Episodes

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...

“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...

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 career or a seasoned professional. It’s good to set some speaking goals that you can aim for. To 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 some for...

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...

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. 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 speaking. T...

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...

Lots of clients I have worked with have built up a great arsenal of tools and skills in public speaking and presenting. 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/ However, sometimes they find themselves so overwhelmed with nerves, anxiety or pressure before they are going to deliver an important speech or presentation, that they forget all the good things they know...

When you are on a video conference call, attending virtual events, or connecting with people online. It can be difficult to get your point across in the same way as you would be able to if you were meeting in person. Looking into the camera or the screen on your computer. Can make you feel detached from your audience, your listeners. The people with whom you want to connect. I wonder if you’ll agree it’s difficult to feel the same sense of connection over video conference calls. That you would f...

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...

Whenever you communicate, are you just using your words to get your point across? Whether you are having a conversation with one person, or sharing a message with many. So much of what you say isn’t just through your words, but also how you are saying it. Through your non verbal communication skills, or in other words... your body language. That’s why in today's episode I share with you two techniques to help you to communicate with confidence, using your non-verbal communication skills. * The f...

A client of mine said that they noticed, while they were public speaking. Their voice would start shaking a couple of minutes into their talk. They said this only happened when they were speaking to a large group of people. And was due to them feeling nervous about having to do this. They asked me this question, “What can I do about this?" In today’s episode I answer this client question: “What should I do if public speaking makes me feel nervous?” If you would like to discover more tips and tec...

No doubt over the past few months you've been running more and more virtual events. And I bet you’ve seen the benefits of connecting with people online. You don’t need to rush across the office to get to a meeting room. You don’t need to commute into the office itself. You can reach more people across many timezones and geographies. And you can do this from the comfort of your home if you want to. Although there’s lots of benefits to connecting with people online, I wonder if you can agree that....

When you hear the words "public speaking", I bet you imagine... You or someone else, standing on a stage. Maybe with a microphone, and delivering a talk or giving a presentation. And if you do picture this, you are right. But this is only part of the story. Did you know that the skills you develop in public speaking can also be useful in other situations? Including for your business. Public speaking skills will enable you to share your product and communicate the story that drives your business,...

A client of mine was starting out on their public speaking journey. Their first event was coming up and though they were practicing their talk ahead of the big day, they were concerned about this happening... On the day itself, as they are delivering their talk. They get to a point and they forget what they had planned to say next. They get flustered and then struggle to find a way to continue. In today’s episode I answer this client question: "What should I do if I'm delivering a talk, all is g...

When you’re new to public speaking and presenting, it can seem like there’s a lot to take in. And sometimes it can feel difficult to know where to begin. That’s why in today's episode I share with you two essential tips for public speaking and presenting beginners. I talk about ‘The power of saying yes to speaking opportunities’ and ‘The greatest gift you can receive as a speaker, is feedback’. If you would like to discover more tips and techniques to help you speak and communicate with confiden...

When you hear the words "public speaking", I bet you imagine... you or someone else, standing on a stage, maybe with a microphone, and delivering a talk or giving a presentation. And if you do picture this, you are right. But this is only part of the story. Did you know that the skills you develop in public speaking can also be useful in other everyday situations? Including when you are at work. Have you ever sat in a meeting, where most or all of the people in the room you have never met before...

I think we can all agree that we are living through unusual times, when we are being encouraged to stay at home. Which means we are having to change the way we interact with our colleagues, our customers, and even friends and family. This means we are setting up meetings, running workshops and having conversations online, using some kind of video conferencing tool. And I'm sure you’ll agree that video calls feel very different to how we’re used to doing things. Where we would normally be meeting...

Imagine delivering a pitch to an important client. Imagine delivering a presentation in front of your work colleagues. Imagine you have put all that hard work into preparing and you really want your message to come across. Do you want to send your listeners to sleep? Do you want to see them yawning and making an escape through the door? Or, do you want to be remembered? Do you want your listeners to stay awake and connect with your words? In today's episode I share with you how to connect the to...

There are going to be times when you aren’t feeling confident. For example; a job interview, presentation, important pitch, or having a conversation with a colleague. Confidence is ever changing, so that in some situations we feel ‘confident’ and in others we feel less so. So what can we do to help us feel more confident and project confidence to others? In today's episode I share my three top tips to help in situations when you are delivering a pitch, presentation, public speaking or conversati...

Does the thought of speaking up in meetings fill you with dread? Do you keep quiet, never contributing for fear of being judged? You’re not alone, many people find meetings a daunting experience and, as a result, end up staying silent. Though this may feel like the safe option, it could be having a negative impact on your career. If you sit at the side-lines, you’ll remain invisible to your colleagues, including your boss, which could mean you’re overlooked when it comes to being offered excitin...

Allow me to introduce you to this week’s guest Sandra Thompson. Sandra runs a business that helps companies improve their customers' experiences, she lectures at a business school in London, and right now she's on a learning journey of her own, developing a deep understanding of emotional intelligence https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandra-thompson-04370b She describes emotional intelligence as your ability to understand and manage your own emotion, and your ability to relate and understand the emot...

If you have listened to my series of top tips and interviews, you will know by now that stories are as important than ever to incorporate into your pitches, presentations and even conversations in every day life. But, when adding stories into your speeches and presentations, there are some things that can go wrong. So, in today's episode I will share with you three things that are guaranteed to stop your stories in their tracks and even turn listeners off. 1) Telegraphing it, 2) The Storyteller ...

What is the most important question you will be asked as a speaker but will probably never hear? The answer is... “What's in it for me?” Whenever you are presenting, delivering a speech or having an interaction with a work colleague, your listeners will be wondering what is in it for them. What you should do in every speech or presentation is have the audience, your listeners, in mind when you are preparing it. This is a big question to ask yourself, "What is in it for them?" Whether you are pre...