Thursday, August 20, 2009

Here is a new article about Power Point

This BBC newsletter had the following article from Max Atkinson. Max has many good ideas and he and I agree on many aspects of speaking skills.

I would go even further than him. Saying that 'too many bullets on a slide can be improved by limiting them to one or two' is like saying that you should not fire lots of bullets from a gun at someone; but firing one is OK!

All bullets on slides are useless. They are just the speaker's notes.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8207849.stm

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Engaging with youth and 'troublesome' teenagers

You should check out this website: www.confidentgirlsguys.com Monique Howat has the creativity and a gift to bring out the best in students snd schoolchildren .. in fact, anyone! Her workshops have the kids mesmerised and they leave with all the positive attitudes that are so often ignored by most 'motivational' speakers. She is able to see the positive in even the most rebellious teenager.
Monique also teaches adults how to communicate with youth. A very valuable lesson.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Here is a collection of Interesting Mangement video clips

This is a superb collection of clips, good and bad. The main sin is that the editors insist in cutting as much silence from the clips as possible, so even those whom you can see would have enjoyed engaging us at the end of a great idea have that pause clipped off! I particluarly enjoyed Sanjiv Ahuja and Gerry Robinson.

http://www.europeanceo.tv/highest-rated/

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Sex before speaking?

See?! I promised you that you would enjoy public speaking.

LONDON (Reuters) - Forget pretending you are talking to one person or concentrating on a single point in the audience -- having sex is good way to calm nerves before giving a speech or presentation.
But Stuart Brody, a psychologist at the University of Paisley in Scotland, said it has to be full sexual intercourse to get the best results.
He studied nearly 50 men and women who recorded their sexual activities for two weeks and analyzed its impact on their blood pressure levels when under acute stress, such as when giving a speech.
Brody discovered that the volunteers who had sexual intercourse were the least stressed and had blood pressure levels that returned to normal more quickly than people who engaged in other types of sex.
But people who had abstained from sex had the highest blood pressure response to stress.
Even after taking into account stress due to work or other factors, the range of responses to stress were best explained by sexual behavior.
"The effects are not attributable simply to the short-term relief afforded by orgasm but rather, endure for at least a week," Brody told New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.
He believes that the release of the so-called "pair bonding" hormone oxytocin might explain the calming effect.