Remote speaking takeaways
After a strange 2020 and lots of remote speaking, here are a few takeaways: It’s still story first. A great story with low tech beats
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What do they say?
Look around and pick one thing that you see lying in front of you. What’s the first thing that comes to your mind about that
Writing things down
Writing things down is among the most powerful tools to refine your thinking. Because it makes your thinking specific. By writing it down you commit
The gift of speaking
We’re giving a speech. Yet, ironically for most speakers speaking is about taking. Taking for granted their audience’s time. Shamelessly making their communication about themselves,
The utter unimportance of almost anything
Today’s a great day to recalibrate. It’s the perfect day to appreciate what truly matters for you. For me, it’s family. Wishing you a merry
How to do your best on stage?
By not trying to do your best. Sounds absurd, but it’s true. Let me explain … The problem with doing your best is that you might
Why we need you to give that speech
A speech that doesn’t change people’s minds is a waste of time. A speech that doesn’t resonate with people doesn’t change their minds. A speech
The difference between bad and good leaders
There are good leaders and there are bad leaders. The thing to keep in mind is that good and bad leaders sit on opposite sides
I don’t wanna hurt you
As a communicator you can play it safe and make sure that your audience feels comfortable all the time. Avoid controversial wordings and content that
10 eyewitnesses
If, after a car accident, you ask 10 eyewitnesses what they saw, you will hear 10 different versions of the same accident, possibly even contradictory
The magical question to increase tension and suspense
In a great movie or book, the question “What happens next” is basically the definition of tension and suspense. Whenever there’s suspense in a movie,
So short it fits in my head
That’s a rule that has served me well for quite some time now: To focus my effort on only the things that fit in my
Consistency attracts
When you consistently brighten your team’s day.When you consistently decide to skip the bullshit.When you consistently promise only the things that you can be sure
The comfort of facts
In many organizations, facts are the fuel that inform decisions, large and small. A thorough presentation of the facts involved in a decision making process
If your product changes things for the better
If your product truly changes things for the better then all you need to do is to speak the truth. I’m amazed by how often
How to become the next Steve Jobs
People ask me how to become the next Steve Jobs. My answer is always the same: “We already had Steve Jobs. What we need is
On our own
Not everyone considers themselves a leader. Many are happy to follow when others move first. Many prefer it when someone provides direction. But hardly anybody
Every speaker’s dream
It’s every speaker’s dream: To turn our audiences into raving advocates of our story. Of course, if that’s what we’re up to, then the important
Benchmarking your speech
When you give a speech, how will you know it was a success? When you get standing ovations?When you close the deal?When there are no
“Our customers expect it that way”
I have never once in my lifetime seen any audience prefer a boring presentation over a compelling one. And yet, people keep on defending their
It’s the wrongness that gets our attention
We learn theory in order to be right but the coolest part that gets your attention is the wrongness. – Victor Wooten We can give
You don’t need permission
My elementary school teacher kept telling me that I couldn’t make it in grammar school because I was too quiet. I graduated top of my
A new perspective
A fear that I often encounter among speakers is that their audience might “know this already”. And quite likely that’s true. Unless we have discovered
What you spend your time on
There’s a golden rule in screenwriting: Anything you spend much time on will amount to something in the story. The problem with many presentations is
If they didn’t get it, they didn’t get it
End of story. There’s really no point in insisting that you’ve mentioned it on slide 17. They didn’t get it. Much better to just take
There’s one guaranteed way to build long-term trust
Mean what you say. (Bonus points for making it easy for others to get what you mean.)
The indifference of PowerPoint
One of the big problems with PowerPoint presentations is how they are indifferent to their content so often. The bigger the company, the bigger the
Surrounded by great people
Good leaders surround themselves with great people. What sometimes keeps them from becoming great leaders is when they stop there, believing that their team of
The lazy designer
So, I’m not a designer. But I design all my visuals myself. I’ve adapted a posture that I call “the posture of the lazy designer”
A mismatch?
A few things people care about: feeling seen and heard appreciation for their effort their family their employees a day off with their children improving
Behind the facts
Most questions that are worth investing the time to prepare a presentation for don’t have an easy yes-or-no answer. If they had, we could just
The polite audience
Have you ever sat in a totally boring presentation but ended up clapping your hands anyway? Clearly, the applause wasn’t well deserved but you clapped
It’s never been easier to learn speaking skills than today.
Open up YouTube, go to TED or Greator and watch the top viewed talks. Observe what the speaker does. Take what works for you and
Are you strong enough for PowerPoint?
