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Articles by Gilda Bonanno

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84 articles by Gilda Bonanno · showing 34

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By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Public Speaking - Four Types of Words to Avoid When Speaking

When you've giving a presentation, your words can affect your ability to communicate your message to your audience. If you want to be a more effective presenter, avoid these four types of words: FILLER WORDS Filler words are words such as "um," "ah," "like," "so," and "ok," which are used as verbal bridges to the next word. Rather than being effective bridges, however, they are roadblocks, distracting the audience and interrupting the flow of your message. These filler words also make you look and sound nervous. Instead of using them, just pause and take a breath instead.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

5,696 views4/5 (2)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Public Speaking Fear? Drown Out That Negative Voice In Your Head!

If your stomach chu s just at the thought of speaking in front of a group of people, you're not alone. In fact, Americans rate public speaking as their number one fear - even ahead of death (hence the old joke that you would rather be in the coffin than giving the eulogy)! Think about what's ...

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,218 views3.5/5 (2)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Cut Out Your Filler Words

Filler words include "um," "ah," and words such as "like," "so," and "ok," which are used as a verbal bridge to the next word. These words just fill in space while you remember or think of something to say next. Rather than being effective bridges, they are roadblocks, distracting the audience and interrupting the flow of your message. These filler words weaken your presentation and give the impression that you don't know what you're talking about.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

3,307 views3.7/5 (3)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

What Should I Do With My Hands When Presenting?

What should I do with my hands when I'm presenting?" is a common question that I hear when I'm teaching public speaking. Your hands form an important part of your non-verbal communication, or body language, and can help you convey confidence and communicate more effectively to your audience. Here are 5 tips for what to do with your hands: 1. Be Aware of What Your Hands Are Doingr The first step in preventing your hands from distracting your audience is to become conscious of what your hands are doing. Are you cracking your knuckles, playing with your pen or twisting your note cards?

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

3,710 views3/5 (1)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

10 Tips to Improve Your Public Speaking Skills

Here are 10 tips to improve your public speaking skills, whether you are presenting at work, giving a toast at a wedding or receiving an award. 1. Have a Messager What is the one thing that you want the audience to remember from your presentation? Put it into one sentence and you have your message – the whole point. Say it clearly and repeat it so the audience remembers it. And make sure that every example, story and statistic relates to it. 2. Focus on Your Audiencer

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,712 views3/5 (2)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

9 Tips for How to Present While Seated

"You can't start a fire sitting down" is an old cliché that I used in graduate school to explain to the supervising professor why I taught my American history class section standing up. (I also thought to myself, "it's harder for them to shoot a moving target.") The professor preferred that I sit down and teach, to demonstrate more of a peer relationship with the students. At 5' 2" and only a few years older than the students, I thought I looked enough like a "peer" and wanted more authority - teaching while standing up helped.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,473 views3/5 (2)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Presentation Skills: How to Project Your Voice & Project Authority

Someone in a recent presentation skills training program asked, “How do I project my voice and also, project authority?” It's a great question because your voice is an important part of your presentation and should communicate that you’re confident, knowledgeable and engaging. Here are 7 tips for projecting authority using your voice during a presentation: 1. Breathe

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

2,086 views5/5 (1)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Public Speaking - Body Language Mistakes: Gestures, Movement, Posture & Facial Expressions

Non-verbal communication, or body language, is an important part of public speaking. Your body language includes your posture, movement, gestures, facial expressions, eye contact and voice. At the very least, your body language should not distract the audience and with a little practice, it can help you convey confidence and help the audience see your message more clearly. Here are the most common gesture, movement, posture and facial expression mistakes: GESTURE MISTAKES • Not using gestures at all.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

5,821 views5/5 (1)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Public Speaking - Dress Rehearsal for Your Presentation

A few days before a play or musical opens, the entire cast and crew conduct a dress rehearsal. They do a complete run-through of the script on stage, dressed in their costumes, with the full scenery and lighting in place and the pit orchestra playing. The purpose of the dress rehearsal is to make sure everything goes smoothly on opening night. The dress rehearsal is a great idea to borrow when you have to give a presentation.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

2,839 views3.3/5 (3)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

4 Reasons Not to Start Your Presentation With a Joke

In my presentation skills training programs, people often ask me, "Should I start my presentation with a joke?" My immediate response is "No!" Now I'm a fan of humor as much as anyone – and in fact, probably more than most people, since I've been performing onstage with an improv comedy group for the last 6 years and I've incorporated improv comedy rules and ideas into my communication skills/leadership training programs.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,610 views3/5 (4)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Communicating a Change in Your Project's Go-Live Date

Your project go-live date has changed – now what? Regardless of the reasons for the change (and let's face it, "the date has changed" usually is interpreted as "the date has slipped"), there are six steps you should take when communicating a change in your project's go-live date: 1. Consider ...

