’s also worth you considering this. The more you understand the intended audience, what they are interested in and what are their main issues, the better you will come across in the media interview.

Think about the language you use in the interview- avoid any jargon or abbreviations that your audience will be unfamiliar with. Make it interesting and remember that most interviews are very short, so keep your sentences succinct to avoid waffling on.

Anticipation

Some interviewers act like interrogators who are out to give you a hard time. The key here is to anticipate the difficult questions you may get asked. Think about any current contentious issues that have been recently highlighted in the media.

Write down as many difficult questions as you can think of. Then consider how you might respond to these questions in a positive light. Write down your responses as well. The more you do this, the more equipped you will be to manage any hostility by your interviewer in a calm, measured and confident way.

Your Key Message

It’s easy to allow yourself to get sidetracked in a media interview, especially if you are inexperienced and the interviewer is experienced at manipulating the situation. That’s why it’s important that you establish your key message beforehand. This is the most important message that you want to get across to the audience in the interview.

To help establish a powerful key message – here are some guidelines to follow:

• It should be simple – the one most important idea you want to convey
• It should be succinct – so that it’s easy to remember and easy to communicate.
• It should be memorable – with words or phrases that grab the audience attention

A media interview doesn’t have to be something to dread. With the right preparation it can be a very positive experience and a great way to promote yourself and what you do to a much larger audience.

Media Training from Skillstudio

If you want some expert coaching to ensure you excel at your next media interview and get the media exposure you actually want then Skillstudio are there to help.  We provide:-

Executive Media Training & Coaching  – 121 Coaching
Half day or full day, 121 coaching and training in Media Interview Skills by an expert trainer.  Held throughout the UK and always tailored exactly to your personal requirements.

Media Training Courses  – Public Courses
This is a two-day, highly interactive public workshop designed to build your confidence and the critical media skills required to ensure success at your next media interview. Its held regularly in Central London and Birmingham.

Media Interview Training Course  – In-House Workshops
We can also run our 2-day media interview skills workshop for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you excel at your next media interview.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.   And good luck with your next media interview!

• Energy
• clarity and
• humanity.

Energy, in that we all need lightly more energy than we think we do need.

Clarity, that’s clarity of thought, clarity of message, clarity of delivery. So that the listener will understand and remember what you’ve said.

And thirdly, humanity. In a world where electronic communication has almost entirely taken over, the fact that you are one human being who has been bothered to turn up and reach out to another human being gives you an immediate head start. People respond to people. We all want to feel engaged and valued. Humanity is vital.

Public Speaking Training can help you 

If you want some expert coaching to help you enhance your public speaking skills then Skillstudio are there to help. We provide:-

Public Speaking for Beginners
A 1-day public workshop for absolute beginners to presenting and public speaking held in Central London, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh & Glasgow.

Effective Public Speaking
This 2-day Public intermediate level workshop is held regularly in Central London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Advanced Public Speaking
This 2-day Public course is held regularly in Central London.

We can also run our public speaking courses for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe. We also offer 1-2-1 coaching in all aspects of public speaking throughout the UK.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

The magnetic power of great public speaking

If you think of all the great speakers you’ve ever seen, either live or on television, they will have had these three essential qualities, energy, clarity and humanity.

Together with good vocal delivery, positive body language and good structure to their speeches, we find it impossible not to listen to these speakers and we remember what they’ve said.

These are qualities that we all have inside us – we are born with them. But as we grow up we are often told to hide our emotions, this happens to children as young as playground age, and by doing this we cut off one of the most powerful communications tools we have.

How do you become charismatic?

If we can feel comfortable in showing our humanity and our passion, we too can become powerful, charismatic speakers.

How do we learn to use these essential qualities as we get to our feet and present to a group?

Here are some useful tips that can make an immediate difference and double your impact:

Try to lift the energy of the room an extra 10% as you enter – feel like you’re literally lighting the up the room.

Give yourself status – and give your audience the same status that you’ve given yourself. If you do this, you won’t come across as nervous or condescending.

When you first open your mouth, speak as if on a ‘bubble’ of energy.

Keep body language open and relaxed.

Be yourself.

Say Hello – and wait to get a response!

Take a good look at your audience carefully – How are they today? Do they really want to be there? Are they tired, hot, bored?

Keep eye contact with your audience as you speak.

Treat each audience member as an individual – as if you are talking specifically just to them. Try to speak to one person specifically for each point you make. They will feel ‘special’ and the others will feel you are being specific in what you say.

Constantly check to see if your audience are still interested and listening attentively. Monitor their reactions – it will tell you how you’re doing.

Have a conversation with them – like you’re telling some good news to a friend.

Really connect with them – or you might as well have just sent them a video or shown them a PowerPoint presentation.

Be more expressive than you think. Use imagery as you speak. We are more likely to remember and be motivated by hearing that your company’s annual results are ‘like a beautiful sunrise – a perfect circle of hope’, rather than just being told the results are better than expected. If you say that the washing machine that you’re selling is ‘the Rolls Royce of washing machines’, it has more impact on the brain and memory than just saying ‘it’s the market leader’.

Mean what you say, speak with passion – enthusiasm is infectious.

Don’t panic if you feel nervous – some nerves are good – as long as they don’t overwhelm you, they can up the ‘excitement’ factor.

Be slower than you think, nerves tend to make us speak faster. Even if you think you are too slow, it will probably feel like fast-forward to the audience! Normal conversations are 125-140 words a minute – for larger groups and bigger halls, aim for 70 words a minute.

And always remember, your audience WANT you to be good – they don’t want to be bored, they want to be entertained, challenged and energised!

Finally, always end confidently – as if you’ve been the most FANTASTIC speaker, however badly you think you might have done because:

(a) you might not be the best judge of your performance and

(b) by ending confidently, you might fool some people into thinking you were better than you were anyway!

About the author of this public speaking article

This article was written by Robin, one of Skillstudio’s consultant trainers. 

Robin is based in London, is an excellent trainer; and runs many of our public speaking training sessions (from 1-2-1 coaching through to Masterclasses).  

You can read his training bio here. 
 

Public speaking coaching

For most people, becoming more successful at public speaking is a relatively slow and painful process with many never really achieving their true potential.

But it doesn’t have to be like that.  

You can quickly develop these skills with Skillstudio through expert coaching and practice.  And by enhancing your public speaking skills you will be able to develop a much stronger influence on your audiences and reap the business success that goes with that.

To get some coaching in public speaking, click on one of the links below:-

Public Speaking Coaching  - 121 coaching
Public Speaking Courses – Open to members of the public
Public Speaking for Business - In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

By shaking their hand or standing in a particular way, we might trigger off old memories in the person we are trying to impress. Maybe an old friend stood exactly like that, in which case our advances might be treated sympathetically. But if we stand like the back-stabbing colleague who has treated them badly, our advances are likely to be treated as hostile.

So there are two reasons why body language is helpful.

Firstly, to understand how we come across to other people and be able to send the right message – “Trust me, I’m not out to get you!”

And secondly be able to read the signals that another person is sending back.

By adjusting the way we stand, move, dress and interact we can make encounters with other human beings (and probably most animals too!) much easier and smoother.

So, what exactly is Body Language?

Body Language is all the non-verbal communication we make – both conscious and unconscious.

HOW WE JUDGE OTHER PEOPLE AND HOW THEY JUDGE US:

A huge part of our judgements of other people and their judgements on us are VISUAL. Studies have suggested over 50% of these judgements are VISUAL.

How do we stand? How aggressive or non-threatening are our gestures? How do our eyes, skin, hair, clothes and shoes look? Do we look happy or sad, clean or untidy, confident or nervous, tired or awake?

Another large part of these judgements will be made by listening to someone’s VOICE – the resonance, timbre, volume, pitch and pacing.

Just how important is it?

And some studies suggest that only 7% of our judgements are based on WHAT WE ACTUALLY SAY! To be fair these studies were usually taken when the body language was not CONGRUENT (that means where the body was giving signals that were disagreeing with what was being said).

The actual figures can be disputed but there is no doubt that a huge part of an audience’s judgement is VISUAL and VOCAL.

People spend hours honing a script for their speech, choosing exactly the right words – and of course that is highly important – but, it must be worth also paying close attention to the VISUAL and VOCAL judgements that audiences are making of you every time you stand up to speak!

Different types of body language

There are basically five types of body language. You will probably be able to recognise the more obvious signs:

CLOSED – AGGRESSIVE body language

• Hands on hips
• Legs too wife – too macho
• Invading personal space – too close
• Aggressive gesturing – finger pointing
• Standing ‘over’ someone
• Over firm handshake
• ‘Eye balling’ – out staring

CLOSED – DEFENSIVE body language

• Crossed arms or legs
• Hunched shoulders
• Poor eye contact
• Leaning away
• Tight voice

CLOSED – NERVOUS body language

• Nail biting
• Dry throat – swallowing / coughing
• Blushing – face/neck/chest
• Weak handshake
• Avoiding eye contact

CLOSED – BORED body language

• Looking around the room
• Looking at watch
• Drumming fingers
• Yawning
• Shifting weight
• Rubbing face

OPEN – INTERESTED body language

• Firm handshake
• Good eye contact
• On the same level
• Confident stance
• Confident gestures – chosen gestures
• Showing interest – head nod / slight lean in

And from personal experience

We all know that we ‘close off ‘ in a lift to feel safer as our personal space is invaded. We look up or down and cross our arms. This is an obvious case of ‘closed’ body language. It might be appropriate in a lift but in most other situations, it will ‘close’ the other person down. They will not respond to our advances. So learning to give ‘open’ signals will literally ‘open’ people up to our ideas and advances.

Most of us know the well-recognised ‘closed’ or ‘aggressive;’ signals, but we give off far more subtle signals all the time that we might not even be aware of.

Getting is right

Your body has to be in CONGRUENCE – that means we’re giving off signals that are in tune with what we are saying.

If you say, “This has been a terrible month.” We would probably take it on face value (literally what your face is saying) and be downcast.

But if you said, “This has been a terrible month” followed immediately with a smile and a wink of your eye, we will assume it has actually been a great month.

A smile needs to fill the whole face. If you say you’re happy but your eyes are cold – even though your mouth is smiling – we will believe the eyes.

If you nod when saying yes or shake your head when saying YES, we believe what the head is doing, no the words you have used.

Seeing is believing

We always believe what we see far more that what we hear.

In the 1960 TV debate between John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon, both candidates answered well. But on a poll conducted the next day, there were completely different results between TV and radio audiences – between those who had seen and heard and those who had only heard.

Listeners on radio were convinced Nixon had won the debate, his arguments were clear. And viewers on TV were convinced Kennedy had won, he came across as likeable and believable. This was despite the fact that Nixon’s arguments were probably clearer. People believed Kennedy more – they bought into his body language and the signals he gave of. They didn’t trust Nixon from the body language he was using.

Influencing other people:

We can learn be aware of how we come across and the signals we give. We can even influence the behaviour of other people by gently MIRRORING back their body language.

You will have seen couples who are newly in love literally mirroring everything the other does. If one reaches for their wine glass, the other will follow. If one touches their chin, the other will. It’s a sign that they’re getting on – that they are quite literally, in sync.

You can change your body language

You can change your body language to show empathy and to influence someone by slowing down your movements or taking away any unintended aggressive body language of your own.

You can learn to relax, calm and excite other people purely by the way you hold yourself, the way you move and the way you interact.

Working with a coach can be really helpful -the coach is a mirror, feeding back how the world ‘sees’ you.

Finally, learning about body language is not all hard work.

Remember, it takes 42 muscles to frown but only 17 to smile!

Try it – it works!

About the author of this body language article

This article was written by Robin, one of Skillstudio’s consultant trainers.

Robin is based in London, is an excellent trainer; and runs many of our body language and public speaking training sessions (from 1-2-1 coaching through to Masterclasses).

You can read his training bio here.

Body Langauage Training

If you’d like Robin or one of Skillstudio’s other trainers to help you become more aware of how your body language can affect the messages you are trying to convey, please get in touch.

We will help you to take control and have more influence with your own body language.  We’ll also provide you with an insight into how to read and respond to the signals being sent out by the very people you are communicating, negotiating or simply living with.

Body Language Awareness Workshops
These 1-day public courses are held in Central London.  These workshops can also be tailored and run on an in-house basis for your organisation throughout the UK and Europe.

Communication Skills Workshops
Our 1-day communication skills workshops also include an element of body language awareness.  Both public courses and in-house workshops are available.

Interpersonal Communication Skills 1-2-1 Coaching
Our 1-2-1 coaching sessions take place throughout the UK and are tailored to your specific requirements and are normally of either a half day or full day’s duration.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, job interview skills, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

Public speaking skills honed to perfection

In the opening gambit of his victory speech, Obama demonstrates a skill which has not only been honed and developed since the roaring oration at the Iowa Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner in November 2007, cited by Michael Tomasky as the most engaging speech of the campaign (The best of times, the worst of times, Guardian 8 November), but one that is also quite obviously natural and instinctive to him. It is a mixture of the stirring preaching of the pulpit and the inspirational poetry of the political heavyweight.

