A class of their own: introvert presenters

Everyone can be a good speaker and presenter. Introverts particularly so

Do you think good presenters are born?

If there is one thing I’ve learned, both as a ‘Toastmaster’ and in training presentation skills, it’s this:
we can all become good speakers and presenters.

And introverts particularly so!

I used to think of good presenters as outgoing personalities but not all good presenters are like that. In fact, audiences love to listen to people who are usually more quiet.

I think there are many reasons for this. Here are three that I can make out: Read more…

Want to be creative? Overcome the pain and reap a reward

To be creative, you often have to overcome an impasse.

You may know that I compete in speech contests.

I’ve been doing it since two years and a half and this I learned so far:
the first version of my speech is never the best.

If a speech does well, it’s because I change it along the way.

The process can be painful and I had a particularly painful experience when I recently tested a speech on my friends and mentors Tom Aerden and Daniel Mouqué.

They liked my speech. That was the good news.

The bad news? They only liked half of it.  Read more…

Moving up and down the ladder of abstraction

The ladder of abstraction: a helpful communication tool

The ladder of abstraction is one of the most useful communication concepts I know.

Introduced by the linguist Samuel Hayakawa in the 1940s, the ladder of abstraction has two ends: at the top end are abstract things; concepts like integrity, trust, freedom and sustainability. Such concepts can be noble and meaningful. But they are definitely abstract: you cannot touch them and they don’t paint pictures in your head. Read more…

Laying the scent

Information scent: are you giving reader's the right cues?

Usability experts compare website visitors to carnivores.

Imagine a cheetah in the Serengeti.

When she picks up a scent, she will follow it. But the scent has to get more promising. If it doesn’t, she will not continue the hunt.

The visitors of your website are the same. Read more…