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

3,928 views4/5 (2)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

3 Ways NOT to End Your Presentation

The last few minutes of your presentation are important - when you have the final opportunity to make your point and leave a lasting impression on the audience. Here are 3 ways NOT to end your presentation: 1. “Any questions…?” First of all, don’t ask for questions if you don’t really want to answer any or there is no time for them. Secondly, if you ask for questions and there aren’t any, you are ending with an uncomfortable silence.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,682 views5/5 (1)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Presentation Skills: Do You Really Need PowerPoint Slides?

When you are preparing a presentation, an important question to consider is: Do I really need to use slides? The answer, of course, is it depends. It depends on your purpose, your message, the time limit, the audience and the technology available. Consider the question carefully before you automatically assume that you have to have a slide deck.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,614 views5/5 (1)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Public Speaking - Using Improv Comedy's "Half-Life" Technique to Speak Within Your Time Limit

Have you ever seen a speaker go over the allotted time limit? Or rush through the material when they realized they were running out of time? What was your reaction to that speaker? Were you impressed? I've seen speakers go over the time limit by five, ten or fifteen minutes and then look surprised when they have to be pulled off stage. And I've seen them speed up their rate of speech or flash through their last slides so fast that you can't see them. I'm unimpressed. In fact, I'm offended.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

2,051 views3.5/5 (2)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Empowering Successful Women to Develop Self-Confidence

Two of my current presentation skills coaching clients struggle with self-confidence. They are both talented, smart, successful professional women. One has a Ph.D. in Engineering and over 20 years of experience in the electronics industry and the other is a CEO of a highly successful company. Yet, despite their success, they struggle with self-confidence. And I've noticed this self-confidence deficit in many of my clients, women and men, from all backgrounds.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,392 views3.5/5 (2)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Choose Million-Dollar Words

When you're preparing and practicing a presentation, your word choice matters. If your words are weak or unclear, they can interfere with your ability to communicate your message effectively to your audience. To be an effective presenter, you should choose what I call "million-dollar words" - ...

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,364 views5/5 (1)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Management by Walking Around (MBWA), or Please Don't "Prowl, Growl and Scowl"

Management by walking around (MBWA) is a common management practice that can be very helpful in managing and engaging employees, setting a good example, and staying in touch with what's really happening with employees. It means that the manager leaves his or her office to go out "onto the floor" of the office, plant, lab, etc. and see what people are doing. The purpose is two-fold: both to learn what is going on and get a sense of morale, and also to demonstrate that you're interested and present.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

2,329 views3/5 (3)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Public Speaking – 3 Tips for Effective Storytelling

Storytelling can be a very effective tool in presentations. Evocative, relevant stories can engage your audience and help you clearly communicate your message. Here are three tips for effective storytelling: 1. Make it relevantr

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,648 views5/5 (1)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Visualization & Successful Presentations

When I train groups or coach individuals in presentation skills, I encourage them to drown out the negative voices in their heads with a positive mantra and visualize themselves successfully giving an effective presentation. The power of visualization has long been used by top athletes to achieve high performance and it also applies to giving presentations.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,153 views2.7/5 (3)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Public Speaking - Know Your Audience

The number one rule of successful presentation preparation is to know your audience. Here are some tips to consider when you're thinking about how to connect to your audience, whether it's an audience of 1 or 100: • Know what's playing on statio WIIFM. That's the station the people in your audience are tuned into - "What's In It For Me?" They're focused on WIIFM (pronounced "wiff-um") not because they are self-centered, but because they are bombarded with information and have to filter it in order to stay afloat.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,342 views3.7/5 (3)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

4 Presenter Mistakes to Avoid, Or Please Don't "Vomit" on Your Audience

At the end of my session at a conference, one of the audience members came up to tell me about a bad session she had attended. She said, "The presenter vomited his content on the audience. It was awful. I would have walked out if I wasn't sitting in the front row." That's pretty strong language! Of course, I had to ask for the details of what made her feel "vomited" on by the presenter. Here are that presenter's top four mistakes, as described by the audience member - and what you can do to avoid them: Presenter Mistake #1: "The content was disorganized."r

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,411 views3/5 (2)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Public Speaking Lessons From Speaking Italian Over the Phone

I recently returned from Italy where I facilitated training in Rome for a global client – more than 50 employees came from Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Holland and Portugal. I also spent a few days touring and sightseeing.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

2,753 views5/5 (1)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

8 Tips for Handling Radio Interviews Like a Pro

A presentation skills coaching client recently landed a radio interview. She was excited because it would help her build her business, but also nervous because she had never been interviewed on the radio. After we got done celebrating, here are the 8 tips that I shared that will help her handle the interview like a pro: 1. Be clear about the parameters of the radio program – length, format (interview/call-in), demographics of audience, etc.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,864 views3/5 (2)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Take the 6-Second Presentation Challenge

During election season here in the U.S., one of my clients, the CEO of a nonprofit organization, was invited to film an endorsement for a candidate's television commercial. Her role was to introduce herself and her organization and explain why she supports the candidate. She was happy to participate because she is a big supporter. However, the challenge was that she only had 6 SECONDS to communicate her message!