His use of Pace, Pitch and Pause is a masterclass

Technically, Obama is more than adept at his craft. His employment of the three ‘p’s – pace, pitch and pause – is a master class in itself. His opening sentence in Chicago contained 45 words and it took him, from the moment he started speaking to the beginning of his next point, 30 seconds to deliver. This equates to an average speech rate of 90 words per minute or 1.5 words per second. All great orators appreciate the importance of pause, and within that a variety of pause, and they ignore it at their peril. We want to hear what they say (mostly) and to see the images they paint and we cannot do that at the sort of speeds that some politicians speak at.

Obama’s long vowel sounds helps us connect with what he’s saying

His skill at extending the long vowel sounds in words such as ‘schools,’ ‘seen’ and ‘first’ not only draws those words out so that we can connect with them but also gives us the benefit of enjoying his rich, balanced and mellifluous resonance. And as for his diphthongs (words with two vowel sounds such as ‘time,’ ‘old’ and ‘poor’) he positively sings them bringing music into his voice.

His vocal energy is magnetic

Leaving aside the rhetorical skill of the text itself, he speaks each thought with a vocal energy that brings his audience to the crest of a wave and keeps them there until he, and only he, decides to bring it crashing to its climax. Lists, which lesser speakers clumsily reel off like the football scores, become great cadenzas which carry us with them on a tide of enthusiasm. His understanding of the power of repetition and how to add optimum vocal function to that celebrated phrase ‘yes we can’ is so simple it is seemingly obvious – repeating the same tune – but demands such confidence and excellence that few could achieve it so convincingly.

His vocal variety is inspirational  

He adjusts his pace to suit the mood of his crowd, gathering speed and slowing down with effortless ease and he pitches his voice perfectly applying the range of notes that some of our most distinguished actors draw on in the great Shakespearean soliloquies.

Maya Angelou wrote: “words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning,” and President – Elect Obama has that capacity in bucket loads. It is invigorating to be reminded of what an inspirational politician actually sounds like and our own leaders and would be leaders could do worse than to tear a leaf from Barack’s book.

Poetic legacy of the new president 

Those lucky enough to have been at Grant Park in the early hours of that Wednesday morning for his victory speech witnessed the culmination of a long and fascinating campaign with an oration that will surely join the ranks of some of world’s greatest political speeches. They, and those listening around the world, could not help but be engaged and, to quote Homer: “he ceased, but left so charming on their ear his voice, that listening they still seemed to hear.”

Let’s hope his politics match his rhetorical ability.

About the author of this article

This article was written by Luan – one of Skillstudio’s consultant trainers.

Luan is an acomplished voice coach and public speaking trainer – and delivers voice coaching; public speaking and presentation skills training to Skillstudio clients.  

You can read Luan’s training bio here.

Like to develop your voice to its full potential?

Voice coaching from an expert can help you to discover your true voice; develop your own vocal strengths and thus communicate with greater influence in all situations.

To get some expert advice and coaching and enhance your vocal skills, click on one of the links below:-

Voice Coaching - 121 coaching
Vocal Impact Courses – Open to members of the public
Voice Coaching Workshops – In-house training for companies and organisations

Want to improve your public speaking?

To get some expert coaching in public speaking from Luan or one of our other trainers, click on one of the links below:-

Public Speaking Coaching  - 121 coaching
Public Speaking Courses - Open to members of the public
Public Speaking for Business - In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, job interview skills and body language awareness.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

We hope you found this article interesting

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

What has changed in his voice?

Listening to a clip from 2002 (tinyurl.com/549czy), Miliband is very clear and articulate. Back then, the foreign secretary used all of the consonants. Now, in a speech at the conference (tinyurl.com/3s9dp3) and elsewhere, as well as dropping the dark L – so the “L” sound at the end of “people” becomes a “w” sound – he is also dropping “t” from the end of words.

Take “government”. In 2002, Miliband pronounced it with three clear syllables and the little “n” – gov-ern-ment. In 2008, Miliband has joined those who replace the “t” on the end with a glottal stop: it becomes something like “guv-mund”.

The Blair influence?

He also repeatedly introduces this Blair-like glottal stop (a build-up of air beneath the vocal folds, which is quickly released) on phrases such as “down and out” and “important point”. As well as eliding words and syllables, Miliband also imitates his old boss by saying five or six words and then pausing.

His pace used to be fairly fluid. Now, it is too staccato, which can sound patronising, impatient and a little preachy.

I’m one of you … you can trust me

These changes are often subconscious but can also be chosen. People often adopt an accent that says, “I’m one of you.” I might do it too if a plumber is giving me a quote so they don’t assume I’m wealthy. But Miliband risks over-egging the pudding, as you can hear on radio phone-ins such as the Jeremy Vine Show in July, when he said: “We ‘ave a role to play.”

Deliberate or natural change?

Miliband’s dropping of received pronunciation could be a conscious effort to move away from David Cameron’s almost heightened RP as well as copying Blair. But Cameron has a much more flowing manner and pauses in the right place, at the end of a sentence.

Politicians don’t often admit to voice coaching because they see it as a sign of weakness. But Miliband should seek help from a coach. I would want him to be a lot more fluid in his speaking. He should also be himself – not another Tony Blair.

About the author of this voice coaching article

This article was written by Luan – one of Skillstudio’s consultant trainers.

It was originally published in The Guardian in September 2008.

Luan is an acomplished voice coach and public speaking trainer – and delivers voice coaching and presentation skills training to Skillstudio clients.  

You can read Luan’s training bio here.

Like to develop your voice to its full potential?

Voice coaching from an expert can help you to discover your true voice; develop your own vocal strengths and thus communicate with greater influence in all situations.

To get some expert advice and coaching and enhance your vocal skills, click on one of the links below:-

Voice Coaching - 121 coaching
Vocal Impact Courses – Open to members of the public
Voice Coaching Workshops – In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, job interview skills and body language awareness.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

We hope you found this article interesting

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

But there are many factors that increase our feelings of nervousness when public speaking.

There are two broad types: 

Internal – that is how we personally respond; and 

External factors – things we feel are outside our control.

Public Speaking Training can help you overcome your fear

If you want some expert coaching to help you overcome your fear and enhance your public speaking skills then Skillstudio are there to help. We provide:-

Overcome Fear of Public Speaking
A 1-day public workshop for absolute beginners to presenting and public speaking held in Central London, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh & Glasgow.

Effective Public Speaking
This 2-day Public intermediate level workshop is held regularly in Central London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Advanced Public Speaking
This 2-day Public course is held regularly in Central London.

We can also run our public speaking courses for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe. We also offer 1-2-1 coaching in all aspects of public speaking throughout the UK.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

External Fears of public speaking

The most common external ones are:

• Importance of the stakes involved (career/status)
• The size and composition of the audience
• The venue – Is it the well-known Board Room or the unknown Conference Centre
• The time of day – some people are better in the morning and some in the evening
• Your personal state of emotional wellbeing – recent personal events may have taken their toll (relationship break-ups/bereavement) or made you feel great (falling in love/getting a promotion)
• Your recent performance when speaking – 3 good ones in a row or 3 disasters?

Internal fears when speaking in public

On top of these external factors are four common internal fears or worries:

1. Fear of being nervous

(As Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself .”)

People often say, “If I look nervous on the outside, my internal, confident persona crumbles.”

So often the battle is not with the fear itself but between two parts of yourself.

Your confident persona is in conflict with the sensitive and feeling part of you.

If you broke your arm you wouldn’t pretend you hadn’t broken your arm and divorce yourself from it. Everyone can see you’re wearing a plaster cast.

Try admitting your fear to yourself. Even try saying, “I am excited to be speaking to you today. I’m SO excited that I’m scared stiff because I want to do the best job for you I can. So if you see my hand shaking it’s only excitement!”

2. Fear of being judged – worrying what others will think of us

We often think the whole audience is sitting there judging us, as if we were contestants on THE X FACTOR. Just remember, that audiences have their own issues to worry about. For example:

• May a sick child at home
• Maybe thinking about what to question to ask afterwards
• Maybe angry with a co-worker for plotting against him at work
• Maybe worried about losing his job
• Maybe worried he has an uncomfortable ulcer

Because of this, your audience will tune in and out of your speech thinking about themselves and their own worries. They might very well not notice if you blush or that your hand shook for a couple of seconds.

3. Fear of going off script – forgetting your words

Fear of forgetting your words is, of course, a worry for many professional actors and singers. Barbara Striesand once forgot her lyrics in 1968 and didn’t perform live again for years. If you are giving a presentation, most of the audience will not know what you had intended to say. So if you forget your words or ‘go off script’ they probably won’t even be aware of it!

You could occasionally try speaking off the cuff – you probably know your subject well enough anyway. And speaking off the cuff can often have great benefits in making it sound as if you really mean what you say and are not merely reading a script. (A word of caution here – you can only do this is you know your subject well or you have prepared thoroughly.)

4. Fear of large audiences

If you are speaking to under a dozen, you can see their eyes and their faces and read how you’re doing. In larger groups – we often feel a ‘mass of humanity’ starring back at us in judgement. And if you see one person yawning you tend to think that everyone you can’t see clearly is also bored.

Remember, even the largest audience is made up of individuals. Try to talk to them individually, each one at a time.

BUT Fear can save your life

Finally Fear is not always bad, it can save your life – like avoiding a crash or falling off a cliff.

But remember that we need Big fears for big threats and only Little fears for little threats.

You can allow yourself a little fear when speaking in public – a little dose of adrenalin can up your excitement factor – but let’s not get carried away, it’s not actually a life and death situation. Try to enjoy it!

About the author of this public speaking article

This article was written by Robin, one of Skillstudio’s consultant trainers. 

Robin is based in London, is an excellent trainer; and runs many of our public speaking training sessions (from 1-2-1 coaching through to Masterclasses).  

You can read his training bio here. 
 

Public speaking coaching

For most people, becoming more successful at public speaking is a relatively slow and painful process with many never really achieving their true potential.

But it doesn’t have to be like that.  

You can quickly develop these skills with Skillstudio through expert coaching and practice.  And by enhancing your public speaking skills you will be able to develop a much stronger influence on your audiences and reap the business success that goes with that.

To get some coaching in public speaking, click on one of the links below:-

Public Speaking Coaching  - 121 coaching
Public Speaking Courses – Open to members of the public
Public Speaking for Business - In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

When early man was attacked by wild animals, the body sent panic alarms to the neural pathways in the oldest part of the brain, the amygdala. When you are nervous, the amygdala, still assumes you are in physical danger and sends an electro-chemical alarm to ‘fight or flee’. This response is, of course, out of proportion to the ‘threat’ of public speaking but the body is only trying to protect you.

Seven Deadly Stages of Public Speaking Nerves

So this is literally what happens in the body the moment you stand up and speak in public:

Heart pounding?

1st : A message is sent to the Heart, to increase the heart rate and raise blood pressure.

Feeling light headed?

2nd : Another message is sent to the Lungs, to increase breathing for fighting or running.

But that energy has to go somewhere. We exhale too quickly causing an imbalance of carbon dioxide. As we are not in physical danger this is not used up so we end up hyperventilating, feeling light headed, with tingly cheeks and fingers. (Some people even faint completely – as Winston Churchill did in his Maiden speech in Parliament.)

Dry throat?

3rd : The amygdala shuts down the Salivary system. You are going to need loads of air to fight this wild animal, and you don’t want to choke on your own saliva. So now you have dry throat and mouth.

Got that sickly feeling?

4th : The amygdala deliberately draws blood away from the stomach – all blood is needed to give muscles extra fire power so there is no time for digestion. In fact it wants an empty stomach, intestines, bladder and bowel – and fast! After dinner speakers rarely enjoy their meal for this reason. Food doesn’t even taste normal at this time – often bitter and unappetising.

Eyes watering?

5th : Adrenalin is sent shooting to the eyes to find a quick escape route . Eyes are left darting around the room often staring at the ceiling or floor. We can behave like a child: “If I can’t see the Tiger, perhaps the Tiger can’t see me.” After all, it’s sensible to avoid eye contact with dominant, aggressive male Gorillas. These responses are primitive. So don’t beat yourself up when you avoid the audience and look at the floor – your subconscious thinks the audience is an aggressive Gorilla!

Mind going blank?

6th : At times of life threatening danger, the amygdala downgrades the importance of the brain. Running away is more important than thinking about running away! So whilst blood is surging into the muscles, it is ebbing away from the brain. Heroic people when interviewed after disasters often say, “I don’t remember much about it – it was all a blur.” Or an actor winning an Oscar proceeds to blurt out ecstatic nonsense about everybody from their cat to their cleaner.

Lost your voice?

7th and lastly : The amygdala also downgrades the importance of the voice. Presumably one would keep as quite as possible in the face of the Tiger.

