Short, practical articles on presenting, storytelling, rhetoric, body language and nerves - straight from David's knowledge bank.
Presentation skillsThe elevator pitchYou know that moment when someone asks "So, what do you do?" and your answer comes out different every time? The elevator pitch fixes that. Thirty seconds, four simple steps, and one honest goal: to spark real interest.
Presentation skillsGet yourself a presentation policyWe have processes and policies for quality, for sales, for IT, for almost everything that matters. So why not for presentations? Here is what a presentation policy is for, who it affects, and eight things it should contain.
Presentation skillsHelp! I have a presentation soon, what do I do?A presentation looming and no time to prepare properly? Here are my top six tips to steady yourself, sharpen your message and stay well clear of the dreaded Death By PowerPoint.
Presentation skillsHow to create fantastic contentGreat content starts long before you open PowerPoint. A simple whiteboard method built on Ethos, Logos and Pathos to give any presentation a clear spine before you build a single slide.
Presentation skillsThe three biggest pitfalls for a presenterHave you ever met a presenter who set out to fail? Of course not. Yet things go wrong all the same. Here are the three pitfalls that trip us up most, and how to step around each one.
Presentation skillsThe structure that won the dealA client had tried, many times, to get the same request approved. Then they used one structure, to the letter, and the answer came back in a single sentence. Here is what happened.
Presentation skillsThe top three ways to end a presentationCall it an occupational habit: I keep statistics on every talk I watch, including how each one ends. Most endings are a fumbled Any questions? These three are the ones the best presenters reach for instead.
Presentation skillsThe power of keeping it simpleWe speak to be understood, yet so many of our attempts collapse for one reason: we say too much. Why less really is more, and the simple three-topic rule that makes a message stick.
Presentation skillsPresenting at the right time of dayYou can master every technique in the book, but there is one factor you cannot control: your audience's biology. Here is how to work with their natural rhythm instead of against it.
Presentation skillsHow to structure your openingYour opening is everything, or so people say. The truth is a little kinder than that. Here are the building blocks of a strong start, and how to choose which ones your presentation actually needs.
Presentation skillsWhat to do when you lose your threadLosing your thread mid-presentation is completely natural, and completely recoverable. Here are my favourite ways to quietly buy yourself a moment and find your way back.
Presentation skillsThe setup: a simple path to a better presentationOne of the simplest tricks in all of presenting, and one of the most forgotten. Learn how a good setup can make the exact same content feel richer, funnier and far more interesting.
Presentation skillsWhat presentation skills mean to meThere is no such thing as presentation talent. There is only technique, and technique can be learned. Here is why, and how knowledge becomes real, lived competence.
Presentation skillsSeven tips for the ultimate conferenceI have just spent two intense days coaching a conference that scored an eight out of ten, against a national average of three. Here is the recipe, seven practical tips for every conference planner who wants to do the same.
Presentation skillsHow to open a presentation (and why it matters most)The opening is the single most important moment of your whole presentation. Here is how to win the room in the first two minutes, and calm your nerves while you do it.
NervousnessNervousness: what it really is, and three ways to beat itWhere your stage nerves actually come from, and three techniques I use in my coaching to remove negative nervousness for good. No naked audiences, no fixed points on the wall, just methods that work.
NervousnessStop confirming your nervousnessYour body has a habit of shouting "danger" to your brain before you have even said a word. Here is how to stop confirming a threat that is not really there, and let your nerves work for you instead of against you.
NervousnessHow to ease your nerves before a presentationNervousness is not the enemy, it is fuel. Here is how to keep it in the sweet spot, and three targeted ways to calm yourself depending on what you are actually nervous about.
Rhetoric & psychologyBecome a better listener: the listening ladderThe single worst quality a presenter can have is not poor slides or shaky nerves. It is failing to listen. Here is how to handle a question well, and the four-rung listening ladder that quietly builds trust.
Rhetoric & psychologyA guaranteed eye-openerA short PowerPoint that is neither a disaster nor a masterpiece, but does one thing brilliantly: it works entirely on its own. Three minutes on how fast the mobile market is growing, and how little it has really grown after all.
Rhetoric & psychologySpeeches that changed the worldOver the years, certain speakers have shaped not just my own presentation skills but the very world we live in. A small tribute to them, beginning with a man who turned a speech impediment into a signature: Winston Churchill.
