The holidays bring an abundance of social gatherings, and if you’re hosting, there’s a good chance you’ll be stepping up to the mic. Whether you’re welcoming guests or introducing entertainment, here are five practical tips to ensure you shine:
Timing is everything when it comes to grabbing your audience’s attention.
Don’t wait for every confirmed guest to arrive—people may trickle in late, leave early, or miss the event entirely.
Consider your event in segments: early arrivals, the peak social window, and the wind-down. The sweet spot for speaking is toward the latter half of the first segment, once your guests have settled in but before their attention shifts elsewhere. For example, if your event runs from 7 PM to 10 PM, aim to speak around 8 PM for maximum engagement.
Expressing genuine appreciation sets the tone for a warm and inclusive atmosphere.
Thank your attendees...
Originally published March 2023
Presenting in front of people can be nerve–wracking – it doesn’t matter if it is in person or online. Many of us tend to be hard on ourselves and think that we appear incompetent if we make a mistake or that we’ll be judged harshly. It's one of the main reasons people tend to stick to a script rather than pausing, connecting, and having a conversation with their audience.
We don’t have to feel this way!
Let go of the need to be perfect. Instead, incorporate these tips to truly engage your audience when you're in the spotlight.
When speaking, even in a casual setting, people tend to use filler words to allow their brains to catch up. Filler words can take the form of "um," "like," "okay," "you know," and so on, and these are common and natural. An excellent way to check OVERUSE of fillers is by recording yourself and tallying every time you stall the wording of your...
Curious about the future of presenting in the context of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and various applications that can save you time and elevate your awesomeness? Read on. Whether you are creating formal presentations, delivering speeches, or any other form of communication, AI can be a game-changer.
We don't know about you, but some of our clients find the process of creating presentations to be time-consuming and sometimes even daunting. From brainstorming ideas to designing visually appealing slides, it can be a lot to handle. And let's not forget the pressure of delivering a compelling message that resonates with your audience. That's where AI comes in.
AI has revolutionized many aspects of our lives, and presentations are no exception. By harnessing the power of AI, you can automate the design process, transforming your ideas into eye-catching slides with just a few clicks. No more spending hours tweaking the layout or choosing the right fonts – AI...
Before you hit the stage or your desk in an online setting, you’re putting a lot of time and effort into making your presentation look as professional and appealing as possible. Often, we are carefully considering which font and colours to use, which stock images fit the energy of the message, and how the language flows with what we have to say. And that’s good, but there are other visual elements of your presence to which we ought to give attention.
Have you ever bought a new outfit and felt like the cool kid in high school, ego-boosted and ready to embrace the spotlight? It doesn’t have to be a style makeover; it could be as simple as a new shirt or pair of shoes. Whatever your new item is, use it as a vessel to present the new you.
Levelling up your appearance can give you confidence from within and give your viewers a powerful and fresh first impression of you, even if it’s subconscious. Feeling (and...
Hurrah! Your online course is complete!
So, now what?
The first thing to do once you have a completed course framework is to make sure that it all works and flows properly. When it comes to online courses, you’re not only looking to make sure that it actually works, (the technology and software are functioning as desired), but you will also want to make sure that the content flows properly, makes sense to your target audience and yields the results you had intended and are promoting.
Although it can be tempting to launch right away, the benefits to testing before launch are plentiful and should be thoroughly considered.
These include:
In this third installment of our Creating an Online Course series, we’re going to be chatting all about the best practices for producing your content and then in Part IV, we will discuss how to incorporate beta testing models to ensure your course runs smoothly when it’s time to launch!
If you haven’t yet read Part I and Part II of this series, we highly recommend going back and getting those under your belt first so the tips and tricks we chat about in this article make more sense.
Let’s hop right in!
So now that you’ve put all of the content together in a manner that flows properly and meets your learning outcomes, it is time to film, record, and edit your online course.
For many, this is the most intimidating phase of online course development. Depending on the nature of your course, this may include getting in front of the camera, which can be daunting for many.
In Part I of this series, we discussed the boom of online learning, the benefits of challenges that most course creators and students face and the best practices for preparation and development of your course.
With those foundational pieces in mind, let’s talk about how to best facilitate your course material to ensure that you are delivering an inclusive, engagement-friendly, and educationally impactful experience for your learners.
When it comes to the actual facilitation of your online course, there are a number of areas you are going to want to focus on, including:
Within this article, we will go through each of these areas with recommendations on how to best...
As we all know, the last 2+ years have brought about many changes (read challenges) when it comes to how we do business and more specifically, how we train and learn. That said, it has also offered a number of growth opportunities in areas where it previously didn’t seem plausible. While that doesn’t make the hardships of the last few years disappear (far from it), it does open up some thought for where we can go from here, especially when it comes to online education and training.
While the pandemic certainly skyrocketed the boom-like growth within online learning, virtual events and the overall enhancement of virtual facilitation, the online education industry was actually already experiencing significant growth and adoption in the years leading up to it.
As a result, learning and streaming platforms come to the plate in a big way, as you can see in the graphs below that demonstrate the...
As we make the triumphant return to in-person gatherings, we’re also beginning to see the return of live events. While it is certainly exciting to see the return of live group learning and especially the rise of hybrid type events, they’re not without their own set of challenges.
If you’re unfamiliar with the term hybrid event, it is the process of combining a live event with a virtual one, so that people can attend regardless of their location and level of comfort given ongoing concerns related to Covid-19.
While restrictions have been lifted in most places, there is still hesitation from many to travel or attend conferences where there are a lot of people in one place, making the hybrid structure a great avenue to accommodate a larger and more geographically dispersed audience.
Aside from the obvious benefits for those feeling uncomfortable with in-person gatherings or events, there are several key...
When we’re learning a new skill or enhancing existing skill sets, one of the most important parts of that learning curve is feedback. Honest feedback helps individuals to learn and grow in a fashion that is supportive and appreciative. For many, feedback serves as an important motivator for growth and expansion, allowing the recipient to gain real-time constructive points to help improve their performance.
Understanding how we are perceived by others is paramount when learning a new skill, especially one in the field of communication.
The best feedback takes place when the provider is actively listening, analyzing and offering the best solutions for improved performance. Improved focus typically leads to improved results, making feedback an essential mechanism to effective public speaking.
At shiftED, we know that offering constructive and positive feedback is the cornerstone to...
The Presentation Skills course is in development, but if you pop your email here, we'll be sure to reach out to you as soon as it is released!