Shortcuts to Communication Success

What do you do when you’re in front of the audience? And they don’t seem to be in the right mood, or in the right state of mind, to listen, and to absorb your message?  What I want to share with you today is a little story about my time in the performance world and what I’ve taken from that to the world of public speaking. And how that applies to engaging your audience. Especially when they seem l...

When doing your public speaking, I want you to think carefully about how you close your presentation. The reason I’m raising this topic now is because I was lucky enough to watch 24 speeches back to back as the judge of a public speaking contest and it was clear where somebody put some time and thought and energy into how they were going to end vs "oh, I don’t know how I’m going to finish this, I’...

When you speak, one of the themes that run through your presentations, are they love, hate, gratitude, fear? Whatever they are, let’s talk about that today. I want you to not be afraid of universal themes because they come back again and again. And quite often we feel that we need to be creating something outside the box and doing something really different, but universal themes can have a huge im...

Would you like to grow your business and increase your impact with public speaking? Well, if that’s the case, then this episode is for you, because I’m going to show you and teach you how to be a STAR. This framework is one that I put together, which is called the STAR framework. And STAR is an acronym that stands for the four things that you must do, if you want to go out there and win business t...

Today I want to ask and answer the question: was Aristotle, the father of public speaking, a DIVA? And when I say was he a DIVA I don’t mean, was he a difficult bitchy woman - but was he a DIVA, a public speaking all-arounder? Aristotle passed down a framework that we still use today. He showed us the ideal of what every speaker needs to include in their presentation, for them to be persuasive. Ar...

Now, I have another couple of episodes on how to as your conference speaking, but this one is about how to get another opportunity from conference speaking, which is quite a handy opportunity. And that is to be the chairperson at a conference. Recently, I was the chairperson at a conference called Women in Law here in London for more than 1000 women at this summit that took place over a day. And t...

If you are wanting to be a better public speaker and to have a nice little framework that will help you to check all the boxes every time you speak, then this is the episode for you because I’m about to teach you how to be a DIVA at public speaking... READ MORE Go to  www.sholakaye.com  for useful freebies, tips and more. Create a speech stress-free and fast with my free guide  5 frameworks to ace...

Do you need to speak at a conference? Then follow these tips. This is my second episode in a series of two about speaking at a conference. And maybe you’ve seen the first one, maybe you haven’t. But this one will also help you to as your conference speaking... READ MORE Go to  www.sholakaye.com  for useful freebies, tips and more. Create a speech stress-free and fast with my free guide  5 framewor...

Are you about to speak at a conference or a summit or any sort of large event? If so then this episode is for you. Earlier this year, I was a conference chair at a big event in London, which was called the women in law summit. And as conference chair, you are lucky enough to hear multiple speeches in a day... READ MORE Go to  www.sholakaye.com  for useful freebies, tips and more. Create a speech s...

This time we explore why business networking can be great for your public speaking. Clients and members of my  Facebook Group  frequently ask me where they can find more speaking opportunities... READ MORE Go to  www.sholakaye.com  for useful freebies, tips and more. Create a speech stress-free and fast with my free guide  5 frameworks to ace a short speech.

Is it really possible to enjoy yourself on stage?! Of course it is!! And in today’s post let’s look at why you should try to have a good time in front of your audience. The opportunity to speak in public is an honour, and not some form of cruel punshiment, so let’s treat it that way... READ MORE Go to  www.sholakaye.com  for useful freebies, tips and more. Create a speech stress-free and fast with...

So how do you become confident enough to stand on stage and speak? That’s what we look at this week... READ MORE Go to  www.sholakaye.com  for useful freebies, tips and more. Create a speech stress-free and fast with my free guide  5 frameworks to ace a short speech.

Back when I used to run my regular monthly Speak Up Like A D.I.V.A. events, I was routinely contacted by would-be speakers. They would tell me they had a great story, and that I’d be missing out if I didn’t invite them along to the meeting to share it with my attendees. So today, we look at whether having a fantastic life story is enough... READ MORE Go to  www.sholakaye.com  for useful freebies,...