Rhetoric & psychologyEveryone wants to be praisedThe first minute of a presentation quietly decides how warmly your audience will receive you. A true story from a school hall, and how to open with genuine praise that wins people over instead of sinking you.
Rhetoric & psychologyHow to become immune to advertisingYou are not only someone who sends messages, you are a target for them. Researchers found a surprisingly simple way to stay immune to the adverts at the cinema, and it reveals something powerful about how memory works.
Rhetoric & psychologyA rhetorical analysis of my local supermarketI always thought I preferred one supermarket, then realised I kept walking into its cooler-branded rival instead. Four quiet influencing tricks it works on every shopper, and how to borrow each one for your own presentations.
Rhetoric & psychologyNeanderthals may have been speakers tooThe human voice is far older than we tend to imagine. A DNA discovery suggests our Neanderthal cousins may have been speakers too, and it is a humbling thought for anyone who stands up to talk.
Rhetoric & psychologySpeak so that people want to listenA diamond of a TED talk, gathered into one place. Julian Treasure's seven deadly sins of speech, the cornerstones of a voice worth listening to, and six quick ways to warm up before you speak.
Rhetoric & psychologyAlliteration: the simplest way to add music to your wordsAlliteration is one of the easiest rhetorical figures there is, and it hands your language more flow, more melody and more force. Here is what it is, with a couple of examples that will stay with you.
Rhetoric & psychologyA lovely example of the halo effectOn an evening walk through town, a handwritten price list in a shop window quietly did something clever to my brain. A small, real-world lesson in the halo effect.
Rhetoric & psychologyYour memories are constantly being rewrittenEvery time you recall a memory, your brain quietly edits it and puts it back changed forever. Here is the science of why, and what it means for you as a presenter.
Rhetoric & psychologyThe rhetorical questionA rhetorical question lets your listener form the answer in their own head, which is far more persuasive than handing them a flat statement. Here is how to use one well.
Rhetoric & psychologySubliminal programming really does workEver since the faked "Eat Popcorn" experiment of 1957, subliminal influence has been treated with suspicion. Newer research tells a different story, and it matters for your brand.
Rhetoric & psychologyThe epiphora: a small figure with a big finishOn the page, rhetorical figures can feel stiff and mannered. Spoken aloud, they give your words a real surge of force. Here is the epiphora, one of the easiest to use and one of the most powerful.
Rhetoric & psychologyMyth: as a woman, must I take "presentation skills for women"?A client rang to ask whether, as a woman, she had to take a special course in presentation skills for women. My answer was clear. No. Here is why that particular course is a sales strategy, not a necessity.
Rhetoric & psychologyThe power of the metaphorOf every tool in the rhetorical toolbox, we reach for the metaphor most of all. What a metaphor really is, how it is built, and how to use it to make any message unforgettable.
Body languageReading minds through body languageYou can lie with your words, but almost nobody can lie with their body. Here is why our feelings leak out through gesture, voice and expression, and why watching what people do tells you far more than listening to what they say.
Body languageReading body language, part 1In any conversation there are two channels of information: the words, and everything else. Here is which one we trust, why, and a practical list of the signals quietly steering our judgement.
Body languageHand on heart: persuading with gestureWe read a person's body long before we hear their words. Here is how to use a handful of simple gestures to strengthen your message, or to soften it.
Body languageBody language: the personal space zonesWe each carry an invisible safety zone around us, and stepping across it changes everything. A guide to the four zones, a simple test to find your own, and what it all means for you as a presenter.
PowerPoint & slidesHow many slides should you have?How many slides belong in a presentation? The honest answer might annoy you: it does not matter. What matters is something else entirely, and it lives on each slide, not in the total.
PowerPoint & slidesPowerPoint and psychology: how to remove the obstaclesA great slide is really about one thing: removing every obstacle standing between your message and the person in front of you. Fewer obstacles means longer attention and higher motivation. Here is how to find them and tear them down.
PowerPoint & slidesHow to use PowerPoint the right wayIs PowerPoint the worst thing that ever happened to presenting, or is it actually rather brilliant? The real answer, plus how to use your slides so they lift you up instead of dragging you down.
PowerPoint & slidesGood and bad PowerPoint: what makes the differencePowerPoint: rubbish or wonderful? Wonderful, in my view, but only under the right conditions. The three things that separate a slide that lifts you up from one that drags you down.
