Are You A Subdued Wallflower or a Spiky Thistle?
In our attempts to promote ourselves, our brands, teams or organisations, there is a sweet spot somewhere between being a Subdued Wallflower and being a Spiky Thistle. We don’t want to be the shy, unnoticed bundle of fear in the corner, and we certainly don’t want to become the brash in-your-face-noise-machine who talks at everyone and connects with no one. […]
We Are All TV Presenters
At a recent TV Presenting Course that we ran in Dublin, Ireland, it became very clear to me why most ‘presentation skills’ type courses fall short of achieving the results they should be getting – those results being a more confident, persuasive and eloquent speaker. In fact most of them miss the point completely! They fail to acknowledge the most […]
Ancient Wisdom for Contemporary Communication
Like many of their generation, my parents subscribed to the monthly publication ‘Reader’s Digest’. In the 1960’s it sold 24 million copies each month and was available in over 13 languages. Full of articles, short stories, humorous anecdotes, word teasers, cartoons, advice and insights on every imaginable topic and advertising from around the world – it was a vital literary […]
Have You Noticed Why No One Listens To You?
Every day I am asked to help individuals, teams and organisations to be noticed, to engage their listeners and to be memorable when they speak. The stark reality is that if people are not listening to you, you’re not interesting enough for them. That’s it. Don’t make excuses, don’t blame them, don’t reframe it, don’t opt out – just hold […]
3 Words To Never Forget When You Speak
An audience is there to hear you: your thoughts, your observations, your insights and your recommendations. They do not want to listen to someone who is devoid of all personality and emotion. Yes, we would all love to have the eloquence of Clinton or Obama, and that will come with years of practice, but get the basics right first and […]
Smile, We Can Hear You! Does Your Voice Charm or Alarm?
A smile can be charming and distractingly disarming. What better way to put people at ease than with a friendly display of your pearly whites! There is truly nothing more mesmeric than a beautiful smile. However, with a slight change in the facial muscles, and a distinct change of purpose, we notice a grimace of pain, anger or aggression. In […]
Body Talking – To You or To Me?
It was very interesting to recently become aware of the research work that Social Psychologist Amy Cuddy has been pioneering at Harvard Business School. She gives evidence to show that body language can change other people’s perceptions — and even our own body chemistry — simply by changing body positions. As a young training Actor in the 1980s I was introduced to […]
Vocal Aphrodisiac
So, it’s official. If you’ve got a great voice, you’re going to have a better sex life, and live longer! I must fire my Marketing Department. How could they have missed this opportunity to promote the importance of improving vocal skills?!! Actually, the original research conducted by Dr Gordon G Gallup Jr., and Dr Susan Hughes, highlights many interesting results, […]
Smart Phones vs Smart People
Last year I read research which revealed that smart phones are now outselling desk top computers and more than 57% of people in Japan are reading their emails only on their iPhone, Blackberry or Galaxy. The statistics showed that USA, Canada and Europe are not far behind and very quickly heading the same way. As if there wasn’t enough pressure […]
Congratulations Jared Leto!
I’m really thrilled to see that Jared Leto won an Oscar for his role in ‘Dallas Buyers Club”. Jared was the first Actor I coached on the first film I worked on as a Dialogue Coach. His extraordinary portrayal is mesmerising and the award well deserved. In our next newsletter I will be writing an article about how Jared, and […]