You are an expert in your professional field, or you are currently developing your expertise during your traineeship or academic studies. Then you are asked to soon present your project to other experts and an interested audience.

Many people feel anxious before their first presentation, or sometimes even before their twentieth. They feel stressed and think about all kinds of mistakes – which then promptly happen.

So how can you overcome your fear of public speaking?

This blog post evolved from a podcast interview in the Coaching Inspiration series with Marian Bansmann (in German).

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People attending my training and coaching sessions mostly want to learn the essentials of good speeches or reach the next presentation level. Their questions are frequently quite similar. Some people have picked up ideas from literature or the Internet that are not always well thought out or simply not true. Let‘s discuss some of these myths in this blog post.

How many Bullet Points per PowerPoint slide?

I observe two contradictory developments regarding PowerPoint presentations: On the one hand, the vast majority of people delivering speeches browse through a number of bullet points. Here, PowerPoint clearly serves as a cheat sheet. Anyone who spends even a little time on rhetoric and presentations will quickly learn that a high-quality talk requires a different approach. On the other hand, many young people are aware of the importance of reduced information on slides. Read more

Do you lose your audience once you speak up? Or do you carry them along so they keep a high attention level throughout your presentation? A catchy structure is one of the important aspects you should consider. A strong introduction, an interesting main part and a meaningful conclusion are equally important. Guide your audience by transitions such as emphasized pauses and changing your position on stage. Also add interactions using polls, quizzes, and short discussions. Sometimes surprising twists and turns help.

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Too many people are satisfied with mediocrity. Some people work on themselves becoming better than average. Only a few people take the chance to achieve outstanding and excellent results. This is why I repeatedly see speeches in which the potential for excellence is ignored or disregarded. This is where I will address ten of the […]

The path from being shy to presenting yourself with self-confidence is not an easy one, but a particularly rewarding one. In an interview with Tobi Krick, speaker on the subject of self-confidence, I share how I have developed from a shy student back then to a very self-confident personality nowadays (in German).

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Confidence. I am confident about myself – or differently: I am aware of who I am, what I think, feel and do. This is my initial definition of self-confidence. Based on my personal background, I trust myself and my abilities, such as presenting a great speech in front of a group of people, no matter […]

Your content is well-prepared and you are ready to start your online presentation. Do you also consider the technique check, to ensure that you are heard and seen just as optimally by your online audience?

Clear stage for your online presentation! What differences can you take into account to a live presentation to help your online presentation be well-remembered?

When presenting from home, you have new possibilities to create your virtual stage. You can stage your performance independently and amplify it with your most important instruments, body language and voice. You can use external media such as PowerPoint in a different way than you are used to. What both types of presentation have in common: Your audience is more likely to listen when you engage them actively.

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What is important for successful speeches is available both in the vast literature and in this blog. But do you know how to adapt your speech in front of a virtual online audience? Since the next live events are not yet foreseeable in times of COVID-19 or Corona, online presentations will make up an important part of the future. The ongoing digitalization will further reinforce this development. The following blog series will therefore deal with the most important aspects of online presentations: Which nuances are particularly important so that you can inspire and take your online audience?

While many of the basics for good, high-quality presentations still apply in large parts, there are some key differences between live and online presentations if you want to get your message across online.

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Meet the other side at eye level right from the start! Some candidates still go to job interviews as supplicants. They are afraid that they will not be able to convince the potential employer of their merits. They would do much better with a positive, self-confident attitude.

In most interviews, the opening remarks are followed by the request “Tell us something about yourself”. Then the employer may ask numerous questions before you can start asking your own questions. This kind of interview is therefore very hierarchical. It is based on the assumption that the employer alone decides how to proceed. Other than that, I recommend preparing yourself accordingly for an interview at eye level: Think about a set of questions and about the dramaturgy of the interview: At which points can you direct the conversation yourself?

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