What If I Cry When It’s My Turn to Speak?
The Vulnerability Of Public Speaking Uh oh… your chest feels like it’s going to explode, your throat constricts and your face is burning. Strong emotions are rising and about to overwhelm your carefully constructed boundaries. Oh no, not now! Now you need to look good. You need to convey strength, confidence and above all, professionalism. […]
The Public Speaking Blues
After the initial euphoria of your brilliant public speaking wears off, does your mood sink lower than a snake’s belly? Do you shrink from stride to slink?
How To Embrace Audience Applause
Yes! Those Claps Are For You That glorious moment has arrived! You have finished your speech. Oh, the relief of making it through without a major stuff up. Of course, there was that moment when you stumbled and words evaporated into a curious blankness. Hopefully your face did not betray your bewilderment… Though, you thought […]
Self-Conscious And Loving It!
Finding Yourself Out the Front of Your Life Recently I asked a friend for feedback on an aspect of my behaviour. I badgered her. She deflected. I badgered again. She gave in and chose her words with care. And horror of horrors I did not like what I heard. I reckon I did a pretty […]
The Spotlight Effect On You
No One Notices Your Bad Hair Day It’s true! According to social psychologists, the Spotlight Effect is the tendency for people to believe that others pay more attention to us than they really do. Simply put, the Spotlight Effect occurs because we are egocentrically the centre of our own universe. And because we think we […]
Video Review: Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are, by Amy Cuddy
I share Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are by Amy Cuddy, for conveying confidence, credibility and authority with body language more than any other TED Talk. This is a brilliant 20 minute talk from Amy Cuddy for understanding how to make simple physiological changes to transform the way you feel and how others […]
Do You Umm And Err When You Speak?
Conversational Fillers “Umm and err” are conversational fillers. A filler is a word or sound which signals in a conversation or speech, that the speaker has paused but has not yet finished. Recently I was asked to give a radio interview, this time about “why people use conversational fillers and why they are so annoying.” […]
Fight Flight Freeze Flirt
The 4 F’s Of Public Speaking Fear Fight Flight Freeze Flirt …I bet you are wondering where “flirt” comes into it and whether it involves batting your eye lashes at a big bad audience? Well… it can! Unless you are up with social psychology, you may have only heard of the Fight Or Flight Response. […]
Shy People And Parties Survival Guide
Cheese Is A Terrific Starting Point Many people find it difficult to “just be themselves”, especially shy people at parties. Remember that feeling when you first walk through the door, confronted by a sea of unknown faces or backs? Should you stick around or should you run? Parties can bring up fear of being separate […]
Un-Networking For Shy People
Un-Networking Un-Networking is brilliant for shy people. It is the art of being genuinely interested in meeting new people with no expectations of selling them something. I developed an early horror of cheese and chardonnay networking events, filled with drunken blokes with no home to go to, but a hellava lot of business cards to […]