Speak with your Elbows
by Graham Davies
Yet again, David Cameron has shown his talent for creating memorable phrases under pressure. His spontaneous use of the words "sharp elbows" nicely captures the combative attitude needed by parents to secure the best for their children from the Public Sector.
It is also a phrase that should epitomise your attitude to Presentation. There are alot of things competing to get the attention of any audience you speak to. And even if you manage to grab their attention initially, it can still drift away if you and your words are not compelling enough.
That is why you have to be a practitioner of Sharp-Elbowed Presenting. This is a highly assertive form of speaking where you think of yourself as constantly jostling for the attention of the audience. You are prepared to push just a little to get to the head of the queue in their collective mind. But you are determined to retain that Dave-n-Sam charm even when you are at your most determined.
It is then that you will achieve the exquisite presentational balance encapsulated by the following impossibly mixed metaphor: the sharp tongue in the velvet glove.
Sunday, 15 August 2010
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Wasted Thank Yous
by Graham Davies
Never present when doing so is a waste of time for you and your audience. You might think that the previous sentence is crushingly obvious. However, yesterday I saw 2 people speaking to an audience 40,000 strong, when it was quite clear that the exercise was utterly pointless.
The people in question were the captains of the Australian and England Rugby Union teams. 5 minutes after an exhausting 85 minutes of enormous physical and mental effort, they were suddenly required to "say a few words". There was nothing that they could possibly say that would have been more eloquent than the effort that they had put into the game.
They both stumbled up to the microphone and said highly predictable Thank Yous to the fans who had turned out to support their respective teams. It was quite clear that they though they were wasting their time and their breath. Their presentations certainly added nothing to the occasion. In fact, it was an embarassment to see 2 people who are at the very top of their profession being forced to do something that detracted from their credibility as leaders.
Never allow yourself to be in a situation where you know that what comes out of your mouth will achieve nothing apart from a huge amount of personal discomfort and a devaluation of your personal presentational brand.
by Graham Davies
Never present when doing so is a waste of time for you and your audience. You might think that the previous sentence is crushingly obvious. However, yesterday I saw 2 people speaking to an audience 40,000 strong, when it was quite clear that the exercise was utterly pointless.
The people in question were the captains of the Australian and England Rugby Union teams. 5 minutes after an exhausting 85 minutes of enormous physical and mental effort, they were suddenly required to "say a few words". There was nothing that they could possibly say that would have been more eloquent than the effort that they had put into the game.
They both stumbled up to the microphone and said highly predictable Thank Yous to the fans who had turned out to support their respective teams. It was quite clear that they though they were wasting their time and their breath. Their presentations certainly added nothing to the occasion. In fact, it was an embarassment to see 2 people who are at the very top of their profession being forced to do something that detracted from their credibility as leaders.
Never allow yourself to be in a situation where you know that what comes out of your mouth will achieve nothing apart from a huge amount of personal discomfort and a devaluation of your personal presentational brand.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
BA too Twittery
by Graham Davies
Satan likes to make work for idle hands. That's why he invented Twitter. And it is because of Twitter that I am travelling to Heathrow this morning not sure that my flight to China will take off.
Last Saturday, Derek Simpson of UNITE was not entirely focused on the way that Willie Walsh was presenting BA's case. He gave what can only be described a running commentary on the negotiations via the medium of his Blackberry. This stream included a description of Walsh as "vindictive".
Only twats twitter like this. There was nothing to gain and everything to lose. Negotiation content should be kept confidential while the negotiation is still going on. Blurting out his thoughts to the whole world was always likely to make the process more difficult.
And the very fact that Simpson had the urge to Twitter in the first place showed that his mind was not really in the room. He should have been zeroed in totally on assessing BA's presentation and calculating an appropriate response. The audience he should have been focusing was in front of him, not at lurking at the end of a Twitter-feed.
I urge you not to Twitter when you should be zeroed in on something else. Which is just about all the time.
by Graham Davies
Satan likes to make work for idle hands. That's why he invented Twitter. And it is because of Twitter that I am travelling to Heathrow this morning not sure that my flight to China will take off.
Last Saturday, Derek Simpson of UNITE was not entirely focused on the way that Willie Walsh was presenting BA's case. He gave what can only be described a running commentary on the negotiations via the medium of his Blackberry. This stream included a description of Walsh as "vindictive".
Only twats twitter like this. There was nothing to gain and everything to lose. Negotiation content should be kept confidential while the negotiation is still going on. Blurting out his thoughts to the whole world was always likely to make the process more difficult.
And the very fact that Simpson had the urge to Twitter in the first place showed that his mind was not really in the room. He should have been zeroed in totally on assessing BA's presentation and calculating an appropriate response. The audience he should have been focusing was in front of him, not at lurking at the end of a Twitter-feed.
I urge you not to Twitter when you should be zeroed in on something else. Which is just about all the time.
Monday, 24 May 2010
Bland lead the Bland
by Graham Davies
I am currently working with several clients on their Maiden speeches in the House of Commons. This type of speech is often a very bland affair, with the meat of it consisting of merely a few nice pleasantries about the Mp's own constituency.