Help is at hand

So there you are, standing up in front of a group of people, and your muscles start to shake, you feel sick, you can’t remember a word, your mouth goes dry, you can’t swallow and your voice stops working. Not great is it?!

Knowing the reasons why we feel panic and fear when speaking in public, can help us realise that it is not a failing in us – it is merely an animal response. A response that every other human ‘animal’ feels. We just have to learn how to cope with it – and how to use all that adrenalin to our advantage.

About the author of this public speaking article

This article was written by Robin, one of Skillstudio’s consultant trainers. 

Robin is based in London, is an excellent trainer; and runs many of our public speaking training sessions (from 1-2-1 coaching through to Masterclasses).  You can read his training bio here. 

To get some coaching in public speaking, click on one of the links below:-

Public Speaking Coaching  - 121 coaching
Public Speaking Courses – Open to members of the public
Public Speaking for Business - In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

• I’ll forget what I want to say
• The audience will be bored and fall asleep
• I’ll look like a quivering wreck
• Everyone will see my knees, hands, body shaking
• My voice will wobble uncontrollably
• I’ll get asked loads of questions that I don’t know the answer to
• I’ll start waffling off the point and lose track of what I am saying

Public Speaking Training can help you overcome your phobia

If you want some expert coaching to help you overcome your fear and enhance your public speaking skills then Skillstudio are there to help. We provide:-

Overcome Public Speaking Phobia
A 1-day public workshop for absolute beginners to presenting and public speaking held in Central London, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh & Glasgow.

Effective Presenting & Public Speaking
This 2-day Public intermediate level workshop is held regularly in Central London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Advanced Public Speaking Coaching
This 2-day Public course is held regularly in Central London.

We can also run our public speaking courses for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe. We also offer 1-2-1 coaching in all aspects of public speaking throughout the UK.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

Public Speaking Phobias

These negative thoughts automatically create an attitude of fear of failure towards speaking in public. It is this fear of failure that can often create a phobia towards public speaking. It is much easier to focus on the negative rather than the positive things that can happen when you have to deliver a speech in public. If you focus on negative thoughts however, you are more likely to convey these to your audience and this is not going to help you to feel more confident.

Creating positive thoughts

So, to avoid being trapped by your negative thoughts, you need to reverse your attitude and actively create some positive thoughts in you mind instead. You can do this by creating an inner dialogue with yourself – ie by saying some positive things over and over again in your head to help create a positive state of mind. Here are some examples of positive thoughts that you could consider:

• I have information that the audience needs to hear
• The audience will benefit from listening to me
• I have a strong passion for the topic of my speech
• The audience members would probably much prefer to listen to me than have to speak themselves

Controlling your anxiety when speaking in public

It’s important to acknowledge that you will inevitably feel nervous when you have to speak in public and this is very normal for most people. If you acknowledge this you can then work on some techniques to help you calm yourself down before a presentation. It’s important to try to relax before a presentation and although easier said than done, you can achieve this with some simple techniques.

One of the easiest ways to help you relax is to focus on your breathing before you start to speak. Think of the rhythm of your breath as a controlling mechanism. The more you slow down your breathing pattern and make it more sustained, the greater control you will have over your nerves and anxiety. We tend to release tension when we breathe out – so the longer you sustain the out breath, the more you will release hidden tensions in your body.

Visualise your success when public speaking

We have looked at the kinds of negative thoughts that tend to creep into our minds when we think about having to speak in public and how it’s important to transfer these negative thought into positive ones. One way to help to do this is to actually visualise yourself delivering a successful speech before you do it. The mind finds it difficult to distinguish between reality and strong imagination and so the more you can actively imagine the event beforehand eg imagine -

• Filling the room with your voice
• Feeling strong and confident in front of your audience
• Observing the audience’s faces – listening to your every word

the more you will feel you have already been successful. By repeatedly talking through these things in your head, you will develop a belief that you can actually be successful.

Fear of failure

We have looked at how having a fear of failure can result in a phobia towards speaking in public. It’s important though to realise that many confident and successful speakers have initially experienced these fears but have learnt to use the techniques we have discussed to help them overcome them.

So when you are next presented with an opportunity to speak in public, try to use the techniques we have discussed:

• Creating positive thoughts
• Controlling anxiety
• Visualising success

They will help you to control your anxieties and speak with more confidence. The more you practice them and gain valuable public speaking experience, the more you will grow in confidence and reduce your phobia.

Public speaking coaching will overcome your phobia

For most people, becoming more successful at public speaking is a relatively slow and painful process with many never really overcoming their phobia and achieving their true potential.

But it doesn’t have to be like that.  

You can quickly build confidence and develop these skills with Skillstudio through expert coaching and practice.  And by enhancing your public speaking skills you will be able to develop a much stronger influence on your audiences and reap the business success that goes with that.

To get some coaching in public speaking, click on one of the links below:-

Public Speaking Coaching  - 121 coaching
Public Speaking Courses – Open to members of the public
Public Speaking for Business - In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

Public Speaking Training can help you overcome your fear

If you want some expert coaching to help you overcome your fear and enhance your public speaking skills then Skillstudio are there to help. We provide:-

Overcome Fear of Public Speaking
A 1-day public workshop for absolute beginners to presenting and public speaking held in Central London, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh & Glasgow.

Effective Presenting & Public Speaking
This 2-day Public intermediate level workshop is held regularly in Central London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Advanced Public Speaking Coaching
This 2-day Public course is held regularly in Central London.

We can also run our public speaking courses for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe. We also offer 1-2-1 coaching in all aspects of public speaking throughout the UK.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

What is Public Speaking Fear?

You may be asked to give a speech at a colleague’s leaving do or speak at the next team meeting.  If you suffer from public speaking anxiety and fear, the typical reactions you may have probably include:

• Shallow breath
• Shaky voice
• Sweaty palms
• Sick feeling in your stomach
• Dry throat
• Voice drying up

However, help is at hand and there are some simple techniques you can employ to help you overcome these problems.

Preparation is key to reducing public speaking fear

Firstly it’s important to be prepared rather than try to ‘wing it’ on the day. It’s easy to put off planning your speech since the mere thought of speaking in public terrifies you. But with a little preparation beforehand this can only help you to feel more confident when you next have to speak in public.

Clear Structure

Make sure that you have a clear and simple structure to your speech. To do this following the following steps

Have a strong opening

Start with three short sentences that are easy to remember. This will help you to avoid unnecessary ‘um’s’ and ‘err’s’ when you first start speaking and are at your most nervous.

Three key points

Restrict your speech to three main points as this will give you a clear focus that is easier to remember and easier for your audience to follow.

Have a strong ending

Decide on your final sentence and learn it off by heart so that you will finish on a strong note and avoid sounding apologetic.

Controlling your nerves

There are some simple but highly effective techniques that can help you to control your nerves before you start speaking.

Breathe

When you are anxious about speaking in public it is easy to start off too quickly as the nerves take hold. To help calm down, take two deep breaths before you start to speak – focusing on breathing out for as long as possible, to help you breathe in a slower and deeper way.

Think positively

Before you start to speak think about the effect you want to have on your audience – what you will do for your audience. Create a short sentence to summarise this and say it in your mind. This will help you to create a positive mind-set – and control your fears since your focus will switch from how you are feeling to what you want to do for your audience.

Speaking confidently in public

When you are speaking in public, you may feel that your voice doesn’t sound the same as usual because you are quieter, more hesitant and less fluent. One of the best ways to help overcome this problem is to make a conscious effort to slow down when you first start speaking. If you speak too quickly, which is the natural tendency, you are more likely to fall into bad habits. So, slow down by taking time over your words and pause at the end of your first sentence. This actually allows your audience to take in what you have just said and it wont sound slow to them.

Taking the fear out of public speaking

We have looked at some simple techniques to help you control your fears:

• Prepare your speech using a clear structure
• Breathe to help control your nerves
• Think positively about what you will do for your audience
• Speak more slowly

By incorporating these techniques into your public speaking, you will start to feel more in control of what you are saying and this will help you reduce your fears and increase your confidence.

Public speaking coaching

For most people, becoming more successful at public speaking is a relatively slow and painful process with many never really achieving their true potential.

But it doesn’t have to be like that.  

You can quickly develop these skills with Skillstudio through expert coaching and practice.  And by enhancing your public speaking skills you will be able to develop a much stronger influence on your audiences and reap the business success that goes with that.

To get some coaching in public speaking, click on one of the links below:-

Public Speaking Coaching  - 121 coaching
Public Speaking Courses – Open to members of the public
Public Speaking for Business - In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

A few people however, will have invested time and effort beforehand, researching the likely interview questions thoroughly; analysing how best to answer these questions using lots of relevant examples; and then by practising their answers, start to develop the skills needed to really “think on their feet”.  And when they are faced with the actual interview, they are much better prepared; more likely to present themselves in the best possible light … and stand a far better chance of getting the job offer.  And so can you if you are willing to invest some time and effort as you read this article!

Convince the interviewer you’re the best candidate for the job

You might already believe that you are the best person for the job and have all the right expertise but will you be able to convince your interviewer of that and beat the competition?

If you want some expert coaching to ensure you excel at your next job interview and get that job offer then Skillstudio are there to help.  We provide:-

Job Interview Questions and Answers 1-2-1 Coaching
Half day of full day, 121 coaching in Interview Skills by an expert trainer.  Held throughout the UK and always tailored exactly to your personal requirements.

Job Interview Skills Public Courses
This is a one-day, highly interactive public workshop designed to build your confidence and the critical interview skills required to ensure success at your next job interview. Its held regularly in Central London, Birmingham, Leeds & Glasgow.

Job Interview Technique In-House Workshops
We can also run our job interview techniques workshop for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you excel at your next job interview. 

And now to the Job interview questions …

OK, I now want you to start thinking about the questions you might be asked in your next interview.

Try and remember back to your last interview(s) …. what did the interviewer ask you?

And what I want you to do is to write down each of these questions on some paper (or record cards – if you have any) – so you can remember them. 

Leave some space between the questions on your paper – as you’ll be adding in some answers later in the exercise!

Building your Question & Answer Bank

If you’d like some help to come up with the questions … here’s a few to start things off …

Tell me about yourself ..

Why do you want this job?

I’m interviewing another 10 people for this post, tell me why I should choose you.

Tell me about your worst experience when working in the past 2 years?

What would your current manager say were your biggest weaknesses?

How would your colleagues in your current job describe you?

Give me an example of where your good team skills were evident in the past 6 months.

Pick the ones you want to store in your Question Bank – and write them down.

Include as many job specific questions as you can

Remember that the questions Ive given you so far are fairly generic ones … you need to come up with the typical job specific ones …

So if you are an IT Systems Analyst you are likely to get some technical questions about software design, data analysis etc etc …. you’ll know the type and details required – and if you dont – you need to research this.

If you are an accountant or a physicist … or a doctor …. or surgeon … or teacher … or whatever … you need to prepare yourself as much as possible for the likely technical / job specific questions you’ll get asked.

And then write each one down – so you can remember them

Now count the number of questions you’ve produced

How many job interview questions have you got so far?

If you’ve less than 30 then you need to keep brain-storming … thinking about the last interview. Thinking through the questions they asked you …

Can you remember back to what your most difficult questions were? If you can, write them down – assuming you haven’t done so already.

Have you noticed any questions coming up several times in different interviews? Make sure you write them down.

Once you’ve got 30 or more questions … have a rest.

That was the easy bit!

OK so you’ve now got an initial set of interview questions – which are starting to form your Question & Answer Bank.

And that leads us to the next step … Coming up with answers for each of these questions.

Now I dont want you to write down the full text of an answer – I just want you to think about two or three bullets – three things you could say (in summary form) for each of these questions. Use the power of 3 – that’s often used by the professionals when answering questions in the media or even when presenting.

So get out a pen and start going through each of your questions you’ve built up.

And then think about 3 things you would like to say in answer to each of them … writing this down immediately below each of your questions.

OK you’re probably needing a bit of a change …

Assuming you’ve already completed 15 of the questions … and have 3 bullet answers on each … how about trying to answer these questions out aloud!

If you’ve got something to record your voice … (voice recorder, video camera, etc) then use that when you start the practice session.  If not, dont worry … just go ahead anyway.

Job Interview Question & Answer Practice Session

Now pick up your completed questions / answers.

Read out the question aloud … and then use your 3 bullets answer to help you answer the question in full this time – out aloud again.

Remember to give yourself 2 or 3 seconds before answering the question – to ensure that you’ve got the time to think first then answer. Try and keep to the question asked … be succinct … be confident …

And then repeat this scenario for each of the other questions you’ve completed answers for.

Once you’ve completed this run, if you’ve been able to record yourself, rewind the recorder and review how it went. Did you come over as you’d wanted? What worked well? What do you need to work on? Which answeres went well?

Make some notes of things you need to change and then you can come back to it later.

And the next step in your interview preparation is …

Now go back to the pile of unfinished questions and start the process again till you’ve completed next 15 – 20 answers and go through the Q&A session again.

