In-Person Presentations Archives

Go Big: Plan Your Own High-Impact Virtual SKO

by Karen Bintz

Sales kickoffs (SKOs) serve many purposes, not the least of which is to motivate and inspire your customer-facing teams. A successful SKO arms your sales teams with new and refreshed skills. They leave the SKO energized to engage with customers and win upcoming opportunities.

by Karen Bintz

Event Speakers, SCI-PAB, SCIPAB, Selling Skills, Virtual and Hybrid Meetings

How to deliver impactful, engaging hybrid meetings

by Kelly Reeves

Conducting a hybrid meeting, one where some of those attending are in the room and others are virtual, is a lot harder than many think—and it’s quickly becoming the new norm. Focusing on a few key aspects of your delivery can help you take advantage of this new meeting mode.

by Kelly Reeves

Virtual and Hybrid Meetings; Sales; Technical

Tips for Communicating Effectively While Wearing a Mask

by Kelly Reeves

People in communities across the globe are adjusting to communicating while wearing masks. As we’re all experiencing, masks present both verbal and non-verbal communication challenges. Given this, we’ve prepared 5 tips for effective communications while wearing a mask, and compiled several insightful articles from leading publications on additional best practices.

by Kelly Reeves

Collaboration Skills

How to Make Your Next Team Offsite Wildly Productive

by Heather Muir

The secret to making your next offsite meeting wildly productive isn’t a shiny new venue, expensive catering, or even slick technology. While those things might improve the experience, they can’t guarantee success. What can? The right communication framework and skills. Read the blog and learn how to make your next team offsite your most productive yet.

by Heather Muir

Mandel Blueprint, Messaging Skills, SCI-PAB

Should I Use the TED Talk Format for My Business Presentation?

by Brad Holst

TED Talks have become a go-to example for how to give an engaging presentation from the big stage. They can be informative, inspiring, and often incredibly entertaining. But is the TED Talk format right for a business presentation delivered in a conference room? Probably not — but the skills used by TED Talk presenters definitely are! Learn how to identify what goes into a successful TED Talk and how to make those skills work for you in your everyday business presentations.

by Brad Holst

SCI-PAB

Influencing Others Through Story; A Valuable Lesson from Game of Thrones

by Brad Holst

What inspires and motivates people to action? Here’s a hint: it’s not a PowerPoint deck filled with data points and analytics. Learning how to share a powerful story can positively influence others and help your ideas become memorable. Perhaps you need to promote a new idea or close that crucial sale. Learn how some of the most successful business ventures today got their start from sharing a powerful story and how you can make your own narrative work for you.

by Brad Holst

Selling Skills, Storytelling

Want Your Presentation to Be Memorable? Follow the Rule of Three

by Brad Holst

Memory almost full. Imagine that warning flashing brightly on the forehead of every audience member. A successful presentation isn’t just about the speaker’s dynamic energy or their confident manner in front of an audience. Without compelling, easy to follow content, it doesn’t matter how comfortable you are in the spotlight. You and your topic will quickly be forgotten. So how do you ensure lasting, memorable impact? Learn how to be remembered by leveraging the ancient, globally relevant, and scientifically proven rule of three to focus your content, motivate your listeners, and make your executive presence shine.

by Brad Holst

Mandel Blueprint, SCI-PAB

The Little-Known Secret to More Productive Meetings

by Brad Holst

How many meetings have you gone to this week? Were they productive, or did they just create the need for more? Now think about how many meetings happen every day in your organization. Companies lose millions of dollars each year on wasted employee time in meetings and, as a result, employees become increasingly stressed and unhappy. Believe it or not, part of the problem is the meeting invitation. Learn how a simple, quick addition to your meeting invites can help you and your organization have consistent meeting success every time.

by Brad Holst

Company Culture, SCI-PAB

Are You Your Best Self While Presenting?

by Brad Holst

Why is it so difficult to be your best self in front of an audience? And what can you do to change that? Turns out, there is more within your control than you think. This week, experience a personal coaching session with 10 of the most powerful dos and don’ts that you can implement right now to have an immediate impact on your performance. Along with this seasoned advice, discover detailed examples and the science behind what it takes to show your most authentic self.

by Brad Holst

Mandel Blueprint, Presentation Skills, SCI-PAB

Ready For Your Close-Up?

by Brad Holst

Ever wonder how the best speakers fully engage their audience while looking natural and at ease? It starts with expanding your presentation comfort zone and seeing yourself objectively. Video recording, coupled with expert coaching, can take your communication skills to the next level. Find out how the experts do it.