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,273 views3/5 (2)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Public Speaking - Face Your Fears

If you're like most people on the planet, you have fears. And like many people, you may be afraid of speaking in public. Whether it's a mind-numbing, knee-knocking, stomach-chu ing fear, or a milder, less invasive, I'd-rather-not-be-doing-this fear, it can get in the way of your professional success and your personal growth. In my presentation skills classes, I ask participants to identify their fears.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,449 views3.7/5 (3)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

How to Introduce Yourself Quickly

Sometimes you have to introduce yourself in 60 seconds or less. This type of introduction is not your "elevator speech" – it's a brief introduction only long enough to outline the basics. For example, at some networking events, everyone sits around a large table and then each person stands and gives a 30-second introduction, including name and business.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,746 views3/5 (2)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

3 Ways Not to Start Your Presentation

The first few minutes of your presentation are some of the most important – when you have the opportunity to make a good first impression and capture the audience’s attention. In those crucial few minutes, the audience will decide whether what you have to say is worth listening to. Here are 3 ways NOT to start your presentation: 1. Endless Thank yousr

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,559 views5/5 (1)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Declutter Your Presentation

A cluttered home or office can overwhelm you and make it difficult for you to find anything. Likewise, a cluttered presentation can overwhelm your audience and make it difficult for them to find your message. Here's how to cut out the clutter in your presentation so your message is easy to ...

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

961 views3.7/5 (3)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

5 Reasons Why Presenters Won't Use a Micrphone

Often, I have seen people refuse to use a microphone when they're presenting, whether at an office meeting, community event or industry conference. Yet, using a microphone correctly can make it easier for the audience to hear you and understand your message - which is the whole point of your presentation. Here are the 5 reasons I hear for not using a microphone - and how you can overcome them. 1. You Don't Think It's Necessaryr

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,465 views3/5 (2)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Presentation Skills: What Should You Include in Your Slides?

If you’ve decided to use slides in your presentation because you believe they will help your presentation, it’s crucial to think about what to include in your slides. Resist the temptation to write your script out in the slides. Not only is that boring for the audience to see slides full of complete sentences, but they can read faster to themselves than you can read out loud so they will finish reading the slide before you do.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,728 views

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Self-Confidence is a Major Element of Success in Public Speaking Success

Self-confidence is a crucial element in public speaking success. You are not speaking just to hear yourself talk – you are speaking because you have something to say. Before you can command the attention of your audience, you have to believe that you have a message that is worth listening to and that you have the ability to communicate it effectively. If you don't believe it, your audience will not believe it.

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,451 views5/5 (1)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

Cut Out Your Sloppy Language When Presenting

Language is a tool that helps you communicate your message to your audience. Sloppy and imprecise language, however, can interfere with your communication. Here are six tips for eliminating sloppy language: 1. Mind your grammarr You don't have to be a grammarian to follow basic grammar rules. I'm not talking about split infinitives or dangling participles, but basic grammar like verb tenses and pronoun usage. Avoid grammar mistakes such as, "we was going" or "him and me went." 2. "We" vs. "They"r

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,534 views3/5 (2)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

10 Tips for How to Use Notecards Effectively When Presenting

It's okay to use notes when presenting, especially if you're speaking on a new topic or to a new audience. The key to using notes effectively is what is included in your notes and how you use them. The following ten tips will help you use notes effectively to remember the key points of your presentation so you can deliver your message to your audience clearly and within the time limit. 1. NOTES ARE NOT A FULL SCRIPTr

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

2,559 views3/5 (2)

By Gilda BonannoRecently published1 topic

How to End Your Presentation so the Audience Knows You're Done

When you give a presentation, how does the audience know you're done? If you're half-heartedly saying, "any questions?" as a means to signal that you're done speaking, then you're missing the opportunity to finish strong. Here are techniques for ending your presentation strongly so the audience knows you're done: USE CLEAR ORGANIZATIONr

Primary topic: Public Speaking

Public Speaking

1,742 views3.5/5 (2)

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