And again … until you’ve got bulleted answers for each question in your Q&A bank and you’ve rehearsed your answers at least once in front of either the voice recorder or camcorder … and noted the improvements you want to make.

Need some personal feedback and help?

If you are finding it difficult to find the time to go through these questions / answers or would like some personal feedback and coaching from an expert trainer then you might want to consider attending either our 1-2-1 training sessions or public workshops.

Face to face training and personal coaching by an expert trainer is the only way to ensure that you really do maximise your chance of success in your next interview.

Click the link for more information on our 1-2-1 Coaching in Job Interview Questions & Answers

Click here for more information on our Job Interview Skills Workshop

OK … let’s move on to your most difficult questions …

Review the Q&A bank and pick out the 5 questions that you think are most difficult to answer. What is it about them that’s difficult?

Think about how you might want to change your answers … how can you present yourself in the most positive light – even if on first inspection the question – and your initial answer makes that difficult?

Now mark these difficult questions with a red marker or similar so that you can spot them quickly in the Q&A Bank.

Now go through each of these difficult questions and practise your answers again – with the tape recorder / camcorder running if you have one.

Review, update the answers again and make whatever notes again on what else you need ot change. 

Interview skills coaching can help you succeed

To get some expert advice and coaching to help you excel at your next job interview – click on one of the links below:-

Interview Techniques - 121 coaching
Developing skills and Answers for Job Interview Questions - Public courses
Job Interview Technique Training - In-house training

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of communication skills, including presentation skills, public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

The reality for many executives is that speaking in public to a large outside audience can still be a somewhat daunting afair no matter how experienced you are in normal business presentations. 

Public Speaking Coaching can really make a difference

If you’re a company executive and want some expert coaching to help you enhance your public speaking then Skillstudio are there to help. We provide:-

Executive Public Speaking Coaching
Half day of full day, 121 coaching in business presenting by an expert trainer. Held throughout the UK on a date and time to suit you and tailored exactly to your personal requirements. These sessions can be held in many locations throughout the UK.

Effective Presenting & Public Speaking
This 2-day Public workshop is held regularly in Central London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Advanced Public Speaking Coaching
This 2-day Public course is held regularly in Central London.

We can also run our public speaking courses for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

Nerves at the beginning of your speech?

You might well discover that nerves play a significant part at the beginning of your speech. 

However this is just exactly the time when you need to be in total control and make the right first impression on your audience.  You need to ensure that the first few lines of the speech are delivered confidently and clearly and provide you with the optimum launch for the rest of your speech.

If this is an issue for you, then learning a number of strategies to take full control of your nerves can make a great difference.  And a short session with an experienced coach on a 121 basis will help you address this.

Voice coaching for the executive speech

As an executive public speaker, you need to influence your audience through the power of your voice. 

However, even if you are an experienced public speaker, you may not be making the most of your voice when you speaking to the audience.  You may feel passionately about your material but this may not be being effectively conveyed through your voice and so your audience is left uninspired.  Three of the most common reasons why this happens are:

• Your voice might lack variety
• You might be speaking too quickly
• or you might lack energy and conviction

However, the above faults can all be quickly addressed by working with an expert coach. 

Executive coaching in body language

To make a strong impact on your audience, it’s equally as important as an executive speaker to have a strong presence and use your body language effectively.  This can be especially so when you are on the stage in front of a large audience.

Your stance says a lot about you – so make sure that it is strong, relaxed and engaging.  Negative body language can have an adverse effect on the way your audience sees you and this can reduce your overall credibility. 

Three key areas related to body language that can impact your executive speeches are:-

• Using eye contact
  We build rapport with people when we make eye contact with them.  So you need to make sure you share eye contact with your audience when you are speaking to them – even when there are hundreds in the audience.  A good public speaking coach will show you how to do this. 
• Using gestures
  Gesture can help you to enhance your messages and make them more powerful.  It will reflect in your voice which will sound more dynamic and the overall impact will be more powerful and memorable to your audience.
• Using space to command your audience
  The way you use your space when you present says a lot about you.  The executive presenter who is at ease in their space conveys a strong presence and command over their audience. 

The language of persuasion

The words used in your speech is also a key factor in helping the executive fully engage with and influence your audience. 

To convey your message in a persuasive way you also need to speak in a way that’s easy for your audience to listen to you.  You need to ensure that your presentation uses the spoken word rather than just a written piece of text.  For example:

• Be informal
  Don’t use overly formal grammar that is technically correct and works well for the written word but will sound stilted to your audience when read out. 
• Be clear
  Highlight key points to your audience so that they become clear and so that your audience will remember them. 
• Be creative
  Use creative techniques which help engage with your audience’s imagination and help them to remember your message. 

Executive public speaking coaching

Being successful when you speak in public is not rocket science.  Its simply a number of key skills.

And you can develop these skills through coaching and practice.  By enhancing your public speaking skills you will be able to develop a much stronger influence on your audiences and reap the business success that goes with that.

To get some executive coaching in public speaking, click on one of the links below:-

Executive Public Speaking Coaching  - 121 coaching
Public Speaking Courses – Open to members of the public
Public Speaking for Business - In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

Presentation Coaching can really make a difference

If you’re a company executive and want some expert coaching to help you enhance your presentation skills then Skillstudio are there to help. We provide:-

Executive Presentation Coaching
Half day of full day, 121 coaching in business presenting by an expert trainer. Held throughout the UK on a date and time to suit you and tailored exactly to your personal requirements.

Effective Presentation Skills 
These 2-day public courses are held regularly in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Advanced Presentation Coaching
This 2-day Public course is held regularly in Central London.

We can also run our presentation skills courses for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

Vocal coaching can increase executive influence

The executive presenter needs to influence their audience through the power of their voice. 

However, even if you are an experienced presenter, you may not be making the most of your voice when you are presenting.  You may feel passionately about your material but this may not be being effectively conveyed through your voice and so your audience is left uninspired.  Three of the most common reasons why this happens are:

• Your voice might lack variety and be a bit monotone
• You might be speaking too quickly so people dont always absorb everything
• or you might lack energy and conviction in your voice

However, the above faults can all be quickly addressed by working with an expert presentation coach. 

Is your body language executive or ordinary?

To make a strong impact on your audience, it’s equally as important for the executive to have a strong presence and use their body language effectively. 

Your stance says a lot about you – so make sure that it is strong, relaxed and engaging.  Negative body language can have an adverse effect on the way your audience sees you and this can reduce your overall credibility. 

Three key areas related to body language that can impact your executive presentations are:-

• Using eye contact
  We build rapport with people when we make eye contact with them.  So make sure you make eye contact with your audience when you are speaking with them. 
• Using gestures
  Gesture can help you to enhance your messages and make them more powerful.  It will reflect in your voice which will sound more dynamic and the overall impact will be more powerful and memorable to your audience.
• Using space to command your audience
  The way you use your space when you present says a lot about you.  The executive presenter who is at ease in their space conveys a strong presence and command over their audience. 

The language of persuasion

The words used in your presentation is also a key factor in helping the executive fully engage with and influence their audience. 

To present your message in a persuasive way you also need to speak in a way that’s easy for your audience to listen to you.  You need to ensure that your presentation uses the spoken word rather than just a written piece of text.  For example:

• Be informal
  Don’t use overly formal grammar that is technically correct and works well for the written word but will sound stilted to your audience when read out. 
• Be clear
  Highlight key points to your audience so that they become clear and so that your audience will remember them. 
• Be creative
  Use creative techniques which help engage with your audience’s imagination and help them to remember your message. 

Executive presentation coaching

There are no hidden secrets to being successful when you present.

You can develop these skills through training and practice. It is worth the investment. By enhancing the ways in which you present and communicate you’ll be able to develop a much stronger influence on your audiences and reap the business success that goes with that.

To get some executive coaching and enhance your presenting, click on one of the links below:-

Executive Presentation Skills Coaching  - 121 coaching
Business Presentation Courses – Open to members of the public
Business Presenting - In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

Presentation Training can make all the difference

If you’re a company executive and want some expert coaching to help you enhance your presentation skills then Skillstudio are there to help. We provide:-

Executive Presentation Skills 121 Coaching
Half day of full day, 121 coaching in business presenting by an expert trainer. Held throughout the UK on a date and time to suit you and tailored exactly to your personal requirements.

Beginner Level Presentation Skills Training
These 1-day public courses are held regularly in Central London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow and are ideal for any of your staff who are new to presenting.

Effective Presentation Skills (Intermediate level course)
These 2-day public courses are held regularly in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Advanced Presentation Skills
This 2-day Public course is held regularly in Central London.

We can also run our presentation skills courses for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

The executive presenter

So – what skills does the executive need in order to be a successful presenter?  Well, let’s first consider the three main purposes of a presentation.  Broadly speaking we can categorize a presentation in to three key purposes:

1.  Inform – this is when you give your audience information – so it is a means of passing on facts to your audience

2.  Explain – this is when you need to explain something like a new procedure or process.  It usually involves giving information as well.

3.  Persuade – this may involve giving information and explanation but with a view of influencing and persuading the audience along a certain line.

The ability to persuade the audience is essential to the success of the executive presenter.  The executive presenter needs to be able draw upon a range of advanced presentation techniques to help them use their persuasive powers to influence an audience who may not be initially open to their ideas.  These techniques can be developed and three of the most common areas that influence your ability to be persuasive are:

The power of the voice

The power of body language

The power of the spoken word

The power of the voice

The executive presenter needs to influence their audience through the power of their voice.  However, even if you are an experienced presenter, you may not be making the most of your voice when you are presenting.  You may feel passionately about your material but this may not be being effectively conveyed through your voice and so your audience is left uninspired.  Three of the most common reasons why this happens are:

Your voice is monotone

You are speaking too quickly

You lack energy and conviction in your voice

However, the above faults can all be addressed by developing some simple but highly effective vocal techniques. 

The monotone voice

If you are speaking for any length of time – you can begin to lose energy in your voice so that it drops off and becomes dull and monotone with little variation.  So whatever you are saying the audience will switch off and you will lose the ability to deliver your message in a persuasive way. To help address this – imagine you are speaking in the role of the story teller telling your audience an exciting story.  This will automatically ‘lift’ your voice and give it more expression.  Don’t worry about sounding ‘over the top’ – this is very unlikely to happen as we always sound less exaggerated to our audience than we think we do.

Speaking too quickly

Speaking too quickly is a common fault for many presenters, especially at the start of a presentation when even for experienced executive presenters, nerves can kick in.  But you need to speak at a slower pace to your normal conversational voice when you are presenting or the audience won’t be able to follow easily and you will lose the ability to command their attention.  So when you first start to speak make a conscious effort to speak more slowly than usual.  Practise your first three sentences out aloud beforehand and say them slowly with a pause in between.  The pause acts like a brake pedal and will help you to control your speed so that you don’t race ahead.

Lacking energy and conviction

Even for the experienced executive, if the voice lacks energy and conviction, this will weaken their ability to influence the audience.  To help address this – draw out the most important words in your sentences, the powerful words that carry the meaning of the sentence.  By emphasing these words you will influence the overall message and also inject a stronger passion and conviction in your voice.  It also helps to keep your sentences short – as it’s much harder to maintain energy when speaking in longer sentences.  So reduce the number of ‘ands’ you have in your sentences and replace with a full stop and a new sentence.

The power of your body language

To make a strong impact on your audience, it’s equally as important for the executive to have a strong presence and use their body language effectively.  Your stance says a lot about you – so make sure that it is strong, relaxed and engaging.  Negative body language can have an adverse effect on the way your audience sees you and this can reduce your overall credibility. 

Building rapport

We build rapport with people when we make eye contact with them.  So make sure you make eye contact with your audience when you are speaking with them.  Avoidance of eye contact or a flitting use of eye contact can reduce your rapport with the audience.  Maintain a confident use of eye contact – about 4-5 seconds on any individual – to ensure that you look confident and convincing.  Make sure you share your eye contact around the room at random – this also keeps your audience on their toes and maintains their attention, as they never know when you will look at them next.

Enhancing your message through gesture

Use of gesture can help you to enhance your messages and make them more powerful.  When you gesture on a particular word this makes you emphasize that word to your audience.  It will reflect in your voice which will sound more dynamic and the overall impact will be more powerful and memorable to your audience. 

Commanding your audience

The way you use your space when you present says a lot about you.  The executive presenter who is at ease in their space conveys a strong presence and command over their audience.  To help achieve this try to walk around the space before you present and before the audience arrive, to help you get used to it.  When you are presenting, try to move to different places in the space – whatever is possible.  This is not only relaxing to do but also helps to reinforce what you are saying as the audience tend to associate different messages with different points in the room where you are presenting.