… because you need to be strong to use PowerPoint in a meaningful way. PowerPoint can turn a great story into a great presentation. But more
The difference between what people buy and what they want
Many people tend to think about marketing as the art of making people want something. I find it much more useful to think about marketing
Marketing in a sentence
Marketing in a sentence: You see things that I don’t see but want me to. And why wouldn’t I. Your thing is amazing, isn’t it?
“Would I want to listen to myself?”
That’s a powerful question. Because your audience might feel the same way as you do. So, act accordingly. If it’s too boring, make it more
Preaching to your tribe
… only works for as long as the tribe is willing to listen to your messages. Times change. Preachers not so often. The problem is
Beginning and end
Every presentation starts at the beginning and stops at the end. Unless it doesn’t. Like most presentations. (Yours?) I mean, of course, every presentation starts
Sales is all about action
… and action results from thoughts. Presentations are about changing thoughts and therefore, if done well, presentations are a great tool to move people to take
The Bay effect
In 2014, director Michael Bay had one of the most devastating performances on a big stage. In a Samsung press conference he totally lost it.
The Lucy approach
Charlie Brown knew it every time. Yet, next time he bought Lucy’s trick regardless. Every. Single. Time. It’s heartbreaking to see. We wanna shout: “Noooooooo!”
The fear of focus
The fear of focus is the fear that the thing you would focus on isn’t enough. That people would want more. And that you cannot
The 2nd priority
… is the reason why we don’t accomplish our 1st priority. Get a good price and get the deal at all cost. Grow your business
Try harder?
Some skills can be improved by just practicing long enough. Let’s take running. Basically, the longer you run, the longer you will be able to
But what’s it called?
… because unless it has a name, it’s hard to talk about it. A name is a shortcut that stands for the 15 minutes it
The Curse of Knowledge
The Curse of Knowledge is a fancy name for the phenomenon that we can’t imagine what it would be like if we didn’t knew what
Where are you?
Are you 100% present in the moment when you give your presentation? 100% focused on your audience? Or are you with your topic? Or with
A nightmare of a meeting
The very first meeting I participated in was a pure nightmare. We were 10 people. Exactly one was paying attention. Wanna know who? The one
The cozy pillow of confidence
… does not exist. As much as we’d like to hope for that magic confidence potion that makes our fears go away so that we
Should you judge a book by its cover?
Of course. That’s what covers are for. A good cover sets the expectations for reading the book. It tells us what it is about and
The most important person in the room
Great salespeople give us the feeling that nothing is more important to them than us right now. Great educators do the same. Great friends as
Good enough
Good enough, but for what? Actually, there are two kinds of good enough: The “I don’t care” kind. The “I care deeply” kind. The former
The Evolution of a Public Speaker
These are the four phases, most speakers go through on their way to becoming a great speaker: At first, it’s all about the content. It’s
Book reading list – Autumn 2020
Here’s a list of books that I recently enjoyed. Everything is figureoutable – In a time where all of us need to figure out tons
Low hanging fruits
Several months into the pandemic, remote formats still have a firm grip on businesses and events. From online meetings to online conferences, we will be
The double meaning of status updates
Monday is status update day in many teams. Sadly, the name has grown to carry a double meaning. Because too often it’s not only about
Second impressions
You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. You don’t. But more often than not you still get a chance to make
Are you unavoidable or irresistible?
A lot of marketing advice these days focuses around becoming unavoidable. Being so present in the market that people can’t avoid you because your messages
Eruptions (In memory of Eddie van Halen)
When Eddie Van Halen erupted onto the music world, he revolutionised playing the guitar forever. The world of Hard Rock and the musical styles that
The presenter’s job
This is usually easy: to make sure that the information in a presentation is correct. That there are no mistakes in the data. That it’s
Try something new
This week (like any other week) seems like a great week to try and do some things differently. How about one of these? Smile more
Strange reality
People meet, incidents occur, without anyone ever having done anything intentionally for this to happen. Reality just happens. Still, as humans we can’t help but
The kind of presentation I would want to listen to
A lot of presentations feel like the kind of thing that the speaker didn’t want to prepare but had to. A much better approach would
The WTF moment
Marketers strive for a WOW moment. But the WTF moment is even stronger. WTF is short for “I can’t believe that this is possible!” It
Louder?