Of course, this will not be their very first speech as MPs: they made their first ones immediately after their victory was announced by the returning officer on election night. Every single victory speech that I saw on television consisted of a boring sequnce of predictable pleasantries and thank yous. The perpetrators had the chance to say something striking and memorable in the spotlight, but they decided to follow convention instead.
No presentation will ever be memorable if it it merely follows convention at the expense of saying something new. Never allow yourself to say something just because your audience expects it. It is only the unexpected that will get you what you want.
by Graham Davies
I am currently working with several clients on their Maiden speeches in the House of Commons. This type of speech is often a very bland affair, with the meat of it consisting of merely a few nice pleasantries about the Mp's own constituency.
Of course, this will not be their very first speech as MPs: they made their first ones immediately after their victory was announced by the returning officer on election night. Every single victory speech that I saw on television consisted of a boring sequnce of predictable pleasantries and thank yous. The perpetrators had the chance to say something striking and memorable in the spotlight, but they decided to follow convention instead.
No presentation will ever be memorable if it it merely follows convention at the expense of saying something new. Never allow yourself to say something just because your audience expects it. It is only the unexpected that will get you what you want.
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Robotic Cameron
by Graham Davies
Now that the political dust has settled a bit, I have decided who was the most unrealistic presentational role model during the build-up and aftermath of the Election.
Cameron has become frighteningly efficient under pressure. The speech he made just before he entered number 10 had an androidal effficiency: no notes, no stumbles, no vocal imperfections (well,maybe he flubbadubbed 2 words). He was so good that you should look at what he achieved and then follow my advice:
Don't try this at home.
There is rarely any need for the typical presenter to force themselves into the potential horrors of the no-notes vortex. The potential upside of looking-as-good-as-Dave is massively outweighed by the possible downside of looking-like-a-prat if you forget to say your best point.
by Graham Davies
Now that the political dust has settled a bit, I have decided who was the most unrealistic presentational role model during the build-up and aftermath of the Election.
Cameron has become frighteningly efficient under pressure. The speech he made just before he entered number 10 had an androidal effficiency: no notes, no stumbles, no vocal imperfections (well,maybe he flubbadubbed 2 words). He was so good that you should look at what he achieved and then follow my advice:
Don't try this at home.
There is rarely any need for the typical presenter to force themselves into the potential horrors of the no-notes vortex. The potential upside of looking-as-good-as-Dave is massively outweighed by the possible downside of looking-like-a-prat if you forget to say your best point.
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
Dignified Exit
by Graham Davies
Right at the end, Gordon Brown was almost someone that you could like. His farewell speech was a triumph of dignity.
He achieved the tricky balance of leaving Downing Street elegantly and eloquently, without letting any residual bitterness show through. His tribute to our armed forces at last sounded genuine, because he had no electoral advantage to gain from it. His acknowledgement that he was unable to form a government was a measured statement of political fact and not, as it easily could have been, the whine of a beaten man.
His cleverest and most touching presentational moment was completely unexpected. He described being PM as the second most important job behind being a husband and father.
It's a shame that he was unable to present this level of humanity when he was actually in office, rather than just when he was leaving it.
by Graham Davies
Right at the end, Gordon Brown was almost someone that you could like. His farewell speech was a triumph of dignity.
He achieved the tricky balance of leaving Downing Street elegantly and eloquently, without letting any residual bitterness show through. His tribute to our armed forces at last sounded genuine, because he had no electoral advantage to gain from it. His acknowledgement that he was unable to form a government was a measured statement of political fact and not, as it easily could have been, the whine of a beaten man.
His cleverest and most touching presentational moment was completely unexpected. He described being PM as the second most important job behind being a husband and father.
It's a shame that he was unable to present this level of humanity when he was actually in office, rather than just when he was leaving it.
Friday, 7 May 2010
Clegg's Presentational Oxygen
by Graham Davies
There is widespread disbelief today that the Lib Dems could have done so badly after Nick Clegg's top class presentational performance in the election debates. The fact is that the electorate realised that crap policies presented well are still crap policies.
But presentation was still vitally important to Clegg's party. If he had not been so brilliant, their vote share would have dropped dramatically below what they managed to achieve in 2005. Without the boost that his debating skills gave them, they would now be able to have a meeting of their Parliamentary Party in a phone box.
For the Tories and Labour, good presentation is a vital tool in their fight for victory. For the Lib Dems it is what they will continue to need in their fight for survival.
by Graham Davies
There is widespread disbelief today that the Lib Dems could have done so badly after Nick Clegg's top class presentational performance in the election debates. The fact is that the electorate realised that crap policies presented well are still crap policies.
But presentation was still vitally important to Clegg's party. If he had not been so brilliant, their vote share would have dropped dramatically below what they managed to achieve in 2005. Without the boost that his debating skills gave them, they would now be able to have a meeting of their Parliamentary Party in a phone box.
For the Tories and Labour, good presentation is a vital tool in their fight for victory. For the Lib Dems it is what they will continue to need in their fight for survival.
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