by Brad Holst

Event Speakers, Presentation Skills

Lessons Learned From a Master Storyteller

by Brad Holst

I sat captivated, along with the rest of the audience, as General Colin Powell told a story about President Ronald Reagan and the squirrels that live around the Oval Office patio. It culminated in a potent lesson about influencing executive decision makers. It grabbed and held attention with just the right dollops of humor sprinkled throughout. It was told artfully and efficiently, in less than two minutes. Not a word wasted. I was watching a masterful storyteller at work and it was an afternoon I'll never forget. Here are the 3 storytelling lessons I learned from General Powell.

by Brad Holst

Communication Skills, Storytelling

How to Deal With Speaking Anxiety During Your Presentation

by Steve Mandel

In my previous post, I talked about what you can do before a presentation to help you feel less nervous about speaking. This week, I want to focus on things you can do to reduce anxiety during your presentation. And, I want to offer an important tip at the end of this post about something you can do if none of these techniques work for you!

by Steve Mandel

Event Speakers, Presentation Skills

Fewer Data Dumps, More Discussions

by Kathleen Redd

Often when technical subject matter experts present to customers, they're so passionate about their work that they forget to filter the info they present through the “Why should the customer care?” lens. As a result, customers walk away feeling confused as to what the solution was or how it could benefit them. To successfully influence customer decision-making, assume the role of discussion leader, not data dumper. To help you, here are 3 things the best discussion leaders do exceptionally well.

by Kathleen Redd

Briefing Programs, Technical Professionals

6 Crucial Tips from a Speaking Coach

by Steve Mandel

In my 32 years of experience as a speaking coach, I’ve learned a few things that could be helpful to you as you strive to make your own ideas heard and to improve how you communicate with others—whether it’s making a sales presentation, updating stakeholders on the status of a project, or presenting to the Board of a Fortune 100 company. Here are 6 crucial tips to help you on your journey.

by Steve Mandel

Communication Skills, Presentation Skills

What Does Your Word Cloud Look Like?

by Kathleen Redd

When you’re talking to colleagues and customers, what does YOUR word cloud look like? Too often, clouds are filled with crutch words like, “ums” and “ahs” and “you knows.” The good news? People can change the shape of their word clouds using an underrated, yet powerful, communication skill: the ability to say nothing at all. Using the “power of the pause” will make you a more effective communicator. Read on to learn more.

by Kathleen Redd

Communication Skills

Mismanaged Meetings: Stop Wasting Scarce Executive Time

by David Mears

Executive time is a scarce commodity. Why do meetings squander it? Because, too often, they fail to focus on the strategic issues that are most important to executives. They fail to drive progress on the decisions that need to be made in order to move your business forward. Here are 3 things you can do to change that and to insure your executives' time is well-spent.

by David Mears

Meeting Skills, Meetings, Presentation Skills

Can Great Presentations Help Save the Polar Bears?

by Steve Mandel

The scientists and staff at Polar Bears International are dedicated to polar bear conservation. And, they face many of the same challenges business presenters do: they need to present complex data in ways anyone can understand and they need to suggest solutions that others will buy into and adopt. They asked Mandel for advice on how to do that. Here are three tips we shared with them...

by Steve Mandel

Company Culture, Presentation Skills

Do You Demonstrate the Most Desired Interpersonal Character Trait?

by David Mears

What characteristic do we prize most in the people with whom we interact? Learn how our perception of this trait is influenced by communication skills.

by David Mears

Communication Skills, Company Culture, Presentation Skills

Why People Aren’t Hearing Your Ideas (And What to Do About It)

by Brad Holst

What can you do to get your ideas heard and to be recognized as a driver of innovation within your company? Every time you present your ideas, whether formally or informally, try to do these six things.

by Brad Holst

Communication Skills, Conversation Skills, Presentation Skills

Millennials Want Feedback: What Will You Tell Them?

by David Mears

Millennials have surpassed Gen X to become the largest segment of the American workforce. Every company seeking to accelerate its performance needs to figure out how to engage and motivate this critical pool of talent. So, what is it Millennials want? And, how will you give it to them?

by David Mears

Communication Skills, Company Culture

3 Presentation Myths Exposed

by Steve Mandel

In the 30 years that I’ve been training presenters, the same presentation myths (disguised as tips) have resurfaced time and again. While most are well intentioned, they do more harm than good. Today, I’d like to expose and dispel 3 of the most potentially damaging myths about presenting.

by Steve Mandel

Presentation Skills

INSIGHTS

Mandel Concepts