Powerful Presenting For Leaders

Presentations are like cars.

At one end of the spectrum is a 200,000 mile Ford Fiesta covered in panels painted every colour of the rainbow. At the other is a sparkling Lamborghini supercar with paint a mile deep.

The question is - which would most accurately describe your presentations?

In this episode, David shares the great news that the choice is yours and how to get yourself up to Lambo territory.

The benefits of improving our ability to present may be as obvious as the spots on a dalmatian dog but actually, they are unique to every single person and definitely unique to each presentation.

In this episode, David shares what other leaders have said about the benefits of top class presenting including why Warren Buffet offered to pay students $50,000 more if they went on a communication skills course.

Too many leaders avoid humour when they present. Partly because they don't think they are funny but also because they understand that there is a fine line between setting your talk on fire with great humour and burning it to the ground with bad.

But humour is the one thing that can make the biggest difference to any talk and is worth every effort to get it right.

In this episode, David goes through safe and easy to apply techniques that are guaranteed to get your audiences rolling in the aisles.

David was a very good Boy Scout and still is! When it comes to speaking anyway as he lives by the Scout motto of 'Be Prepared'.

However, on occasions he has been caught out by winging out. In this episode, he talks about how that felt and why it is impossible to over prepare.

This unusual episode broadcasts David's interview with Chris Stanford, MD of Arden Wood Shavings.

Chris was present at a session David did on presentation skills. He went away and applied it word for word to massive success.

This episode is a great example of how how presentation skills training is not just conceptual but really works in the real world.

The thing that frustrates David the most is that 80% of all presenters have simple bad habits that would immediately catapult them into the top 20% if they got rid of them.

In this episode, David goes through them and how to get shut.

Remember this one devastating piece of information:

Audiences remember just 5% of statistics but a genuinely shocking 63% of stories.

Stories are not there to keep the audience entertained (which is still a worthy goal and has value in itself). They are not there to impart raw data and information. Stories are there to create causal links that cement the information in the audience's memory and help them understand your message.

In this episode, David tells his signature story from Wembley.

David has a coaching speaking client who is a Managing Director and a global leader in her field. He is preparing her for one of the biggest talks of her career.

The temptation for almost all leaders in this position is to go deep on the product they are promoting and bang on about features and benefits. These are important but could be put in a brochure. What audiences need to see is what you stand for.

In this episode, David shows how he got this client to show what she really stood for.

The beauty of getting older is you get to live a life you never knew existed. The beauty of improving your presentation skills is you get to enjoy presenting in a way you never knew existed.

In this episode, David explains the deep joy of continual improvement in improving presentation skills and why it is SO worth the effort.

David did a recent talk and someone posted online that he was not likeable or personable. Well, that would be rude if it wasn't true. But it was true for that individual so it was valuable feedback.

In this episode, he explains how he dealt with it.

Speaking is a live event. Stuff happens. At a recent speaking gig, David had to dodge a number of potential landmines.

In this episode, David explains how it is really important to control your speaking environment otherwise it could come back to bite you in the arse.

Nerves are always up there as a big issue for anyone who has to get up and present and so it is no surprise that David is constantly asked if he still gets nervous.

In this episode, David explains how he has managed to turn nervousness into excitement.

David was reading a motivational quote on the walls of a gym that said 'The only bad workout is the one that you didn't do.'

This is bullshit. A bad workout can set bad habits. Bad habits can injure you and stop you training altogether. It is the same with speaking. Bad habits set in and this hurts presentations.

In this episode, David explains how it is crucial to learn from a world class source and that the very best way to improve is to get a coach.

Too many leaders leave the organisation of their own events to their team then get surprised when things are not exactly right. Whilst delegating is essential in business, when you are up at the front, on your own, you need to know everything is right so get involved.

In this episode, David shares the nightmare of an internal company conference that he was the keynote speaker at when Slido kicked in and completely unstuck the boss.

David received the most astonishing e-mail from a former delegate and immediately set off to interview him. This is that interview.

In this episode, David relates the part of the interview of Chris shares how he has used his skills, even sharing with his family.

It is easy to get caught up in a current situation and not focus on the level above.  

But as an aspiring leader, it is important to do both with your presentation skills - develop them for your current environment but also the level above.

In this episode, David shares how he has been preparing a young man to present at the level of a School Head while currently being a Deputy.

Lack of confidence is a huge issue for leaders when presenting. But an improvement in confidence is not just internal, it can also be external as others can already see how amazing you are before you even realise it.

In this episode, David explains how it is important to let others tell you how good you really are.

Because he is a world class memoriser, all of David's speaking clients expect him to push them to memorise their talks. Without doubt, it can have a huge impact on the audience and dramatically improve your ability to really connect with your audiences.

But at the same time, he really does understand how hard it is.

In this episode, he goes through the best ways to do it should you wish to have a go.

This episode is dead simple.

David explains how you must apply best presentation skills practice to everything from appraisals to huge keynote speeches.

That's it.

It goes against our entire nature to have people not liking us. It is bloody awful but thankfully, most of the time we can avoid these people.

Not so with speaking. When we present, there is one indisputable fact. We cannot please all the people all the time. Some audience members will not like us, our message or both.

In this episode, David uses an example of someone who sent him a vitriotic e-mail in response to something he felt very passionate about. He also shares how to manage difficult audience members.