Metaphors and imagery

It is important to celebrate your own uniqueness and use your own way of communicating.

Think about how you would tell your friends an exciting thing that happened to you today, and what gestures you would naturally use.

One of the most important areas of body language is eye contact. This can really help an audience feel immersed in the story, but can also help you, as a presenter, to feel less nervous.

A few seconds of eye contact with individual audience members will actually help to...

When trying to explain complex information to an audience, the first task is to get the content of what you're saying right.

How we communicate is also crucial. When someone is speaking, most of the information we receive comes through their body language...

Try not to use technical language. If you do, make sure it is absolutely necessary in order to help the audience understand or appreciate your point – and ensure that you explain the word or term immediately afterwards.

Keep your words as simple and clear as possible, an...

Pacing or moving around as you talk can sometimes add to the excitement of the story, but it can also be distracting.

It is a good idea to video yourself to see if there are any things you are doing that are distracting or give away your nerves. Fidgeting, fiddling, shift...

Think of your talk as a series of self-contained mini-talks, then if one part goes wrong, gets forgotten, or simply doesn’t feel like it’s working on the day, just jump to the next part – you can always go back to it later.

Nerves are a perfectly normal phenomenon and are a very useful way of making sure that you are fully energized, revved up, and ready to deliver your talk.

Embrace the adrenaline rush and try to think of it as excitement rather than fear.

It can be helpful to do some physical exercise a little while before giving a talk. This wakes up your body, releases tension, and gets the creative juices flowing.

You can also listen to music that inspires or excites you. And then, just before you're ready to go on stag...