Episodes

When using presentation slides it's important to consider the needs of the audience. This means incorporating the slides into the presentation in such a way that the speaker remains connected to the audience at all times. Unfortunately, some presenters have a tendency to turn away from their audience and read directly from the slides themselves. This isn't an effective way of delivering presentations. In today’s episode I share how to present effectively whilst using presentation slides. The 5 S...

Whether you’re having a conversation, navigating a job interview, or speaking in public, I’m sure you’ll agree that creating and maintaining rapport with others is important. And what is rapport? Well I like this definition from the web: “a close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned understand each other's feelings or ideas and communicate well”. And that is the key part “communicate well”. So, whenever you communicate with others, being in rapport with them is ver...

While public speaking, you're probably going to move around. I think this is a good thing to do. And if you do it with purpose, you'll be able to connect your movements with your words. This means your audience can connect with your message in terms of what you're saying, and what they see you do. Moving with purpose elevates the impact of your public speaking. But sometimes when you’re moving around, you may want to move back to the spot where you started speaking from. How can you do this to e...

I’m sure you can look back at a presentation you’ve delivered, and recall in the build up to it, how it made you feel. Or perhaps you’re looking ahead to delivering your next presentation, and when you do this, it makes you feel a certain way too. Everyone feels differently in the build up to a presentation, and whether you’re feeling excited, nervous or a bit of both, it’s important not to get caught up in how you’re feeling. Because this will take up all your energy and focus which you should ...

When was the last time you sat in a meeting? Have you ever sat in a meeting where most of the people in the room you have never met before? Imagine you are sat in the room, the meeting chair looks around the room and says, let’s get to know each other. And everyone has to introduce themselves. One by one each persons sits or stands and says their name and starts describing what they do. Everyone sounds confident and they describe their role in a way that sounds so much more interesting than your...

Have you ever attended a work meeting and been asked a difficult or challenging question? How about when you're delivering a presentation and you're inviting questions from your audience. You feel that someone in your audience seems to want to catch you out, by asking a difficult question, one which you may not know the answer to, or did not anticipate. What's a good strategy for dealing with difficult or challenging questions? And what's the best thing to do if you don't know the answer to a qu...

Concerned their company was wasting a lot of time and money organising meetings that they felt just weren’t effective or worthwhile. Because attendees were being distracted by their laptops or phones. They weren’t engaged, and the meetings would start late and finish even later. A client of mine asked me this question: “How can I run more effective meetings?" In today’s episode I answer a client question about: “How to run effective meetings?” The 5 Steps to Public Speaking Success online progra...

Whether you’re presenting at work, having a conversation, recording an online video tutorial or sharing a story. It’s not only what you say that’s important, but how you say it. That’s why in this episode I explore using your voice for greater impact when communicating. The 5 Steps to Public Speaking Success online programme is available to buy now. Find out more by visiting: www.davidalanmurray.com/courses/5-steps-to-public-speaking-success/ If you would like to discover more tips and technique...

I’m sure you’ll agree there’s many reasons why people want to develop their public speaking and presenting skills. What’s yours? If you’re a regular listener to my show, you will have heard lots of different techniques to help you to become a more confident and compelling speaker. I really hope you’ve tried them out and found them useful. Today I thought I would change focus and ask YOU a question... When you're watching other public speakers, is there anything they do which comes across to you ...

Can you believe it’s the start of another year. Have you set any public speaking goals that you want to achieve this coming year? Whether you’re beginning your journey or already have experience of speaking in public. It’s good to set some goals that you can aim for. These can help you to become more confident and compelling when speaking in public. If you already have experience of speaking in public and would like to elevate your skills further, and you haven’t thought about what your public s...

So it’s the start of another year. Have you set any public speaking goals that you want to achieve this year? Whether you’re starting out in your public speaking journey or a seasoned professional, it’s good to set some speaking goals that you can aim for. These can help you to become a more confident and compelling public speaker. If you’re looking to begin your public speaking journey this coming year, and you haven’t thought about what your public speaking goals could be, allow me to suggest ...

I’m sure you’ll agree there’s many reasons why people want to develop their public speaking and presenting skills. What’s yours? If you’re a regular listener to my show, you will have heard lots of different techniques to help you to become a more confident and compelling speaker. I really hope you’ve tried them out and found them useful. Today I thought I would change focus and ask YOU a question... When you're watching other public speakers, is there anything they do which comes across to you ...