The world of marketing gets louder. Essentially every day. As every business and many employees turn into publishers, we not only get ever more, but
The key to your audience’s attention…
… is everyday life and it’s quite often overlooked. Most of us don’t spend the majority of our time in the extraordinary. It’s the ordinary
The boredom buzzer
Ever heard of theatresports? It’s a form of improvisational theatre in which two teams of actors compete against each other. Audiences rate their performance. An
Solving your visibility problem
When we want to be seen and heard, we tend to look for reasons that make it worth looking at and listening to us: “We’re
Where to find compelling stories
When we look for compelling stories, we tend to look for the extra-ordinary. Yet, more often than not, the stories that fascinate us most are
Either you care or you don’t
Either you care or you don’t, there’s no in-between. And if you care, then go all of the way. – Stanley Kubrick Almost compelling is another
A world without fear
For many, the preferred solution to deal with fear is to get rid of the fear. That’s why we hide from showing up, run away
The show is part of the substance
When you believe in better, it’s your obligation to speak with the clarity that’s required for your audience to resonate with your message. Change requires
“I’m sorry!”
“I’m sorry” is a powerful phrase, not only in personal relationships but also in business. Many businesses struggle with saying “sorry”. When a customer complains,
Challenging the way we approach keynotes
In-person events aren’t going to happen for a while. With their recent keynotes, Apple embraced this by not even trying to pretend that they were
Would they come back?
Remember serial TV? We had to wait a full week to watch the next episode of our favorite show (which was yours?). Back then, great
Communicating to your team
The reason we all gather in a room (no matter if it’s online or offline) is because you are adding something that can’t be put
When everyone zigs …
… zag! Sure. But keep in mind that going straight when everyone else keeps on zig-zagging, takes you a long way. Not every trend is
Where are your customers coming from?
To take an audience where you want to go requires understanding where they are coming from. Because what gets us there is often not what
The clarity to focus your team
Good leaders hire great people. Great leaders make them a team. After all, a team of brilliant members might not accomplish much when everyone follows
Sales deck? No, thanks!
“No, thanks!” That’s my answer when a salesperson asks me whether I want him to walk me through his sales deck. “No, thanks, I’ve already
Shoutout to the hidden leaders
Linda’s there when you need someone who listens. Marie’s the first one in the office, every morning. Robert never forgets a birthday. Susan asks the
Communicating your product means telling your story
Marketers often think about stories as a tool in their communication toolbox. You have your product. And then you start looking for a story to
Why people aren’t buying from you
Because this is how you communicate your product: The active ingredient inhibits the body’s own formation of messenger substances, the so-called prostaglandins, which increase the
Missed opportunities
The introduction is probably the single biggest missed opportunity in many presentations. What’s the purpose of your first sentence? Some people would probably answer it’s
Whose time invest is it?
Traditional presentations consume their audience’s time. Modern presentations reward their audiences for the time they invest. The selfish presenter of traditional presentations is mainly concerned
Why you shouldn’t use busy slides
Still, the overwhelming majority of slides uses massive amounts of text in bullet point structure with the occasional clip art and overly detailed chart filled
In memory of Sir Ken Robinson
It’s not the most spectacular presentation that works best but the one that resonates most. This speech of Sir Ken Robinson not only resonated a
If your presentation was a tattoo …
Guil Zekri runs the tattoo studio Reinkarnation in Cologne. His business mantra is this: The most important rule is that the customer gets a good
The habit of tuning out of a presentation
Ever seen this empty expression on the faces of people having to sit through a sales presentation? I guess we’ve all been there. We totally
This tip will make you millions
Without further ado, here it is: Build a great product and sell it for a profit! Of course, the hard part is: to actually build
What if they are right?
What if, just for today, you assumed that everything you believe is false? That the others are, in fact, right. That their objections to your
Not good with words? Let AI take over!
If you still believe that it matters more how you say things than what you say then there might be great news for you. Liam
The skill and the will
To achieve your goals, you’ll need the will and the skill to do so. To win the Champions League, you need to know how to
The fear of finishing
It likes to dress as perfectionism and it claims that things have to get just that tiny little bit better before you finish this. Or
Wouldn’t it be great?
The phrase “Wouldn’t it be great?” has been the seed of many great products. Wouldn’t it be great if we could freeze food so it
Where your customers want to go
Part of being human is that there is a disconnect between what we want and what we need. We want things that we don’t really
Tell me more
… is a much more powerful guiding principle when designing a speech than “tell me everything”. We tend to feel the need to tell our audiences
It feels so good standing up there
Or does it? Because still, many presenters don’t enjoy the experience. In the 12 years that I’m now coaching leaders to communicate with clarity, the
Speaking to a crowd?
Many presenters approach presenting as the task of speaking to a group of people. What would you do differently if, instead, you spoke to just
Great communication fixes your product
… but probably not in the way you think it does. Many people think of communication as the skill that helps you sell anything –