Author: BGT

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Dr Harley Farmer Presenting About Eczema

Have you ever watched YouTube videos with the sound off, for the comic effect of watching the jerky movements and meaningless hand gestures of the presenter? Have you considered how you look to your audience when presenting on stage, or to camera? Would it help to see a master presentation, which artfully demonstrates temporal and stage anchoring in a small space?

In this YouTube video, Advanced Presenter Dr Harley Farmer discusses the first chapter in his new book, ‘What is eczema? How to end the misery quickly’.

After you have graded his presentation performance, consider how his skillful use of past and future, unwanted and desired outcome, make his message much more understandable and persuasive.

Furthermore, if you suffer from eczema, or know someone who does, please check out the rest of Dr Harley Farmer’s video series on YouTube; it will make you think twice about what you thought you knew about Eczema!
YouTube NewGenn Ltd

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Julian Treasure: Why architects need to use their ears

Advanced Presenter Julian Treasure is back on TED, this time telling us why architects need to use their ears.

According to Julian, due to poor acoustics, students in classrooms miss 50 percent of what their teachers say, and patients in hospitals have trouble sleeping because they continually feel stressed. This is a call to action for designers to pay attention to the “invisible architecture” of sound.

Julian Treasure is the chair of the Sound Agency, a firm that advises worldwide businesses including offices, retailers, hotels on how to use sound.

Julian Treasure: Why architects need to use their ears

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The 20 most-watched TED Talks to date

The TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) blog has posted the list of the 20 most-watched TED Talks to date. Sir Ken Robinson talk from 2006 called Schools Kill Creativity is still at the top of the list, with a staggering 13,409,417 views.

TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate ideas worth sharing. The top ten by total number of views is:

  1. Sir Ken Robinson Schools Kill Creativity (2006)
  2. Jill Bolte Taylor Stroke of Insight (2008)
  3. Pranav Mistry The thrilling potential of SixthSense (2009)
  4. David Gallo‘s Underwater Astonishments (2007)
  5. Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry SixthSense (2009)
  6. Tony Robbins Why we do what we do (2006)
  7. Simon Sinek How great leaders inspire action (2010)
  8. Steve Jobs How to live before you die (2005)
  9. Hans Rosling The best stats you’ve ever seen (2006)
  10. Brene Brown The power of Vulnerability (2010)

Advanced Presenter Julian Treasure is still some way outside the top 20 most watched on TED, but in case you want to help him catch up a bit, check out:

We recommend them all!

To view the full list see The 20 most-watched TED Talks to date

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Julian Treasure And Five Ways To Listen Better

If you think of the three tags of Advanced Presenter, Sound, and TED in one sentence, then you are probably talking about Julian Treasure of The Sound Agency. In his latest talk at TED Global 2011, he tells about the skill of conscious listening and gives us five ways to re-tune our ears for listening both to other people and the world around you.

Julian is an entertaining and confident presenter with a commanding stage presence. For anyone needing to give a talk to an audience of any size, you can improve your delivery just by emulating his sparse use of visual aids, effective use of tonality and grounded body position. See the measured use of hand gestures to emphasize a point. Listen to his well paced delivery, even in the confined space of a TED talk. From the welcoming open body posture at the beginning of the presentation to the relaxed stance for the well deserved applause at the end, Julian is grounded.

To watch an advanced presenter give a great talk about a subject from which we can all benefit, visit Julian Treasure And Five Ways To Listen Better

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Making A Business Out Of Public Speaking

Do you like to talk to people so much you could do it all day? Do you think you could entertain an audience and get paid for it? Have you ever thought of making a business out of public speaking, but were unsure how to start?

We often get asked about how to get started in the speaking business, and what tips could we give someone setting out to make a living out of talking publicly. Oddly enough, our top tips are not about speaking, but about the practicalities of business, and will work equally well for any business:

  • Practice your elevator pitch
  • Purchase professional quality business cards
  • Push yourself to network with people

Practice your elevator pitch
Imagine the scenario; you get into the elevator to ride to the top floor and someone nips in behind you, just as the door closes behind him. He presses the button for the top floor, where you are going and you notice that it is Sir Richard Branson! Do you stare down at your shoes and wonder if you can think of something witty to say before the lift stops, or do you smile at him and say “Good Morning Sir Richard, I am a great admirer of you work…” followed by twenty words which leave him asking for your business card?

You should practice your pitch until you can say it confidently out loud in any company, by any medium; in person, by phone, by Skype or FaceTime. You can practice by using it every time you meet someone new. If it starts to sound stale or insincere then you modify and refine it until it always sounds exciting and fresh. That way when you do run into Sir Richard you will know what to say.

Purchase professional quality business cards
This one should be a no-brainer after the last scenario. Make sure you can give Sir Richard a business card which is clear and of sufficient quality to be treasured, without looking too flashy or extravagant. If your business is based on speaking about a specialist subject, make sure the subject is on the card! Obvious, realy, but how many people have returned from a networking event with a pack of business cards some of which you can not remember what the person did? Make sure that you card is noticeable and acts as an aid to memory.