The language of persuasion

The language of the presentation is also a key factor in helping the executive fully engage with and influence their audience.  In order to present your message in a persuasive way you need to speak in a way that’s easy on the ears of the audience.  It’s important therefore that your presentation is created to be spoken out aloud rather than just a written piece of text.  Here are some ways to help you achieve this:

Be informal

Don’t use over formal grammar that is technically correct and works well for the written word but will sound stilted to your audience when read out.  Keep your sentences short with one thought per sentence – so that your audience can follow easily.

Be clear

Highlight key points to your audience so that they become clear and so that your audience will remember them.  Use ‘signpost’s that ‘flag up’ a key point and reinforce it at the end.  This will help to order the way you present your information which makes it easier for you to deliver in a fluent manner and which is easier for the audience to remember.

Be creative

Use creative techniques which help engage with your audience’s imagination and help them to remember your message.  Do this by incorporating stories or personal examples into your presentation that help to support your message.

Putting it all together

We have looked at three key areas to help you enhance the way you deliver your executive presentations with more persuasion and influence.

Using your voice

Using your body language

Using persuasive language

By developing techniques in these three areas, you will enhance the way in which you communicate with your audience and deliver highly effective presentations that are vital for your success in the executive business environment.

Invest in your own presentation skills

There are no hidden secrets to being successful when you present. You can develop these skills through training and practice. It is worth the investment. By enhancing the ways in which you present and communicate you’ll be able to develop a much stronger influence on your audience and thus encourage them to respond to you in the way you want!

To get some expert advice and coaching and enhance your presenting, click on one of the links below:-

Executive Presentation Skills Coaching  - 121 coaching
Business Presentation Courses – Open to members of the public
Business Presenting - In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

Fact or Fiction?

Have you ever heard (or seen) some people mentioning that words only represent 7% of our communication? If so, you might also have heard them mention that tone of voice makes up 38% of our communication and that body language takes up the remaining 55%.

But is this fact or fiction?  Is body language and the tone of voice really that important in all our communications?

Body Langauage Training

If you want some expert training to help you enhance your body langauage awareness then Skillstudio are there to help. We provide:-

Body Language Awareness Workshops
These 1-day public courses are held in Central London and we can also run them for your organisation on an in-house basis throughout the UK and Europe.

Communication Skills Workshops
Our 1-day communication skills workshops also include an element of body language awareness.  Both public courses and in-house workshops are available.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

Body Language accounts for 55% - Fact or Fiction?

Well, it’s really an over-simplification of the research that was conducted by a Dr Mehrabian back in the late 1960′s. Unfortunately this has been misquoted by trainers and other communications experts ever since then.

So what did Mehrabian’s research indicate?

The research did however demonstrate that when applied to discussions about intangibles eg a speakers feelings or beliefs about something, then both body language and tone of voice are often more important than the actual words used.

This is even more so when the three modes of communication (ie words; tone of voice; and body language) are incongruent with each other. In this case, his research experiment showed a 55% weighting on body language, 38% on tone of voice and 7% on words used. eg if someone doesnt look like they are “telling the truth” or doesnt appear to be convinced that what they are saying will work – then we put more weight on what we see (body language) and hear (tone of the voice) than on the actual words spoken.

But when talking about tangibles – eg statements of fact, financial data, research findings etc, the words used and the style of language are of course extremely important. But even in these scenarios the ability to influence and persuade your audience through a convincing voice and confident body language is a vital ingredient to your ultimate success.

So next time you hear, read or see someone mentioning quite categorically that words only make up 7% of our communication you might want to take what they say with a “pinch of salt”.

Where does that leave us with body language?

Body language is still very important in many aspects of our everyday business and social life.

Very often when we’re in a meeting we are conveying feelings about something, making a proposal about something or trying to convince somebody that what we are saying is a good idea. ie we are offering opinions – intangibles – and thus our body language is also “communicating” as we speak.

If your body language is telling your audience the opposite of the words you are speaking or at least starting to raise doubts in their minds about what you are saying, then you are unlikely to be successful in what you’re trying to achieve.

Confident body language can help to engage your audience. It can help you build rapport more quickly. And it can work even if inside you are still feeling quite nervous.

Body language awareness can also give you an edge when negotiating. If you are able to read possible signals from the other people you are dealing with – tt can help you identify possible areas to investigate further to potentially get yourself a better deal.

So how can our body language workshop help?

We will help you become significantly more atuned to how and where body language can affect the messages you are trying to convey.

We will also help you to take control and have more influence with your own body language.

And finally, we’ll provide you with an insight into how to read and respond to the signals being sent out by the very people you are communicating, negotiating or simply living with.

Developing your skills further

To get some expert advice and coaching and enhance your skills, click on one of the links below:-

Body language Courses – Open to members of the public
Communication Skills Workshops – In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, job interview skills, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

In this somewhat tongue in cheek article we’ll be looking at some techniques that can guarantee your audience will totally switch off during your next business presentation using PowerPoint.  Alternatively, you can always try exactly the opposite; get some training and learn how to engage with your audience and succeed!

Presentation Training can make all the difference

If you want some expert coaching to help you enhance your presentation skills then Skillstudio are there to help. We provide:-

Presentation Skills 121 Coaching (for all levels)
Half day of full day, 121 coaching in business presenting by an expert trainer. Held throughout the UK on a date and time to suit you and tailored exactly to your personal requirements.

Beginner Level Presentation Skills Training
These 1-day public courses are held regularly in Central London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Effective Presentation Skills (Intermediate level course)
These 2-day public courses are held regularly in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Advanced Presentation Skills
This 2-day Public course is held regularly in Central London.

We can also run our presentation skills courses for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

Make sure that the room is as dark as possible

This is a great technique – especially if its late in the day.  You need to be able to read the slides out to your audience.  Its also quite nice for them to be able to relax in the relative darkness of the presentation room.  Just remember not to put too much energy or enthusiasm into your voice when reading out the slides.  Just keep up a good monotone voice - your audience will appreciate that the most.

Powerpoint slides are for you – not the audience

Remember that your powerpoint slides are there for your benefit only.  They are great prompts for what you are about to say – so remember to put all of your speech on them.  Most people cant remember the exact words they want to use in their presentation so include every word you want to say, just to be safe.

It just makes sure that you wont forget anything on the day.

Use at least 4 slides a minute

Remember to introduce your presentation by telling everybody how many slides you have for them today.  And as a rule of thumb try and have at least 4 slides for every minute of your presentation.

So if you’ve got a 25 minute presentation to give that means you’ve got a nice round number of 100 slides to entertain them with.

Remember to face the screen not the audience

Try not to face your audience when you are presenting.  You’ve got your whole presentation written on the slides and you dont want to miss any of the words. So make sure you face the screen at least 95% of the time.  Your audience will really appreciate the effort you are taking to ensure that you dont forget any of your message.

Use Powerpoints Features to the full

One of the greatest powers of PowerPoint are the ways in which your bullet points can be animated. You can have them coming in from the left; gliding in from above; being fired out like a machine gun, letter by letter; in fact there’s simply no end to the permutations you can have.  Eespecially if you use the sound effects as well. 

So turn up the volume and make use of every possible feature to keep the audience on their toes.  And if you’ve got 100 slides to present – just think of the fun you can have!

Keep your font size small

You can probably read your slides quite quickly – so remember to make sure that the font size you use is small enough so that you can get enough text on the screen for every slide.  Otherwise you might need to have more than 4 slides a minute! 

Dont worry if the audience cant read them – you’ll be reading them out to them anyway.  Plus you dont want your audience to be reading them ahead of you. 

Minimise the visuals – its text that’s important

If you must use images in your slides – and we’d certainly argue against that – then try and keep to the fantastic cartoons and images that ship with Powerpoint.  Everybody knows them so they will feel at home when they see them on the screen. 

Its probably best to use lots of these images on just the one slide – say half way though the presentation – to add some real visual impact!  But dont keep the slide up too long as you’ll need to get the presentation flowing again.  So 10 seconds maximum.

Use all your PowerPoint Slide Fonts 

The audience need variety – especially of they are actually trying to read your slides.  So one great way to add some additional impact is to use a different font for every bullet point or sentence.  You’ve probably got about 100 fonts on your computer so that gives you a good selection to choose from.  Be bold – in even a 10 minute presentation you can probably go through every one of these fonts at least 3 times! 

Experimenting is key to your success.

Use as much colour in your slides as possible

You’ve got an almost unlimited number of colours on your computer – so try and make use of as many striking colours in your slides as possible.  Try alternating colours on successive words for real impact.  Use a different background colour for each slide. 

Variety is the spice of life!

Remember to tell the audience that you’ve finished

When you come to the end of your presentation and are just about to put up your 100th slide, your audience (if they are still in the room) are probably asleep.  So you need to be kind to them. FAnd of course, fom a health and safety perspective its very important that you dont just leave the room with the audience still asleep in the darkness. 

So turn up the volume as far as it will go for your final slide transition.  And remember to use the machine gun letter by letter display feature for your final bullet point .. to tell everybody that The End Has Come.  And if that doesn’t wake all of them up nothing will.

Then remember to put on the lights and leave quickly. 

Alternatively, you can invest in your own presentation skills

You dont have to inflict death by powerpoint on your audience.  In fact, there are no hidden secrets to being successful when you present. You can develop these skills through training and practice. It is worth the investment. By enhancing the ways in which you present and communicate you’ll be able to develop a much stronger influence on your audience and thus encourage them to respond to you in the way you want!

To get some expert advice and coaching and enhance your presenting, click on one of the links below:-

Presentation Skills – 121 coaching
Business Presentation Courses – Open to members of the public
Business Presenting - In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

It’s therefore time to take stock and remind ourselves “what exactly is the purpose of PowerPoint – this supposedly supportive presentation skills aid?”

In this article we’ll be looking at some techniques to help you achieve more in your next business powerpoint presentation.

Presentation Training can make all the difference

If you want some expert coaching to help you enhance your presentation skills then Skillstudio are there to help. We provide:-

Presentation Skills 121 Coaching (for all levels)
Half day of full day, 121 coaching in business presenting by an expert trainer. Held throughout the UK on a date and time to suit you and tailored exactly to your personal requirements.

Beginner Level Presentation Skills Training
These 1-day public courses are held regularly in Central London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Effective Presentation Skills (Intermediate level course)
These 2-day public courses are held regularly in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Advanced Presentation Skills
This 2-day Public course is held regularly in Central London.

We can also run our presentation skills courses for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

Is Powerpoint really a Quick-Fix Solution?

At first, PowerPoint seemed to be the answer to all our presentation concerns. To the less experienced presenter it became a great way to put together a presentation. With its neat gadgets and easy-to-follow structure, PowerPoint provided a ‘quick fix’ solution to our presentation anxieties. All the presenter needed to do was to ‘deliver’ their slides.” 

However the verb ‘to deliver’  has become replaced by the phrase ‘to read out aloud’ and even by the phrase ‘to hide behind’ which results in a total switch off for our audiences.

Audience-Friendly Powerpoint Slides

In order to help create a more postive experience for our audiences, we need to look at what we put on our slides to ensure that they are audience friendly – ie designed for the audience’s benefit. Slides should support our message, not to be the message. They are meant to be a visual aid – visual being the operative word.

Less is more

You may think that the more information you put on a slide, the easier it is to remember and present the information.  However, the more text you have on a slide the more you are restricted by the text. It means that you have to present all the information on the slide and this hinders your ability to be spontaneous or conversational with their audience.

Attention grabbing slides

Fewer words say more and have far greater impact. Punchy phrases grab attention and are easy to read at a glance. By reducing the amount of information you have on a slide you give yourself more flexibility to interpret the slide and relate the information to a particular audience.

A few key words or phrases will give you the necessary prompts you need. You can see these prompts at a glance which means that you will be able to spend more time engaging with your audience. Your audience are less likely to read ahead and therefore more likely to listen to you and maintain concentration.

Keep it clean!

Slides need to be ‘clean’ and not over-fussy.  They need to be easily read or seen by the whole audience. You shouldn’t have to ask the audience if they can ‘read it at the back’ – it’s too late to find that they can’t read the slide when you start your presentation – you need to have worked this out before!

Use a font size that is easy for the audience to read – if the audience can’t read it then it shouldn’t be there. Keep your fonts consistent – to one or two varieties at the most. This is much easier for the audience to read and follow.

What Visual Aid to use?

A visual is an immediate way of conveying information to an audience. Visual slides are also easier to talk around.

Simple and clearly labelled graphs  are excellent means of simplifying the presentation of data. Graphs are effective ways of showing historical trends and patterns at a glance. Remember to use a large enough font size for any numbers / words on the axes of the graphs so that the audience can read easily them.

Pie charts and bar charts are very effective ways of conveying information by use of colour and shading. Keep it simple though, as too much colour or shading soon makes it difficult for the audience to read at a glance. Restrict the colour to 3 colours maximum – this is enough to add variety but  avoid becoming confusing and messy.

Pictures are very effective for communicating concepts and conveying emotion. They encourage the audience to use their imagination hence helping them maintain interest and stay switched on throughout the presentation.

Avoid PowerPoint feature abuse!

