​PowerSpeaking Blog: Tips and strategies for crafting presentations!

When asked what advice she would give professional women on the move, former Secretary of State Madeline Albright replied, “Learn to interrupt.” We doubt that she meant raising your hand and politely waiting to be called on—a common female nonverbal that sends the wrong signal. As a female professional, if you want to be perceived as confident and credible, you need to be aware of the nonverbal signals you send when you communicate. Read on to learn how to align your words with your actions. . .

Here’s the scene: Eight business people sitting around a conference room table. Half of them are heads down, checking their smart phones. One is flipping through paperwork, and another is doodling. A couple of them are talking to each other. And there you are, standing at the head of the table, halfway through your presentation. Ouch.

Capturing and holding people’s attention is a science and an art form that can be learned. Read on for our best tips. . .

According to the National Science Foundation, women currently hold only 13% of engineering jobs and 25% of computer, math, and science jobs in the U.S. In a 2016 study sponsored by Women in Technology International (WITI), only 30% of women surveyed said they knew a woman (other than their mother) working in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) while they were growing up. And even though most of the WITI survey respondents were seasoned professionals, only 13% held C-level or executive jobs.

Have you ever noticed that the most a businessman will bring to the meeting is generally a phone and a pad of paper (or maybe a laptop)? By contrast, it’s not unusual to see a businesswoman haul in a shoulder bag, a briefcase, an armful of files, a purse and a phone. No biggie? Actually, biggie. That’s just one of the many insights incorporated into our Confident Speaking for Women course that offers wisdom from over a dozen interviews with highly successful women. Here’s another gem. Listen to Cindy Solomon talk about being comfortable owning our successes:

In our last blog ("Seven-Minute Abs") we gave you a heads up about an upcoming digital offering, Powerspeaking’s Plus-Microlearning Videos. Now, we’re excited to announce they’re here! Offered exclusively to past and current participants in our PowerSpeaking® or HighTechSpeaking® workshops (and others soon), Plus-Microlearning is a library of short-subject, online videos that serve as refreshers to help you retain what you learned in the live PowerSpeaking class. Averaging five minutes each, the videos cover topics pulled directly from the two programs, like “Audience Analysis,” “Openings,” “Gestures,” “Questions,” “Discussion Management” and much more (please feel free to contact us for a complete list of topics). The Plus-Microlearning Videos, as well as digital workbooks for each class, are now available to you 24 x 7 via any device (laptop, desktop, smart phone).

In the hilarious comedy There’s Something About Mary, Ben Stiller picks up a deranged hitchhiker who tells him about a brilliant idea he has for a product:

                  “You heard of this thing, the Eight-Minute Abs?”
                  “Yeah sure, Eight-Minute Abs, the exercise video.”
                  “Well this is going to blow that out of the water. Listen to this: Seven. Minute. Abs.”
                  “Great…Unless, of course, someone comes up with Six-Minute Abs, in which case you’re in
                   trouble, huh?”