How to make your voice sound deeper

I’m always intrigued by tips and techniques to make your voice deeper as, when we are anxious or nervous, our pitch increases so we need to speak more slowly and be conscious of breathing through our noses. However, I found this little exercise today and I’m intrigued if any of you would like to try the exercise for a couple of weeks and report back the results.

It all focuses on a little rhyme that stretches your vocal cords and goes like this:

Ding dong, King Kong, bing bong.

Repeat it 3 times daily, holding onto to ng of each word for a little longer each time. After a week, tilt you head back at the ceiling and repeat the exercise again.

Let me know if this presentation training tip works!

How to look good in front of the media

Media training has historically been the reserve for large corporates who can afford to send their managers on luxury weekends to be coached by ex BBC journalists. But what about the huge amount of SME’s and startups that frequently have the option of some free publicity via TV, press or radio?

Well the good news is you don’t need to digest volumes of books on ‘answering difficult questions’ or ‘how to look good in front of the camera’, we can all learn to be media friendly using some basic rules.

Rule 1. Bodylanguage

Any movement in front of the camera is grossly exaggerated due to the size of the frame. So stand a little wider than normal and maintain eye contact with the interviewer at all times. Never look at the camera, assume you are having a conversation with no cameras present. Take off your sunglasses, and check you dress and hair before your start, you can’t be taken seriously if you have a tuft of hair sticking up or food on your teeth.

Rule 2. Help the editor

Start and end each session with a 2-3 second pause, this will allow the editor to splice the material easily.

Rule 3. Create soundbytes

Single word answers are useless, create soundbytes using facts, figures or examples that add colour to your answer. Don’t be afraid to ask for clarification, and if you don’t now the answer say so, followed by either ‘but I do know…’ or an offer to get that information within a pre-determined timeframe.

Rule 4. Understand the order of questions

Interviewers tend to follow themes of what, why, how, where, when and who, anticipate the questions they are likely to ask.

Rule 5. Get your nuggets ready

In advance of the interview, get 3 golden nuggets of information that you want to include in the interview. Answer each question and build a bridge to enable you to add your golden nugget with words like and, meanwhile, also and however. Be startling, ask yourself ‘so what?’ why would the audience find your answer interesting.

Brought to you by Oatmeal Training

What does it take to become an accomplished presenter?

How do you become a better presenter?

It’s been said that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at anything, and presentation skills sadly are no different,

Professional speakers often quote a ratio of 1.5 hours of preparation for every minute that’s spoken, so you can see, its not an easy task to become an accomplished speaker.

Most of us don’t need to become professional speakers, but want to become confident and capable at presenting. The top 3 tips are:

1. spend a third of your time thinking about your presentation, a third creating the content, and a third rehearsing.

2. understand your audience as much as possible, what do they know about the subject, and what do they want to hear.

3. create a story, use visual metaphors, and don’t bore them to death with Powerpoint!

First impressions stick

I’ve just spent the day interviewing, and now I’m reflecting on what made one candidate stand out from the next. Aside from mannerisms, dress, and the way they spoke, it was what they had in front of them that made an impact. Two of the candidates brought in conference folders, one to show her portfolio (when prompted), but the second had a neat list of all the points she wanted to raise during the interview.

Why I noticed it was because the role needed meticulous administrative skills, and being organised was a key facet to the role, and this, like any other prop you may use as part of your presentation worked incredibly effectively at reinforcing the point that she was, indeed, well organised.

So, regardless of the type of presentation, sales, interviews or workshops, people do notice the detail, and it may be the detail that differentiates you and the opposition, so think laterally next time you need to reinforce a point.

The rules of using a whiteboard

I’ve found a new passion for my whiteboard again, forget slideshows, retro is back.

But there are some rules to obey when using our trust white steeds:

1. Only use 2 colours, black and red, or blue and red. Use red sparingly to highlight key points.

2. Have a maximum of 20 words per A4 sheet of paper

3. If you’re right handed, stand to your left (as you are looking at the whiteboard) so you don’t cover it up as you are writing, and left handers, do the opposite.