Avoid over-doing the technical wizardry in PowerPoint or using too many ‘fly in’ bullets in PowerPoint presentations – they soon become very predictable. If you adopt the ‘less is more’ approach to using text then you will not need to rely on fly-ins to gradually reveal information.

Simple dissolves in-between slides can look professional but overuse of some options quickly becomes very distracting. The audience will end up paying more attention to the gimmicks than to the message that you are trying to convey.

Are you a Polished Presenter or just a PowerPoint Operator?

The slick and polished nature of PowerPoint, whilst adding value to a presentation when used appropriately, can also weaken the human input in presenting. The presenter’s role can easily become reduced to no more than the ‘PowerPoint Operator’. If a presenter lacks confidence they may use the PowerPoint to ‘hide behind’. Public speaking is in fact one of the most common public fears – almost as strong as fear of death!

Good delivery skills are very important to help provide us the much desired confidence needed for us to be a polished and professional presenter. We have to re-learn the meaning of ‘delivery’. It is not reading off the slide or hiding behind your laptop, it is all about the art of communication and the ability to command and engage with your audience.

Delivery skills can be learnt – in fact most good presenters spend a lot of time practising their delivery techniques to help them develop into confident and effective presenters.

Project a strong personal presence

A strong personal presence is very important especially when you are competing with a large screen behind you.  Poor stance, irritating habits, lack of eye contact will all inhibit your ability to engage with your audience.

A common mistake is that the the PowerPoint presenter ‘anchors’ themself to their laptop throughout the presentation. This gives the impression that they are saying to their audience “Don’t look at me – I’m not important – I’m just an accessory to the equipment.”

Define your space

To avoid feeling insignificant by the technology and the large screen behind you, move to a space away from the equipment when you first start your presentation. This should ideally be nearer to the audience. This will help you build rapport with the audience at the start. It will also give the impression that it is you who is controlling the presentation rather than the PowerPoint controlling you.

Make a strong last impression

Likewise, at the end of the presentation, move away from the equipment – towards the audience – to establish a strong final impression. Make sure that your last slide is the image that you want to leave your audience with or, alternatively, leave a blank slide or switch off the PowerPoint before you finish.

Slowdown the PowerPoint slide changes

Another common contributor to the PowerPoint ‘Switch-Off’ is the endless stream of rapid slide changes that can occur in a presentation with too many slides delivered too quickly. When this happens it doesn’t take long to see that fixed glazed expression on the audiences’ faces.

To avoid this, take your time to change slides – pause and allow the audience to take in what is on the screen before speaking. The audience need this time to assimilate what has just been said and to absorb the information on the new slide before you start to speak. It will also give you time to gather your thoughts before you begin to speak.

Edit your slide show

Don’t feel that you have to have a slide for everything you say. You can deliver messages without any use of visual aids and it will be a nice contrast to move away from the PowerPoint at certain times in your presentation. When you have created your presentation it is a good idea to eliminate the least important slide and do this a few times until you only keep the most essential slides.

And remember to look at your audience!

Avoid showing the back of your head to the audience – by looking back at the screen for your prompts. If you do this your voice will trail off as you turn your head away from the audience and this will reduce the impact of your message.

We need to look at people – give them eye contact if we want to fully engage with them. Use your laptop, rather than the screen to take your prompts.

Ensure that your laptop is arranged carefully in front of you so that you are facing the audience when you look at it. Alternatively, use easy-to-read notes or prompt cards to give you the necessary prompts.

Polish the PowerPoint Practicalities

You also need to think about the practicalities of presenting your PowerPoint presentation to ensure a polished, professional performance.

Five key points to consider are:

1. Clearly state the length of your presentation at the start so that your audience know exactly how long it will be. You must then stick to your times – to keep your audience’s attention.

2. Be conversational with your audience – ask them a few questions at the start to ‘open them up’ before ‘plunging into the slide show. This will help encourage a more personal environment and you will be able to pitch your presentation more effectively to those present.

3. Identify the key benefits of your presentation to your audience . Ask yourself “why should your audience listen to you?” Make it clear at the start what your audience will gain from your presentation.

4. Ensure that you are properly set up before you start. Set up the equipment in good time and make sure that you have tested it out so there is not danger of things going wrong once you have started your presentation.

5. Finally – try to enjoy your presentation – a presenter who looks as it they are going to enjoy their presentation will send out the right signals to their audience. And – if your enjoy it your audience are also more likely to!

Invest in your own powerpoint presentation skills

There are no hidden secrets to being successful when you present. You can develop these skills through training and practice. It is worth the investment. By enhancing the ways in which you present and communicate you’ll be able to develop a much stronger influence on your audience and thus encourage them to respond to you in the way you want!

To get some expert advice and coaching and enhance your presenting, click on one of the links below:-

Presentation Skills – 121 coaching
Business Presentation Courses – Open to members of the public
Business Presenting - In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

In this article we’ll be looking at some techniques to help you achieve more from your interpersonal skills.

Interpersonal Communication Skills Training for success

If you want some expert coaching to help you enhance your interpersonal skills then Skillstudio are there to help. We provide:-

Interpersonal Skills Coaching
Half day of full day, 121 coaching by an expert trainer.

Effective Communication Skills Course
These 1-day public courses are held regularly in Central London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow.

Communication Skills Workshops
We can also run our 1-day workshops for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

Understanding how you communicate

The first step needed to develop good interpersonal skills is to develop a good awareness of how you appear to others. This includes how you -

• sound
• look
• react

when interacting with other people.

When you are speaking, your listeners will pick up on non verbal clues and react accordingly. Non verbal clues that they will notice include the following:

• Your tone of voice
• Your speed of speaking
• Your body language

Reading the ‘tone’ of your message

It’s not just what you say that’s important but how you say it that also carries great influence on the way people react to you. Your moods and emotions are reflected in your tone of voice and you can use it to your advantage. However a lack of awareness may have a negative effect on your listeners. For example, if your voice is monotone or lacking energy, you may be perceived as being disinterested, bored or irritated.

Using your voice to build rapport

To help bring out the best in your voice and use it to help communicate more effectively, it is useful to develop your range of vocal expression so that you can draw upon the most suitable for any given situation.

For example:

Dealing with a difficult situation

When you are dealing with a difficult situation, you may want to avoid a build up of tension. It is therefore important to speak with

• A calm tone
• A steady pace
• A smooth delivery

To achieve this try to speak in the following way:

• Keep your pitch controlled by avoiding speaking at a too higher pitch or changing your pitch too much
• Don’t ‘snatch’ at your words. Each word has a beginning, middle and end – even if it only consists of one syllable, so make sure each part of the word is fully pronounced.
• Keep your volume at a softer level to avoid shouting – especially if you have a naturally strong voice where you may want to think about speaking slightly quieter than usual
• Keep your delivery pace smooth – not too quickly and with no dramatic changes in the speed in which you speak

If you follow the above guidelines it will help to prevent you sounding abrupt or over emotional. Instead you will sound calm, assertive and in control.

Sending out signals through body language

We all subconsciously read the body language of others. For example people react to our use of:

• Posture
• Facial expressions
• Gestures
• Eye contact

People will read volumes into the signals conveyed to them if you are sitting slouched in your seat, avoiding any eye contact with them and speaking to them with a stern or impassive face. They may deduce that you are disinterested in them or frustrated with them. They are unlikely to react to you with any enthusiasm.

Using posture to create the right impression

To create a positive rapport with other people, think about your posture. Whether sitting or standing your body language should appear natural and relaxed but you also need to project a confident and professional image. To help achieve this, ensure that

• When sitting – the small of your back is firmly supported in your chair to give you a well supported posture
• When standing – your weight is well balanced on both feet so that your stance is strong

Using eye contact to build rapport

Confident use of eye contact helps encourage open interaction between yourself and those around you. If you don’t look at people when you are speaking to them you are losing a huge opportunity to build rapport with them.

For example

Speaking in a meeting

If you are speaking to a group of people in a meeting, it’s important to engage with every person in the meeting, to help keep them all interested in what you are saying. To help achieve this aim to:

• Share your eye contact around the room – (a rule of thumb is to give three seconds to each person at any one time)
• Imagine that you are giving ‘nuggets’ of information with your eye contact to the others in the meeting
• Hold your eye contact once you’ve made it – don’t flicker around as this will look hesitant

Initially, you may feel awkward when giving eye contact to others but once you have practised it a few times, it will feel second nature to do and it will become a very empowering way to engage with others.

Interpersonal Skills – summary points

It is important to remember that ‘behaviour breeds behaviour’. By communicating effectively with others, they are more likely to reciprocate in the same way.

Here is a quick reminder of some of the practical ways you can enhance the way you interact with others:

• Speak at a controlled pact – not too quickly
• Take your time over every word you say – so that you don’t appear too abrupt
• Vary your tone according to the situation
• Take care with your posture – with the way you sit and stand
• Use eye contact evenly around the group you are speaking with – to involve everyone in the group

The development of effective interpersonal skills is an on-going process. These skills can be developed and fine tuned through training. It is worth making the investment to develop your own interpersonal skills so that you can develop greater influence on those around you.

Developing your interpersonal skills further

To get some expert advice and coaching and enhance your interpersonal skills, click on one of the links below:-

Interpersonal Skills – 121 coaching
Interpersonal Communications Courses – Open to members of the public
Communication Skills Workshops – In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, job interview skills, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

In this article we’ll be looking at some techniques to help you achieve more from your voice in the business environment.

Elocution and Voice Training can make all the difference

If you want some expert coaching to help you enhance your voice then Skillstudio are there to help. We provide:-

Elocution Coaching
2 hour, Half day of full day, 121 coaching in elocution by an expert trainer.

Voice Course
These 1-day public courses are held regularly in Central London and Manchester.

Voice Workshops
We can also run our 1-day voice workshops for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

What is elocution?

Elocution describes the way in which you speak – how you use your voice to sound confident, dynamic and expressive. In today’s highly competitive world it is important to stand out above the competition. Having the ability to communicate messages with greater authority and conviction will help you to do just that.

What does elocution involve?

Elocution lessons are very practical and help you to develop a range of simple techniques to help you make the most of your voice. The skills that you develop can be applied across the wide range of business and social environments.

Three common areas that elocution addresses are:

• Developing a clearer voice
• Developing greater authority through the voice
• Developing a more interesting voice

Developing a clearer voice

In order to achieve great clarity your listeners must hear every word you say. Try the following simple exercise to help you develop greater clarity in your voice:

Take a short piece of text – this can be from a novel, newspaper etc and practise reading it out aloud. As you speak, exaggerate the movement your mouth makes so that you pronounce each syllable of every word you say. This will help you to articulate all your consonant sounds and word endings so that every word can be heard clearly.

Developing greater authority through the voice

In order to convey greater authority your voice must be controlled so that you speak at a steady pace – not too fast or too slow.

If you are in a situation where you feel nervous, you may well end up speaking too quickly. This will result in you feeling less confident and in control of the situation. If you speak at a slightly slower pace than your normal speed you are more likely to sound calm and authoritative. So to help achieve this try the following exercise.

Read your text out aloud and aim to inject a short (2-3 second) pause at each full stop. The pause acts as a break pedal – to help you racing ahead. The more you practise this, the more likely you will speak at a steady pace when you are talking with others.

Developing a more interesting voice

A voice that has a limited range in expression can easily sound monotone and boring to the listener. To help develop greater variety in the voice try the following exercise:

Practise your piece of text as though your were speaking in different roles – eg a children’s TV presenter or a politician giving a key note speech. This will help you to bring out more emotion and conviction in the voice and increase your range of expression.

Developing your vocal skills further

Using your voice is a very physical activity and requires a lot of energy if used to its full potential. Elocution is a form of vocal training and just like any other practical training – eg training for a marathon, it requires plenty of regular practice in order to build up the required skills and stamina. Elocution can help you to develop your own vocal strengths and thus communicate with greater influence in all business situations.

To get some expert advice and coaching and enhance your vocal skills, click on one of the links below:-

Elocution – 121 coaching
Vocal Impact Courses – Open to members of the public
Voice Coaching Workshops – In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, job interview skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

In this article we’ll be looking at some key advice to help you achieve more in your next business presentation.

Presentation Skills – a natural gift or skills you can develop?

You may think that the ability to be a successful presenter is a natural gift that you are either born with or not. But this is rarely the case and most successful presenters spend time developing their skills and techniques.

So there is no reason why you can’t do the same.

Presentation Training can make all the difference

If you want some expert coaching to help you enhance your presentation skills then Skillstudio are there to help. We provide:-

Presentation Skills 121 Coaching (for all levels)
Half day of full day, 121 coaching in business presenting by an expert trainer. Held throughout the UK on a date and time to suit you and tailored exactly to your personal requirements.

Beginner Level Presentation Skills Training
These 1-day public courses are held regularly in Central London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Effective Presentation Skills (Intermediate level course)
These 2-day public courses are held regularly in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Advanced Presentation Skills
This 2-day Public course is held regularly in Central London.