Push yourself to network with people
Getting out to networking events is a great way to boost any business, particularly when it is getting started. However, it is really easy to find something more important to do that day, and life will always find a way to get in the way if you let it. Set yourself a target of one meeting a fortnight, and once you can manage that, make it one a week, and then two. Once you have established the pattern it becomes easy to sustain, and will give you ample opportunity to practice your presentation style.

If you want to improve your public speaking, then the best way to do it is to practice, practice, PRACTICE! What better place to practice than talking to people, and gauging their reactions. You will be offered instant feedback and will improve every time you speak. If you get the chance to address the whole group, then grab it! If one of the speakers does not turn up, then offer to stand in with your party piece. The organiser may not take you up on you offer this time, but they will remember you for another day.

There are a few practical Dos and Don’ts which will help your speaking style

  • Do be yourself, you are supremely qualified for the position
  • Do pause occasionally, for breath, reaction and dramatic effect
  • Do listen to your audience, and engage with their points of view; only then will they relate to yours

On the other hand

  • Don’t learn your speeches to perfection, or they will always sound rehearsed and insincere
  • Don’t practice to a camera unless you are planning to record your work for commercial reasons
  • Don’t practice in front of a mirror, unless you think that mirrors are likely to be your best audience!

So practice your pitch until it is automatic and natural, and have a good quality business card ready to give out when the right moment arrives. Push yourself to get out to networking events and practice by speaking at every opportunity

Finally, remember the old adage “If you do not run yourself like a business, you will run yourself out of business’

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Featured Presenter: Charles Harris on Power Pitching

Charles Harris is a writer, TV director and Advanced Presenter, and the power behind Footloose Films. He has advised writers, directors and producers for more than twenty years on how to realise their vision on the page and on the screen. His credits include work with such diverse names as James Stewart, Alexei Sayle, Spike Milligan and Melvyn Bragg.

His expertise in Power Pitching coupled with his Advanced Presenter’s skills gives him a quiet confidence that you have to see and hear to fully appreciate. He will tell you:

“Pitching is essentially simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Not at first. Practise, practise, practise. Pitch to everyone you meet. Pitch to a tape recorder. Pitch to others in the industry and get them to pitch back to you.”

If you want to find out more about the skills necessary to make your pitch, check out the following links:

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A live Presenter is the Key to Successfully Selling

Do you sometimes visit a trade show or promotional event and see the static displays which people barely glance at as they walk by? Do you walk past those sales videos in supermarkets and the local mall as they loop endlessly, while the soundtrack, however animated, fades into the background noise? As an exhibitor, have you ever wondered what would make a video booth at a recruiting stand really dynamic and captivating?

The answer is simple, cost effective and infinitely configurable. They come in a range of sizes and you can vary their appearance to suit your audience, products and niche. They require no batteries, react in real time and are the key to successfully selling. Ladies and gentlemen let me introduce to you the live presenter!

There are only three things you need to know, when making your decision that your next promotion will be memorable, powerful and effective:

  • People Like People
  • People Love Captivating Stories
  • Three is the magic number

People Like People
The missing element in the three scenarios above is a live presenter! It doesn’t matter how small the show, how far off the main thoroughfare your stand or how hostile the expected audience, if you put a good presenter on your stage they will reach out and grab a slice of the audience, even from under the noses of your competitors. People like people, and your audience would rather listen to a person than a video. Presenters are interactive, and if you employ an advanced presenter then they will be captivating! Put a presenter on the stand and people will queue to watch your sales pitch!

People Love Captivating Stories
Most people who approach a stand or booth and see that a PowerPoint presentation on display, will quickly notice the time, remember an important place they have to be, or look for the nearest cafe. It is not that there is anything wrong with PowerPoint, it’s just that most presenters who use it relinquish the stage to it, instead of using it as a visual backdrop. Make sure that if you are presenting you tell stories. Tell true stories, if possible and appropriate, as they have more grab. Most of all, remember to personally feel the emotion you want to inspire in your audience when telling your story.

Three is the magic number.
The key to a snappy live presentation is to have three (that is three, not two or four) bullet points which you describe in your introduction, explain in your content, and repeat at your summary.

  • Tell your audience that there’s only three things you expect them to remember.
  • Describe those three things clearly and simply.
  • Reiterate those three things at the end.

If you employ a live presenter they will grab the audience and connect with them in a way that a static display never will. Your presenter will raise the energy in the audience and utilise any interaction in the moment, so binding the crowd as if by magic. If you employ an advanced presenter to front your recruiting stand, or learn the skills yourself, your show will be dynamic, captivating, and most of all successful.

So to recap, the three reasons why the live presenter is the key to successful selling at a show or event are:

  1. People Like People
  2. People Love Captivating Stories
  3. Three is the magic number

Simple really, when you see it laid out like that!

If you want to see some more on this subject click here to see a live presentation is like preventative medicine at the Hey Newman blog