4. Draw lines in pencil to stop your writing sloping up, or down

5. Use a projector to project onto the paper during your preparation, trace outlines of complex pictures, or cartoons onto the paper. Only you will be able to see the pencil lines and your audience will be amazed when you quickly draw a perfect picture!

More tips at Presentation Guru

Presenting when you don’t want to

I worked with an individual over Christmas who had been told that he must start presenting the companies solution to take the burden off the director. This in itself wasn’t an unreasonable request, what was unreasonable was the director expected him to deliver a thirty slide Powerpoint presentation that at best, based on the number or words, could be described as a novel.
As you’d expect, the individual was full of reluctance, anxious and wasn’t happy at the prospect of boring his audience to death.
When we put ourselves up to execute a presentation we are putting our reputation and potentially career at stake, so we need to communicate ideas that excite us and give a presentation full of enthusiasm that we fully believe in. In my experience, this can never be done using someone else’s slideshow, especially if it dictates the tone of the presentation through masses of text.
Like many students before, my advice has always been to create a presentation you are happy with, yes it may look totally different, but the key theme and message will be the same. Wait! I hear you cry, our company has a standard corporate presentation that must be delivered in a particular format, then change it. Create a corporate presentation that is full of pictures, this will allow the presenter to execute the same showreel, but use their own personal soundtrack, which works far more effectively.

http://www.presentationguru.co.uk

How to network your way to success

Large-scale networking events can help you bolster your Rolodex and make connections that can land you a wealth of new contacts, connections and clients.

Coming across as both professional and engaging to those new contacts, however, isn’t as simple as it may seem.

Here are seven of networking’s biggest no-no’s:

1. Don’t arrive late.

To make things easier on yourself, time your arrival so you can maximize the interactions you’re most interested in having.

“Especially for people who typically shy away from networking, the inclination is to arrive on the later side,” . “The opposite is a much better strategy. Being the first person there, it’s calmer, laid back, and people haven’t yet settled into groups. You won’t feel like there’s no one to talk to.”

2. Don’t just stand there.

This is not the time to wait around for people to approach you. You need to work the room—even if you’re on the shy side. There are ways to step outside your comfort zone and avoid awkwardness.

Start off by asking questions. And don’t worry about impressing the person you’re speaking with—just act naturally.

“Many people think they’re bad at networking,” she says. The key is to work with, rather than fight against, your natural communication style. That way, “what were liabilities become your greatest strengths,”.

3. Don’t feel like you need to talk to everyone.

As a budding business owner or executive, you might enter a networking event with a “more the merrier” mentality when it comes to making new connections. However, it might be advantageous to take a “less is more” stance instead.

It’s better to meet fewer people and create a deeper, lasting connection than simply talking to everyone in the room.

Instead of going to a networking event and grabbing 40 business cards in two hours, speak with fewer people for a longer period of time. Give each person you talk to at least five minutes to get to know you—and you them—before you move on, she advises.

This way, you’ll leave networking events energized by new, true connections rather than tuckered out from meeting too many people.

4. Don’t come unprepared.

Once a new contact tells you what they’re specifically looking for in terms of products or services, you need to be ready to tell them how your specific experience lines up with their needs.

Your goal isn’t to hard-sell them right then and there—instead, it should be to get them interested in you and what you have to offer. To do that, you need to be prepared with an understanding of what everyone from an investor to a potential client will need, and be armed with the most relevant, useful information to show that you have a solution that works for them.

What’s “useful,” you ask? Results. “Don’t stand there and tell them what you do, tell them what results you get. “Have examples of a situation, a problem and a solution that you can say in two breaths.” Also, keep in mind that what an investor might find useful is likely different than what a customer wants to hear—so having a mental catalog of a wealth of your previous experiences will help you fill all kinds of niches.

5. Don’t forget the big picture.

The bottom line is that, once you leave a networking event, you want the contacts and connections you’ve made to follow up with you and your services in the future.