I’m sure you’ll agree there’s many reasons why people want to develop their public speaking and presenting skills. What’s yours? If you’re a regular listener to my show, you will have heard lots of different techniques to help you to become a more confident and compelling speaker. I really hope you’ve tried them out and found them useful. Today I thought I would change focus and ask YOU a question... When you're watching other public speakers, is there anything they do which comes across to you ...

“When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.” It was none other than The Dalai Lama who shared this brilliant piece of wisdom. Think about that for a moment. If you’re always doing the talking, you’re never hearing a different perspective on things. Think about conversations you’ve had with friends or colleagues at work. Are you the one who always doing the talking? How often are you fully listening to what people are saying? The a...

Elevate your public speaking skills by stepping out of your comfort zone. Public speaking is like any other skill, the more you do it, the better you will become at it. And wherever you are on your confident communication journey, as you practice speaking in public, you will hone your skills and your confidence will grow. This means what you may have found challenging before will begin to feel easier for you. You are in your comfort zone. This means your progress will stall and you won’t continu...

Welcome to my 5 Steps to public speaking success programme series. The 5 Steps to Public Speaking Success online programme is available to buy now. Find out more by visiting: www.davidalanmurray.com/courses/5-steps-to-public-speaking-success/ Public speaking skills will: Help you stand out and make you more visible in your organisation. Make you deliver a message with greater clarity, confidence and impact. Help you connect with people through what you say and how you say it. And much more… But ...

Have you ever stopped to think about what success looks like to you? This is a question I always ask my clients. Whether developing their confident communication skills to deliver presentations, give compelling talks, be successful at job interviews, and much more. Although they have practiced their presentation, put the finishing touches on their talk or interview prep, when it comes to the 'big day' itself, they sometimes find themselves so overwhelmed with nerves, that they forget all the goo...

How many meetings have you organised, or participated in where you see people who aren’t engaged? And they’re being distracted by their laptops or phones! It’s almost as if they aren’t even in the meeting. Even though you can see them, right there… sat on the chair. Distracted by whatever is on their laptop or phone screen. How many meetings have you been in that start late and end even later? Or didn’t feel it was worthwhile, and you will never get that time back, will you! Imagine how much tim...

Welcome to my 5 Steps to public speaking success programme series. The 5 Steps to Public Speaking Success online programme is available to buy now. Find out more by visiting: www.davidalanmurray.com/courses/5-steps-to-public-speaking-success/ Public speaking skills will: Help you stand out and make you more visible in your organisation. Make you deliver a message with greater clarity, confidence and impact. Help you connect with people through what you say and how you say it. And much more… But ...

Elevate your public speaking skills by asking for and receiving feedback. Public speaking is like any other skill, the more you do it, the better you will become at it. This means your talks and presentations will be more structured, your audience will connect with you, and you will feel more confident. The key to successfully elevating your public speaking skills is inviting someone to watch your talks and presentations, and asking them to give you feedback afterwards. In today’s episode I expl...

If you're a regular listen to this show, you will already be aware that stories are an important ingredient of confident communication. When sharing stories within your talks and presentations, there are some things you will want to avoid and some things you will want to include to ensure they have lasting impact on your audience. In today’s episode I share my top tips for telling memorable stories. The 5 Steps to Public Speaking Success online programme is available to buy now. Find out more by...

Welcome to my 5 Steps to public speaking success programme series. The 5 Steps to Public Speaking Success online programme is available to buy now. Find out more by visiting: www.davidalanmurray.com/courses/5-steps-to-public-speaking-success/ Public speaking skills will: Help you stand out and make you more visible in your organisation. Make you deliver a message with greater clarity, confidence and impact. Help you connect with people through what you say and how you say it. And much more… But ...

Before presenting at work, sharing a talk on stage or communicating an important message, it’s natural to feel nervous. However, if we allow our nerves to go unchecked, they can build up and lead to tension in the body. Especially in those moments just before we want to communicate with confidence. This can have the effect of making us feel even more anxious. So that we find ourselves becoming overwhelmed with nerves and feel unprepared or even cause us to panic, right at the last minute before ...

Adding humour into your talks and presentations is a great way to bring attention to the point you are making. And helps your listeners to better remember it. And if you're feeling anxious, adding a little humour into your talks and presentations, will help you to relax. As you will feel more connected to your audience when they respond to your humour. Not everyone is comfortable with using humour in their talks, but like any skill practice makes perfect. And if you gently introduce humour into ...