Good question! Seriously, if you’re giving some thought to your audience’s likely questions, you’re way ahead of many other presenters. Whilst it’s essential to prepare your material and yourself, there’s much more to a successful presentation than the ‘ME show’. Failing to prepare for your audience – and their questions – is preparing to… Read more
Just because you wrote your presentation – (OK, most of it. Or your bit if it’s a team effort) – don’t think you needn’t rehearse. Creating your content and delivering your presentation are two very different things. Ask anyone who’s ever overlooked that point – like the social media bigwig who flew in to… Read more
Right at the start of Zoomly’s ‘How to influence and persuade’ workshop, we discuss the importance of influencing for mutual benefit. If that’s your goal, chances are you won’t sink to using manipulation, which is a concern people naturally have about this topic. The simple way to decide if someone’s influencing or manipulating is… Read more
This question frequently comes up in workshops about influencing, persuading and negotiating: “Surely a compromise IS a win:win – right?” Erm, not really – although at first glance, it may appear to be. However, the difference is important, whether you’re negotiating B2B with multiple stakeholders, agreeing terms on your new job contract or deciding… Read more
Ghosting. There’s a lot of it about. Having started on dating websites when an apparently keen potential date turns unresponsive for no apparent reason, the term is now widely applied in the workplace. Job applicants talk about the potential employee – and/or the agency they applied through – ghosting them. At the same time, recruiters… Read more
The most effective sales tools we have are our ears. Yes, those lovely, funny shaped flappy things on each side of our head. When you’re in a selling situation, do you do more talking than listening? We often think of salespeople being ‘smooth talkers’ – yet being full of the blarney isn’t a great selling… Read more
The questions I get asked when almost everyone has left the training room are priceless. They tend to be something that really matters to someone, yet they’re reluctant to let others know. So if you’ve ever pondered this question but not asked it, here it is (and to the people who ask questions at the… Read more
“What, presentation tips from my Gran?!” No. Not quite. Presentation tips from the ancient Greeks: specifically for this post, from Aristotle (384 – 322 B.C.). The philosopher has some handy presentation tips for us that have survived remarkably well down the years. To influence and persuade an audience, he said, we need to achieve the… Read more
When you’re working and collaborating with clients, suppliers, colleagues, team members, what questions do you hear? What questions do you ask? Most of us don’t give it too much thought – it’s just a conversation, right? Well, yes and no. Yes, I hope you have two-way conversations with these people. No, asking the right… Read more
When participants in Zoomly’s ‘How to communicate for clarity’ workshop pause to take a brief self-assessment, they often realise they default to one or two methods – which may not be the best for their message. Reassurance that they’re not alone is needed, and then we can get down to work. So first, let’s deal… Read more
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