You should know your production and delivery capabilities, and be able to set a realistic expectation for potential customers. You’re trying to maintain the image of your company, and if you’re not prepared to answer detailed questions that cover the ins and outs of what you have to offer, or if you can’t offer it to them in a timely manner, they’ll move on—fast—to someone who can.

6. Don’t try to multi-task.

Within the first few minutes of meeting someone new, you probably don’t whip out a notebook to write down what they’re saying—and that should be a rule for networking events, as well. Instead of being distracted by a pen and paper, focus intently on the conversation you’re having. After you’ve grabbed a business card and stepped away, jot down a few things that will help you jog your memory when you follow up with them later.

7. Don’t forget to follow up.

If you’re not following up, you’re not networking.You should stay in touch, without thinking about what you’ll get out of the relationship.

Within 48 hours of your first meeting, you should email a note that pinpoints the most important parts of your earlier conversation, so your contact remembers who you are specifically. A timely turnaround will show that you’re both interested and available to continue the conversation.

Send them a link to a project you discussed, or ask them how the game they were going to that night ended up. Give them something that is useful to them.

article by Kelly Eggers

http://www.oatmealtraining.co.uk

How do you get introduced?

Sounds odd, but why risk having the audience judge you in your first couple of sentences when you could have already partially informed them before your main presentation?

I was fortunate enough quite recently to see Ranulff Fiennes present, now if you have never heard of Ran as he is affectionately known, he is best described as the greatest living adventurer. He has a repertoire of stories that will simply amaze you and keep you gripped to the edge of your seat, however the introduction his colleague gave before he spoke was somewhat dull, laborious and didn’t set the audience on fire.

If you ever need to present to a large audience, and there is a compere holding the show together, always ensure you prepare an introduction for the compere to follow. If, you arent well known as Ran (myself included), your intro should qualify you so that you get the audience to appreciate your authority and give you kudos before you say a single word, this will help you deliver a punchier message as you have already established your base credentials.

There isn’t a single rule to follow, as it will depend on the audience and topic, but compere scripts should include:

who you are

what is your background

any qualifications or research that is relevant to the talk

any startling data e.g. ad visor to the Home Office, guest presenter on BBC etc etc.

what you are here to discuss

Write out the script for the compere to follow to the letter. The rest is up to you, but keep it short and punchy, 2 minutes max.

http://www.simplypresentations.co.uk

Controlling bad habits

Have you ever considered why we put an umm into our conversation? or like me, are you irritated by presenters who constantly utter an umm or err between sentences? There is a reason for the humble umm or voiced pause as the experts like to call them.

It stems back to the way we learn to hold a conversation, when we aren’t finished, but need a little thinking time, we let our fellow conversationalists know that we haven’t finished by filling the uncomfortable pause with a voiced pause. This voiced pause lets people know we haven’t finished and stops people from butting into our airtime. The problem is, it doesn’t quite work when you are presenting, yet how do we re-wire our brains to stop it?

Learning to stop using voiced pauses and replacing them with silent pauses takes time, but well worth the effort. Experts say that pauses however brief should be introduced every 6-9 words (depending on the audience and subject), but certainly when there is a natural break in the subject matter, or when there are key points to make.

How long should your pause be? as professional conversationalists, anything over half a second will be noticed, and as a presenter, anything up to three seconds will make a real impact. It may seem like an eternity, but it gives the audience time to digest the killer point that you have just made.

http://www.presentationguru.co.uk

How much text should you have on your slides?

Despite the volumes of moans and articles on poor presentations, it seems like we are’nt getting any better at presenting, or creating slideshows.

I’m often asked how much text should there be on a slide, and the answer ideally is none.

The problem with slides is that the way presenters use them. The goal is to put something up that will briefly engage the audience, and then they should focus back on the presenter again. What sadly happens is that many presenters put essays up on their slides, and as the audience can read faster than they can listen, they will read the entire slide whilst ignoring what the presenter has to say.

So, back to text, ideally if you have to put text up on the slide, try an employ a 3 by 3 rule; 3 bullets, 3 words per bullet, and if you think this is too hard, start off with 6 by 6.

http://www.simplypresentations.co.uk