Tag Archives: public speaking

Research & Presentation (Part 3)

If you missed parts 1 and 2 you should click here and here to catch up. For those of you who’ve been keeping up lets move forward in our quest of researching and presenting! Last time we equated the notion of telling a story with structure. If you tell a story about the research you’re instantaneously creating something interesting because stories are interesting. We want to know “how things turn out” or “why things turned out the way they did” (especially if we already know the ending… like the film Titanic). The boats gonna sink… people are gonna die, but … Continue reading →

Research & Presentation (Part 1)

This is going to sound really boring but today I gave a thirty minute presentation on nineteenth century copyright law. Phew! Okay… before you click on the closest link you can find (in order to get out of here) I want to assure you that I won’t be writing about the nineteenth century or copyright law in this post but I WILL be writing about researching and presenting on what others might perceive as a boring topic. Still reading? Okay. Let’s begin. I’ve got to tell you one of the benefits of being a “theatre person” is that I am … Continue reading →

A Symbol of Love

This morning I was the guest speaker at a ladies breakfast for our church. Mick wisely, I thought, knowing how edgy I can get before a talk, kept pretty much out of my way as he knows I always get nervous before having to do any speaking. Writing comes easy, but public speaking not so much. He kissed me goodbye, assured me it would be fine and I knew he would be praying for me. As I spoke I was aware that he and other friends and family were praying. While I was talking, he was busy in other ways. … Continue reading →

The Blessing of Prayer

How wonderful to know others are praying for you! One of the great things about family and friends is they way they jump on board when I am doing something. Like this morning I was the speaker at our ladies breakfast. As of Wednesday night I had no idea want I was going to talk about. The only thing I had written was in my opinion a disaster. I was starting to panic. At bible study I raised it as a prayer point. The next day I was still no further advanced and resolved to go and play tennis and … Continue reading →

Are You Up For A Challenge?

In a recent newsletter I subscribe to it asked ‘When was the last time you challenged yourself as a writer? What challenge did you make?’ Let me turn that around and ask when was the last time you challenged yourself as a Christian? Challenged yourself to take on a job or ministry that takes you out of your comfort zone? I love writing. Writing bible study questions and notes was no exception. Leading a discussion group was also something I felt comfortable doing. But when asked to become the teaching leader, standing up each week to give a 40 minute … Continue reading →

Do You Talk Too Much?

I have written quite a bit about business communication and how to make the most of sales pitches and networking opportunities—but one thing I haven’t really written about is the tendency some of us have to talk TOO much when we are interacting with prospects and customers. If shyness is a problem for some small business owners, than talking too much and be too dominant in interactions is a problem for others. Do you say a dozen things when you really only need to say one? Do you feel uncomfortable with silence and feel like you need to keep talking … Continue reading →

Making a Presentation? Don’t Rely Too Much on Visual Aids

We live in the age of PowerPoint and while I do think that having this accessible software to make visual presentations has livened up many a boring speech, I also think that presenters have a tendency to become completely dependent on their visual aids and this makes for boring presentations too. If you home business operations call for you to make presentations, it is important to remember that visual aids do not substitute for a dynamic speaker… PowerPoint, videos, DVDs, and other options can make for wonderful, memorable sales and informational presentations. As a matter of fact, we have most … Continue reading →