Nail your next presentation with these golden rules

Last week I did a presentation and completely stuffed it up. Yep…even though I’ve done hundreds of talks, presentations, seminars, even a TEDx in front of thousands of people, I stuffed this speech up.

The talk was for my opening of my solo exhibition and I’m not sure what happened. I do know that I was exhausted, not grounded, hadn’t practiced, and weirdly felt people would judge me (even though most of them were friends).

The result was a jumbled mix of words, thoughts and nervousness.

What I do know is I didn’t follow my golden rules. As you probably know, it took a lot of courage for me to step into the spotlight (if you don’t, watch my TEDx about this journey). Along the way I have developed key steps to public speaking.

Prepare and practice

The more prepared I am, the less nervous I am. Research your topic thoroughly and prepare your speech and then practice, practice, practice.

Know your audience

Before any speaking opportunity find out information about the audience. This will help you to tailor your speech to their needs and level of knowledge.

Find your lighthouses

My friend and speaking coach, Mariette Rups-Donnelly taught me this, and I use it every single time. Find the lighthouses in the room. They are the people that are engaged and listening to you. Speak to them and they will feed you energy. It works every time.

Relax and deliver

Try to overcome your nerves. This was the hardest thing for me to do, but it’s important to relax and be yourself. You can use relaxation techniques such as controlled breathing to calm your nerves and make sure you are prepared.

Become a regular public speaker

Trust me, the more you practice public speaking, the more successful you will be. Start by speaking at small events and then build up to bigger ones. Say yes as much as possible to every speaking opportunity.

And sometimes you stuff up. And that’s OK. We regularly sing the song “Let It Go” from the movie Frozen in our office. Don’t hold on to failure, let it go.

I think the most important thing is to grow from the obstacles on your path and find wisdom through their solutions. And always – always – treat yourself with love and care.

Tweetable: Golden rules for public speaking @CatrionaPollard bit.ly/2lCCQng

By Catriona Pollard, Public Speaking

Let’s ditch the all male panels

I want to shed light on an issue that impacts women stepping into the spotlight.

The all male speaker line up at conferences and panels. Frankly, it annoys the hell out of me.

Considering how many amazing women there are who want to speak – and are experts – there is simply no excuse for an all male line up.

I have questioned organisers and added comments to their social media feed. Often, there is no response or they falsely claim “there are no suitable women to fill any of the speaking slots”.

When women don’t get to speak at conferences and panels it means that not only does the audience get a narrow perspective, women don’t get the public profile building opportunity that comes with being on the stage.

So what can you do about it?

Put your hand up
Proactively pitch yourself as a speaker to event and conference organisers. Don’t wait to be asked, go make it happen. Write your speakers profile including what you can speak about and start sending it out. (Check out mine as an example).

Get some training
I have very publicly talked about how I overcame my fear of public speaking by getting coaching and saying “yes” to as many opportunities as possible. So if you don’t think you know enough, or are not good enough – go find people to help you with your confidence and speaking skills.

Use your networks to link women with speaking opportunities
If you notice opportunities that aren’t right for you, then forward them to women who may be.

Find women speakers
Sounds simple. But if you’re organising a conference or event then ask around for names of great female presenters. Ask other speakers, women’s groups or Google past conferences. They are out there; you just have to find them.

Be an activist
Let organisers know that all male panels aren’t OK. If you see it, call them out. If you are a bloke, and get asked to speak at an all male event or panel, take the Panel Pledge. If you notice any send your photos or screen shots to “All Male Panels” Tumblr.

I look forward to seeing more women sharing their voice with world.

Tweetable: Where are all the women speakers? @CatrionaPollard http://bit.ly/24PvJFv

By Catriona Pollard

A life unplanned

“Do you have children?” I get asked this question often. The answer is no, and I never talk about it publicly. When Michelle McGrath from the podcast Unclassified Woman asked to interview me, I had to think seriously about it. It’s a very important topic – but just very personal.

I never imaged my life without children. But here I am living one. I decided to do the interview, and share very honestly because I know my story will resonate with so many women.

We live in a pro-natal society where so much of – well everything – is centred around family. We don’t talk about the women who are living lives outside that “norm”. In this interview, I talk about how we can live a life we didn’t plan for – a life that doesn’t involve children when we thought we would have them.

Do you keep sitting in the loss or do you use it in ways to propel yourself forward?

In the interview I discussed how I never imagined my life without a child, and when the realisation came that I would not be a mother, I went through a six year grieving process.

I share how I decided I should not sit in sadness, but see this as an opportunity, a blank canvas where I could be who ever I want to be. I wanted to fill that canvas with as much life and colour as possible.

What is my life going to be? What are the positives about my circumstances?

I worked on my business, wrote a book, started stepping into my spotlight and doing more public speaking. I also pursued my creative side and focused on my art of weaving and sculptural basketry.

Today, I completely determine what my life is, who I am, and what I want to do. I know that many people in the world don’t have the chance to enjoy life and make something beautiful from it.

I’d love to hear about your experiences about “otherhood”.

Click on the podcast below to listen to the full interview.

By Catriona Pollard

Let me tell you a story about the word YES

A friend of mine is finishing off her Yoga Teacher Training Diploma, and the other day she had the decision whether to say YES or NO to a spotlight moment.

While she has done yoga for years, she has never professionally taught it. Needless to say it’s pretty daunting to teach people something where they may get injured – and she has never had to stand in front of people to teach anything before.

Oh, and did I mention, she is over 60 years old, and learning with a bunch of young things. Amazing!

So the other day she went to a yoga class and the teacher didn’t turn up. Someone who knew she was finishing off her Diploma said: “Kathryn, you should teach the class.”

These are the spotlight moments I talk about all of the time. You can say yes or you can say no.

So imagine her situation. She has very little experience in teaching yoga, and only practiced teaching with a small group of friends. Here were 18 people staring at her, waiting for her answer.

She had done no prep, so if she said yes, she would have to think on her feet. If she screwed up it would impact her confidence and how the people in the class thought about her.

What do you think her answer was, yes or no?

When she recounted the story to me, she said my TEDx talk about “Being open to Yes” flashed in front of her eyes. Even though I wasn’t there, I was willing her on. She thought – I’m going to say YES!

Filled with trepidation, a bit of anxiety, and huge amount of bravery, she walked to the front of the class and taught her first yoga class. And when it finished, she received a round of applause with people asking her to run more classes.

If she hadn’t said yes, she would still not know her capability as a yoga teacher or have the opportunity to share her beautiful energy with the class.

In my experience saying that first yes is like letting the genie out of the bottle. It can lead to many yeses that are full of magic and wonder.

Yes can open up opportunities you never even dreamed of. So I’ll leave you with a question. What are you going to say yes to today?

Tweetable: How the word YES can change your world @CatrionaPollard – http://bit.ly/1mTTIRP

By Catriona Pollard, Creative, Thought Leadership