If you’re a business owner wanting to promote what you do, or a budding speaker, where do you find your speaking opportunities? And what do you do to stand out? It can be a bit of a downer seeing so many people responding to seemingly scarce opportunities. Good news… there are more speaking gigs out there than you may think! READ MORE Go to  www.sholakaye.com  for useful freebies, tips and more. C...

In this post, I share a few tips and insights around occasion speeches and how to approach them. A number of my clients come to me for help with these kinds of speeches and typically, they’re people who don’t make speeches regularly at work. The clients are often slightly freaked out at the thought of having to speak up at an important event like a wedding or a funeral... READ MORE Go to  www.shol...

Yep, of course, it’s obvious that we need to practice but… lots of people don’t enjoy the act of rehearsing their speech. And little wonder. We all want to be good at the things we do, and it can be painful to have to go through that messy period where our speech is half-formed, we can’t remember what to say and we’re worried about how well the content will go down with the audience... READ MORE G...

Here I share a few tips and insights about getting started as a motivational speaker. I share how you can get started and a chance for you to make a huge difference in people’s lives... READ MORE Go to  www.sholakaye.com  for useful freebies, tips and more. Create a speech stress-free and fast with my free guide  5 frameworks to ace a short speech.

Are you afraid that your audience is looking at you and trying to take you apart in their minds, finding fault, and analysing your every move? If so, listen to this episode or click below to read the full summary! READ MORE Go to  www.sholakaye.com  for useful freebies, tips and more. Create a speech stress-free and fast with my free guide  5 frameworks to ace a short speech.

We’re frequently told that body language is more important than the words that come out of our mouths. And that when we’re on stage, our movements need to be as carefully planned as the stunts in a James Bond movie. But…is this really the case? And can we excel even when we don’t follow the body language rules and regulations? READ MORE Go to  www.sholakaye.com  for useful freebies, tips and more....

This week I’d like to know…are you sharing the stories about you and your business that enrich your clients’ and prospects’ views of you? Watch the video to find out why I think this is important. This is just a super short summary... READ MORE Go to  www.sholakaye.com  for useful freebies, tips and more. Create a speech stress-free and fast with my free guide  5 frameworks to ace a short speech.

Here I share a few of the screw ups I made before and during my TEDx talk last year. I know that most people don’t like to air their dirty linen in public but, I’ve created my vlog so you can learn… both from what I know to be best practice, and also from my mistakes. So how could I NOT share the goss behind my TEDx? The blunders I made, the silly decisions,  and my efforts to put things right......

Let’s talk about how you can get people to say a resounding YES to you, when you’re selling or sharing your products and services (or even just your ideas) from the stage. Listen for a full description, including the story of how, as a graduate student,  I was persuaded to part with hard-earned money I didn’t have by a wily car salesman... READ MORE Go to  www.sholakaye.com  for useful freebies, t...

Whether you’re public speaking or making a pitch at a networking session (still public speaking!) there’ll probably come a time when you want to share success stories – either your own or that of a client. There’s a handy framework for doing this. HR people love it as it’s useful for sharing your competencies during job interviews, but it’s also useful for bragging (just a teeny bit) about your bu...

In today’s episode, I discuss what it takes to make a great technical presentation. I recently ran a workshop for business owners on how to get better at presenting. One of the attendees was a chiropractor who wanted to help people know more about their bodies and how to avoid common problems that arise from poor posture, unnatural walking stances and the like. He clearly knew his stuff, but strug...

Let’s look at how you should deal with a hostile audience or at least with a few unfriendly faces! When we’re on stage, just a raised eyebrow or a frown from an audience member can be enough to unsteady us and make us question ourselves. Here are a few suggestions to help you cope with a tough audience... READ MORE Go to  www.sholakaye.com  for useful freebies, tips and more. Create a speech stres...