We can also run our presentation skills courses for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

Three key steps towards a successful presentation

There are three key steps that you need to consider to help you deliver a successful presentation:

1. Content – creating a clear message

2. Delivery – communicating your ideas with confidence

3. Audience – relating to and engaging with your audience

Step One – Creating a clear message

You may feel overwhelmed when you first start planning your presentation. You don’t know where to start, what to include, how to organise your ideas etc. But with all presentations, it is important that you are clear in what you want to achieve from it.

Your first task is to consider the following three questions:

• What is the main purpose of your presentation?
• Who are your audience and what are their needs?
• What is the key message of your presentation?

What is the main purpose of your presentation?

In order to identify the purpose of your presentation, ask yourself the following question:

What is it that you want your audience to do or think?

Your response to this question will provide you with the main purpose to your presentation. Write it down in a short sentence and in direct language, as though you are speaking directly to your audience – eg “I want you to agree to my new initiatives”.

Who are your audience and what are their needs?

You have just identified what you want from your audience but in order to create the desired effect, it’s important to understand them and to see things from their point of view.

To help achieve this, you can build an audience profile in order to gather as much information about your audience as possible. Here are some things to consider when you build your audience profile:

• What is their level of expertise on the subject matter
• Will there be key decision makers present?
• Are they an invited audience or do they have to attend?
• What are their expectations – do they have any concerns about any of the issues you may be raising
• What will be the environment you will be presenting in. For example Number of people; Length of presentation; Seating arrangement (theatre style, boardroom style, informal meeting style)

You can use the information you have gathered to assess the audience and environment that you will be presenting in. You can then plan your content around this . For example:

• If the audience is not very knowledgeable, you should keep the detail restricted and your language clear. Support your message with examples that are easy to understand.

What is the key message of your presentation?

Your key message should provide the audience with a clear motivation to listen to you. It will give your presentation a clear focus and this will help you to feel more confident when you start to speak.

To create your key message you must consider the main benefit for the audience to listen to you. You can brainstorm several benefits first and then select the one you think is the most powerful and relevant to your audience. Having done this you should write it down and learn it off by heart so that you can deliver it confidently at the start of your presentation.

Structuring your presentation content

Regardless of the length of your presentation, your structure should contain the following main sections:

• The Introduction
• The Main Body
• The Conclusion

The Introduction of your presentation

You are probably going to be feeling at your most nervous at the start of your presentation. A strong opening will help you to feel more confident. To help you achieve this, structure your introduction so that you are clear about what you want to say.  This should include the following:

• Personal Introduction
• Your Key Message
• Any other important information (such as when you will take questions etc.

The main body of your presentation

It’s important to keep your main body clear and focused so that your audience can follow easily. To help achieve this, aim to restrict your main body to three key points. You can then divide these points into sub points to develop your ideas.  For each point it’s important to have

• A beginning
• A middle
• An ending

This will help you to break up your presentation into more digestible sections, rather than one stream of information. This makes it easier for you to deliver it and easier for your audience to follow.

The ending of your presentation

This is when you want to leave a lasting impression on your audience. They are more likely to remember your final words so take the opportunity to include the following important points:

• Your Key Message – reinforce the benefits to your audience
• Action Step – tell the audience what you want to do or think now
• Final Thought – end on a strong note – with a final thought or interesting fact that the audience will remember.

Step Two – Communicating your ideas with confidence

No matter how well you plan and structure your presentation, the ability to be able to deliver your message with confidence and to communicate your ideas with enthusiasm is also very important.

There are three key areas to address to help you develop a confident delivery style:

• Controlling your nerves
• Speaking with confidence
• Creating a strong presence

Presentation skills to help you control your nerves

When you first start to speak it’s inevitable that nerves will kick in. This is natural and common amongst even the more experienced presenters. However, there are many ways to help over come nerves and develop a confident style when you are speaking.

The most common trap people fall into when they first start to speak if they are feeling nervous is to speak too quickly. This results in a lack of control of your voice, body language and thought processes – and ultimately makes you feel hesitant and lacking focus.

Here are some ways in which you can help to control your nerves before and when you first start to speak.

• To help you slow down before you speak – take two slow breaths – focusing on breathing out for as long as possible – as this will encourage you to take deeper breaths in.
• When you first speak – take your time over the first few words you say. Remember you will have a tendency to speak more quickly than usual so make a conscious effort to slow down – so that your audience hear every word you say
• Learn your introduction off by heart and practise before you present. If you know exactly what you are going to say you will be less likely to sound hesitant and include um’s and err’s at the start of your presentation.

Presentation skills to help speak with greater confidence

Your voice says a lot about how you are feeling. It’s therefore important to convey the right kind of emotion to your audience when you are speaking.

To sound more confident and enthusiastic to your audience here are three vocal techniques to use:

• Speak in shorter sentences – these are easier to deliver and easier for your audience to follow
• Pause for a couple of seconds at the end of your sentences – this may feel unnatural but it will sound very natural to the audience and allow them time to absorb what you have just said
• Emphasise important words in your sentences – this will inject energy and enthusiasm into your voice and it will help your audience remember your key messages.

Presentation skills to help develop a strong presence

Your body language will also say a lot about how you are feeling and your audience will pick on the vibes you send out. So it’s important that you send out the right vibes in order that you convey a confident style. To help achieve this here are three body language techniques to use:

• Adopt a strong stance before you start to speak – so that you look confident and you are less likely to resort to fidgeting or use of negative gesture
• Take a couple of seconds to look at your audience before you start to speak – this gives the impression you are comfortable in your space.
• When you speak – give specific eye contact to individuals in the audience. Share this around the audience at random – this helps you to appear more assertive and will increase your overall presence

Step Three – Engaging with your audience when you present

You have already created an audience profile, as part of the planning process and the information you have gleamed from this profile will help you select the most appropriate content that relates to your audience and stimulates their interest.

You have also considered how to create a confident manner, how to sound enthusiastic and how to use eye contact to make contact with your audience. All these techniques can help you to engage more fully with your audience. However you can also enhance your relationship with the audience further by considering techniques that can help your audience stay focused and interested in your presentation.

It’s easy for an audience to switch off in a presentation especially if they are passively listening throughout the time you are speaking. So it’s important to turn them into active listeners. To do this you want to actively engage with them mentally and emotionally.

To help achieve this here are three key techniques to use:

Ask your audience questions

These may be direct questions – where you actively encourage a spoken answer, or indirect questions – where you ask them to consider something. Audiences don’t expect to have to react in a presentation but by involving through questions – it will help to keep them alert and concentrated.

Help your audience follow the presentation

Incorporate ‘signposts’ into your delivery. This is when you tell the audience what you are going to say, then reinforce what you have just said after. It helps keep the audience on track of where your presentation is going.

Engage with your audience’s imaginary powers

Include stories in your presentation. Stories help to lift dry facts and illustrate abstract ideas in a colourful way that will help the audience to remember your messages.

Summary of the Three Key Steps for Successful Presentations

We have now looked at the three key elements that help to create a successful presentation:

• The Content of the Presentation
• The Delivery of the Presentation
• The Engagement with the Audience

You have seen that there are many skills within these three areas that you can develop to help you to become a proficient and successful presenter.

By developing effective structuring techniques, strong delivery skills and powerful ways to engage with your audience, you will be more prepared, feel more confident and communicate more effectively with your audience when you present.

Invest in your own presentation skills

There are no hidden secrets to being successful when you present. You can develop these skills through training and practice. It is worth the investment. By enhancing the ways in which you present and communicate you’ll be able to develop a much stronger influence on your audience and encourage them to respond to you in the way you want!

To get some expert advice and coaching and enhance your presenting, click on one of the links below:-

Presentation Skills – 121 coaching
Business Presentation Courses – Open to members of the public
Business Presenting – In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

In this article we’ll be looking at some techniques to help you achieve more in your next business presentation.

Presentation Training can make all the difference

If you want some expert coaching to help you enhance your presentation skills then Skillstudio are there to help. We provide:-

Presentation Skills 121 Coaching (for all levels)
Half day of full day, 121 coaching in business presenting by an expert trainer. Held throughout the UK on a date and time to suit you and tailored exactly to your personal requirements.

Beginner Level Presentation Skills Training
These 1-day public courses are held regularly in Central London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Effective Presentation Skills (Intermediate level course)
These 2-day public courses are held regularly in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Advanced Presentation Skills
This 2-day Public course is held regularly in Central London.

We can also run our presentation skills courses for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you or your team.

Your voice can make a big impact on your presentation

You probably rely on your voice as one of your main vehicles for clear communication. You may spend a large amount of your working life using your voice to make an impact – whether it is speaking in meetings, on the telephone or giving presentations. So it’s important to invest some time in developing your vocal skills in order to make the most of your voice in every opportunity. In doing so you will learn to:

• Convey greater confidence
• Sound more convincing
• Become more persuasive
• Assert greater influence
• Create more interest

Controlling nerves at the start of your presentation

For many – speaking in public in front of an audience is a daunting process. Nerves are one of the most common hurdles people face and they will inevitably kick in when you first start to speak. However, you can learn some simple vocal skills that help you to use the adrenalin created by nerves in a positive way to help you speak with more energy and clarity.

• Think Slow Motion when you first start to speak to avoid racing ahead and losing track of what you are saying. We tend to speak more quickly when we are nervous. But by consciously slowing down you will be more likely to speak at a controlled pace that your audience can easily follow.
• Make sure you start with a Strong Stance – with both feet firmly on the ground. Nerves can often cause us to fidget and shuffle our feet. But if you adopt a strong stance before you start to speak, you are less likely to fall into these traps. Instead, your strong posture will help to support you and help you to convey a more confident image in front of your audience.
• Start your opening with 3 Short Sentences. When we are nervous we have a tendency to speak in long winded sentences. These are much more difficult to deliver, especially when we are nervous and we often end up hesitant and using lots of ums and errs. If you plan your first three sentences, keeping them succinct and easy to say – you open strongly and quickly capture the attention of your audience at the start of your presentation.

Engaging with your audience through eye contact

The way in which you look will also have a strong impact on your audience. If you look impassive or you lack any interaction with your audience, they are unlikely to maintain their concentration or remember what you are saying.

Confident use of eye contact will help you to engage with your audience and maintain their interest in you. If you don’t look at people when you are speaking to them you are losing a huge opportunity to build rapport with them. If you use eye contact in a confident way when you are presenting you are more likely to:

• Appear more personable and conversational
• Maintain the attention of all your audience
• Convey great enthusiasm
• Read your audience and adapt accordingly
• Project your message with greater conviction

Eye contact doesn’t always come naturally to us when we are standing in front of an audience. No matter how well we know our material, there is a stark contrast between talking informally and having to present in a formal situation. However the effective use of eye contact is a skill that can be developed through practice. To help you develop a more confident use of eye contact try the following:

• Share your eye contact around the audience. You can achieve this by imagining that you are giving individual members of the audience ‘nuggets’ of information as you speak. In this way you will feel as if you are having personal conversations with your audience and this will help you to engage more with them.
• Hold your eye contact for a few seconds. If we are too rapid with our use of eye contact or we flit from one person to another, we can look hesitant and uncomfortable. So once you have directed your eye contact to a specific member of the audience stay with them for a few moments before moving on to someone else. This will help you to look more authoritative and in control of your presentation.
• Maintain your eye contact at the end of your sentences. When we are feeling nervous we can have a tendency to look down particularly at the end of a sentence. This create a lack of conviction in what we are saying. If you look at the audience at the end of your sentence you will reinforce your message and deliver it with greater conviction.

Invest in yourself

There are no hidden secrets to looking and sounding confident and successful. Good communication skills can be developed through training and practice. It is worth the investment. By enhancing the ways in which you communicate you will develop a stronger influence on your audience and thus encourage them to respond to you in a positive way.

To get some expert advice and coaching click on one of the links below:-

Presentation Skills – 121 coaching
Business Presentation Courses – Open to members of the public
Business Presenting – In-house training for companies and organisations

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of presentation skills and communication skills, including public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.

This short article takes you through 3 important steps to help you prepare.

Step 1 – Do your research

Find out as much as you can about the company prior to the interview – so that you can sound knowledgeable and enthusiastic about wanting to work there. You can use the following tools to help you do your research:

• The Company Website – is always a good start to get a feel for the corporate feel of the company and the its vision
• Company Annual Report and News Page – check out these pages on the website to give you current news and updates on the company
• Industry sources – check out any business publications or websites that may have articles on the company to see what has recently been written about your potential employer and their industry.

Step 2 – Identify likely interview questions

Brainstorm all the possible questions you may get asked. To help get ideas – look at the job description to see what sort of qualities, skills and experience are needed for the role. Here are a few common questions that apply to most jobs:

• Tell me about yourself
• How would your current boss describe you?
• How would your colleagues describe you?
• Why should I offer this job to you?
• What are the main strengths you’d bring to this job?
• What’s your biggest weakness?
• Why did you choose this career?
• Show me how you use your communication skills in your current job
• Why do you think you’re a good team player?
• Why do you want this job?
• Why are you leaving your current job?
• Whats the biggest challenge you’ve faced in the past 3 years?
• Sell yourself to me.

Step 3 – Interview Practice

To help you fully prepare for each question, go through the following process:

• Write the question on one side of a prompt card
• Write your response on the other side
• Practice out aloud both saying the question and giving your response
• Fine tune your response, where necessary

By going through this practical process you will develop key words, phrases and ideas that you will be able to call upon in the interview. Once you practised a few times yourself try to get a friend to take the role of the interviewer to help practise your responses.

Remember – it’s the act of practising out aloud that’s important – you can’t achieve the same level of confidence by just saying it in your head. By going through these preparation processes you will be better equipped and more likely to have a successful interview.

Interview skills coaching can help you succeed

To get some expert advice and coaching to help you excel at your next job interview – click on one of the links below:-

Interview Techniques - 121 coaching
Job Interview Skills - Public courses
Job Interview Technique - In-house training

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of communication skills, including presentation skills, public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.    And good luck with your next interview!

In this article we’ll be looking at some techniques to help you achieve more in your next interview. 

Convince the interviewer you’re the best candidate for the job

You might already believe that you are the best person for the job and have all the right expertise but will you be able to convince your interviewer of that and beat the competition?

If you want some expert coaching to ensure you excel at your next job interview and get that job offer then Skillstudio are there to help.  We provide:-

Interview Techniques 1-2-1 Coaching
Half day of full day, 121 coaching in Interview Skills by an expert trainer.  Held throughout the UK and always tailored exactly to your personal requirements.

Job Interview Skills Public Courses
This is a one-day, highly interactive public workshop designed to build your confidence and the critical interview skills required to ensure success at your next job interview. Its held regularly in Central London, Birmingham, Leeds & Glasgow.

Job Interview Technique In-House Workshops
We can also run our job interview techniques workshop for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you excel at your next job interview. 

Dealing with job interview nerves

It is natural to feel nervous before an interview.  But unfortunately, when you are nervous you are more likely to speak too quickly and this will make you feel even more nervous.

To help control this, take two deep breaths before you start, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. Try to breathe out for as long as possible and think of releasing tension with the out breath.

This breathing technique will encourage you to slow down when you start to speak and help you create a more confident first impression.

Make sure you are heard by your interviewer

When you speak, you want the interviewer to sit up and take notice of what you say. To do this it is very important that he/she hears every word. If some of your words are unclear, merge together, or are too fast he/she will soon lose interest.

To help maintain a clear voice that is easy to follow, take your time over each word you say. Don’t snatch at any words. Each word has a beginning, middle and end – even if it only consists of one syllable, so make sure each part of the word is fully pronounced.

Leaving off word endings can give the impression that you are hesitant and your voice will lack conviction

Pause for greater effect

Speaking in a steady pace will also help the interview to listen and remember what you are saying.

When you first start to speak, it helps to pause at the end of your first sentence for a couple of seconds.

This will help you to control your pace and you will be less likely to speed up once you start speaking. Pausing also gives you time to collect your thoughts and you will be less likely to lose track of what you are saying or for your mind to go blank.

Make a strong first impression at your interview

People make judgments about you from the way you come across to them through your use of body language. To project yourself in a positive way, you need to make a confident entrance.

Make sure that you look at the interviewer when you shake his/her hand. Ensure that your handshake is firm but not bone-crushingly forceful.

Good posture can help generate a confident attitude. It is very difficult to project a confident manner if you slouch in your chair.

To achieve a strong first impression, ensure that the small of your back is firmly in the back of the chair when you sit down so that your sitting position is strong and your back is well supported.

Using eye contact effectively

Eye contact also helps you maintain a confident style and it is important to maintain focused eye contact during the interview. The key time to look at someone is at the end of your sentence as this helps cement the message in that sentence. If you look away at that moment you may appear hesitant and your words will lack conviction.

When speaking to an interview panel the rule of thumb is to give around 3 seconds of eye contact at random to individuals on the panel. This is long enough to engage with individuals without over-staring at any particular individual.

Interview techniques – a summary

Here is a summary of the simple techniques you can apply in an interview to help you become more confident:

• Take two deep breaths before you start – to help slow down
• Take your time over each word you say – to avoid mumbling
• Pause at the end of your sentences – to help control your speed
• Check you sitting position – so that it is relaxed and well supported
• Use confident eye contact and share around the interview panel

Leave a lasting impression

Finally – try to enjoy your interview. If you look as it you are going to enjoy the experience you will send out the right signals.

At the end finish confidently with a smile and avoid any apologetic comments even if it hasn’t all gone according to plan. If you don’t draw attention to these things they are less likely to be noticed.

Interview skills coaching can help you succeed

To get some expert advice and coaching to help you excel at your next job interview – click on one of the links below:-

Interview Techniques - 121 coaching
Job Interview Skills - Public courses
Job Interview Technique - In-house training

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of communication skills, including presentation skills, public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.   And good luck with your next interview!

Here are three common questions and some guidance on how to answer them:

How to Answer Interview Question – “Tell me about yourself”

This is often the opening question and since first impressions are very important, you want to take the opportunity to present yourself in the most positive light. Without preparation it is easy to waffle, sound hesitant or for your mind to go blank.

Here are some tips on how best to answer this question.

1. Keep you response to around 3 minutes
2. Start with an overview of your highest achievement and then run through a short lead up to this with other jobs/work you have done up to this point
3. Don’t go into too much detail
4. If this is your first job – focus on your key areas of study and how these have led to you wanting this role

How to answer Interview Question – “What are your strengths?”

Select your three main strengths/qualities that are the most relevant to the job and for each strength give a specific example of how you have applied the strength to a work situation.

For example if you select team work as one of your key strengths you then need to support this with an example of when you have been part of a team and the contribution you made.

How to answer Interview Question – “What are your weaknesses?”

This is like a trick question which can easily work against you. The best approach it is to think of something you have recently identified as a weakness and have made positive steps to redress.

For example if multi-tasking has been one of your weaknesses you could explain how you have learnt to prioritise things more efficiently. You can then turn the weakness around to actually become a strength.

Its very important to spend time brainstorming questions and answers before your interview, so that you are prepared, feel less nervous and present yourself more confidently in the interview itself.

Convince the interviewer you’re the best candidate for the job

You might already believe that you are the best person for the job and have all the right expertise but will you be able to convince your interviewer of that and beat the competition?

If you want some expert coaching to ensure you excel at your next job interview and get that job offer then Skillstudio are there to help.  We provide:-

Interview Techniques 1-2-1 Coaching
Half day of full day, 121 coaching in Interview Skills by an expert trainer.  Held throughout the UK and always tailored exactly to your personal requirements.

Job Interview Skills Public Courses
This is a one-day, highly interactive public workshop designed to build your confidence and the critical interview skills required to ensure success at your next job interview. Its held regularly in Central London, Birmingham, Leeds & Glasgow.

Job Interview Technique In-House Workshops
We can also run our job interview techniques workshop for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you excel at your next job interview.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.   And good luck with your next interview!

Tip 6 – Preparing for interview questions

Before your interview, brainstorm all the difficult questions you could be asked. 

Write down the questions on prompt cards.  On the reverse side write down the answers you would give. 

Practise the questions and answers so that they become very familiar to you.  The more you practise, the more you will be prepared for them in your interview.  Having prepared answers to hand can help you to avoid any mental blockage which can happen when you are thinking on your feet and under pressure.

Tip 7 – How to answer the ‘Tell me about yourself?’ interview question

This is one of the most common openings in an interview but it is often difficult to think up a well structured response when put on the spot.  The purpose of this question is to give you an opportunity to make a good first impression and say something unique about yourself.  You are not trying to give your life history, just a few interesting facts about yourself to help make the interviewer remember you. 

To prepare beforehand, brainstorm three key things about yourself to use in this question.  e.g.  a recent success, a personal challenge, you main skills/qualities. 

The number 3 tends to be the magic number that people remember things in.  

Tip 8 – Preparing the interview presentation

Create a strong opening to capture the interviewer’s attention and clearly communicate your key message. 

The opening needs to clear and succinct. 

A long rambling opening gives the impression that it is going to be a long rambling presentation. 

Restrict the main body of your presentation to three main sections.  This helps to keep a strong focus.  Each main section is like a mini presentation.  It should have a beginning, middle and end.  This makes it easier to follow and easier to remember.

Ensure the ending is also memorable.  Use the opportunity to re-emphasise your key message.

Tip  9 – Delivering the interview presentation

Apply the voice techniques mentioned earlier – to help you make a confident delivery. 

Remember to use pauses to help you maintain a controlled pace throughout the presentation. 

Learn your opening and ending off by heart to create a strong first and last impression.

Ensure that you stick to the required time limit and that you don’t go over this – this means rehearsing the presentation beforehand so that you are totally comfortable with the material. 

Tip 10 – Leave a lasting impression

Finally – try to enjoy your interview. 

If you look as it you are going to enjoy the experience you will send out the right signals. 

At the end finish confidently with a smile and avoid any apologetic comments even if it hasn’t all gone according to plan.  If you don’t draw attention to these things they are less likely to be noticed.

Interview skills coaching can help you succeed

To get some expert advice and coaching to help you excel at your next job interview – click on one of the links below:-

Interview Techniques - 121 coaching
Job Interview Skills - Public courses
Job Interview Technique - In-house training

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of communication skills, including presentation skills, public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

We hope you found this article useful

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.  And good luck with your next interview!

Convince the interviewer you’re the best candidate for the job

You might already believe that you are the best person for the job and have all the right expertise but will you be able to convince your interviewer of that and beat the competition?

If you want some expert coaching to ensure you excel at your next job interview and get that job offer then Skillstudio are there to help.  We provide:-

Interview Techniques 1-2-1 Coaching
Half day of full day, 121 coaching in Interview Skills by an expert trainer.  Held throughout the UK and always tailored exactly to your personal requirements.

Job Interview Skills Public Courses
This is a one-day, highly interactive public workshop designed to build your confidence and the critical interview skills required to ensure success at your next job interview. Its held regularly in Central London, Birmingham, Leeds & Glasgow.

Job Interview Technique In-House Workshops
We can also run our job interview techniques workshop for your organisation on an in-house basis at your premises throughout the UK and Europe.

Call us today on 08456 444 150 if you want to discuss how our training can help you excel at your next job interview. 

Tip 1 - Controlling interview nerves

It is natural to feel nervous before an interview, but when you are nervous you are more likely to rush and this will make you feel even more nervous. 

To help control this, take two deep breaths before you start, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. 

Try to breathe out for as long as possible and think of releasing tension with the out breath.  This breathing technique will encourage you to slow down when you start to speak and help you create a more confident first impression. 

Tip 2 - Speaking clearly and confidently

When you speak, you want the interviewer to sit up and take notice of what you say. To do this it is very important that he/she hears every word.  If some of your words are unclear, merge together, or are too fast he/she will soon lose interest.

To help maintain a clear voice that is easy to follow, take your time over each word you say. 

Don’t snatch at any words.  Each word has a beginning, middle and end – even if it only consists of one syllable so make sure each part of the word is fully pronounced.  Leaving off word endings can give the impression that you are hesitant and your voice will lack conviction.

Tip 3 - Using pauses to control your pace

Speaking in a steady pace will also help the interview to listen and remember what you are saying. 

When you first start to speak, it helps to pause at the end of your first sentence for a couple of seconds. 

This will help you to control your pace and you will be less likely to speed up once you start speaking.  Pausing also gives you time to collect your thoughts and you will be less likely to lose track of what you are saying or for your mind to go blank.

Tip 4 – Make a strong first impression

People make judgements about you from your non verbal communication – the way in which you say things and use your body language. 

So, to project yourself in a positive way, you need to make a confident entrance. 

Make sure that you look at the interviewer when you shake his/her hand.  Ensure that your handshake is firm but not bone-crushingly forceful.

Good posture can help generate a confident attitude.  It is very difficult to project a confident manner if you slouch in your chair.  To achieve a strong first impression, ensure that the small of your back is firmly in the back of the chair when you sit down so that your sitting position is strong and your back is well supported.

Tip 5 - Using eye contact effectively

Eye contact also helps you maintain a confident style and it is important to maintain focused eye contact during the interview. 

The key time to look at someone is at the end of your sentence as this helps cement the message in that sentence. 

If you look away at that moment you may appear hesitant and your words will lack conviction.

If speaking to an interview panel the rule of thumb is to give around 3 seconds of eye contact at random to individuals on the panel.  This is long enough to engage with individuals without over-staring at any particular individual.

We hope you found this article useful

Skillstudio also offer public courses, 1-2-1 coaching and in-house training in many aspects of communication skills, including presentation skills, public speaking, vocal skills and body language awareness.

Please use the buton below to bookmark this page as a favourite, email it or share it with friends or colleagues.   And good luck with your next interview!