We’ll Boost Your Confidence in Just One Day

Big picture

We’ve designed this course specially for beginners and people who suffer from a fear of public speaking. So if you’ve never presented before, or if presenting is a nerve-wracking ordeal for you, this course is for you (if you’re more experienced, click here).

Here’s what you’ll learn on the course:

Module 1: Confidence Proven psychological techniques to help you build your confidence.

Module 2: Content Design A simple step-by-step process that lets you plan a presentation in two hours or less.

Module 3: PowerPoint Design How to create good-looking PowerPoint slides that stimulate, rather than sedate, your audience.

Module 4: Delivery Five delivery tricks that will make you look … and feel more confident.

There’s more detail one each of these four modules in the next tab: What you’ll learn

If you’d like a handy pdf of the course description click here: Introduction-to-Presenting

Dates and location

Wellington: 22 February 2012

Time: 9am to 5 pm

The Terrace Conference Centre
114 The Terrace
Wellington

Auckland: 20 March 2012

Time: 9am to 5 pm

Cliftons
45 Queen Street
Auckland

Course fee: $395 +GST

Register for the Auckland course before February 29th and you’ll get the early bird price of $350 +GST.

The course fee includes a workbook and 30 mins coaching (see here for more details on our follow-up support) plus a delicious lunch and refreshments throughout the day.

Our guarantee that this course will boost your confidence

We’ve worked with hundreds of people helping them become more confident presenters and we’re confident that we can do the same for you.

Register now, or have a browse through the different tabs at the top of the page to learn more about the course.

Register Now
You’ll get taken to our parent site Effective Speaking to register.

Can’t make it to this course?

Back to Top

You’ll learn…

This course is designed for you – so it covers the information that you most need right now. But that doesn’t mean the information is basic. It’s the same high-quality information we deliver in our more advanced courses (in fact sometimes participants on our two day courses come back and attend this course as a refresher). But it’s not to the same level of detail or depth.

We start off the day with what’s most important to you:

Module One:  How to transform yourself from a shaking wreck to a confident presenter

Presenting is scary. We get it. Tony went to University and did a psychology degree as a mature student to learn more about the psychology behind the fear of public speaking. He discovered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).

Tony went on to do a post-graduate diploma in Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy  (a  subset of CBT). He’s adapted what he learnt to help people who suffer from the fear of public speaking. You’ll discover:

• The two different causes of your fear – the one you can eliminate and the one you can’t
• How to identify and neutralise your specific anxiety triggers to reduce your fear
• The stress-performance curve and how to exploit it to perform at your best
• How to recover from a mind-blank in milliseconds
• The truth behind “Fake it till you make it” and how to use it to your advantage.

 

But getting more confident as a presenter is not just about psychology. You’ll feel more confident when you know you’ve got something good to deliver…

Module 2: How to plan a presentation that gets your point across and engages your audience

It can be hard to design a presentation if you’ve never been shown an effective method. We’ve been teaching people at all levels of presenting experience how to plan a presentation for over a decade and over that time we’ve developed and fine-tuned our SpeakerMap™ system. You’ll learn:

• The easy step-by-step process that even experienced presenters find a revelation
• How to stop spinning your wheels and get your presentation planned in less time than you thought possible (one of our participants got up in the middle of the night and planned her presentation in 15 minutes!)
• How to come across as an expert without overloading your audience with information
• The secret to engaging your audience that anyone can master.

You’ve heard of the phrase “death by PowerPoint”? As an audience member you’ve probably suffered through it many times. Learn a better way of using PowerPoint…

Module Three: How to use PowerPoint to WOW your audience

What we show you will catapult you above most business presenters you’ve seen. You’ll discover:

• Why the traditional way of using PowerPoint is the worst possible way of conveying information
• The one simple rule you need to follow to decide when to use a slide
• An elegant format that will have you creating stimulating slides in minutes
• Where to find affordable (and even free) images from the internet without breaking the law.

…and finally, we’ve distilled out most confidence-boosting and popular delivery tricks from our advanced course into the last, critical module…

Module Four: Five delivery tricks that will make you feel… and look more confident

These will make the most difference in the least time to the way you come across:

• How to speak at your normal fast pace – and still be clear and understandable
• The simple answer to “What should I do with my hands?”
• How to be engaging and dynamic – without coming across as artificial
• The number one way to demonstrate your credibility
• How to instantly get rid of ums and ahs (we still can’t believe that more presentation trainers don’t teach this simple technique!).

Or Register Now

Back to Top

You’ll experience…

“A safe and supportive environment”

We know that you may be nervous about attending the course. So we’ve carefully structured the course to create a safe and supportive environment.

You may be worried that you’ll be asked to do things you’re not comfortable with, or that you may feel embarrassed. Here’s a list of things that won’t happen:

• You won’t have to introduce yourself to the group at the beginning of the course
• You won’t be made to feel silly because of your fears
• You won’t have to present to the whole group
• You won’t be videoed

If your fear of coming on the course is holding you back, try this simple exercise.

“It was so much fun”

You’ll be learning heaps, but we make it enjoyable too.

Or Register Now

Back to Top

You’ll get…

1. Our book “How to design and deliver a presentation with confidence”

Our book is a reference guide to everything that we cover on the course. That means if you don’t want to take notes, you don’t have to. You can just sit back and enjoy the day – knowing you’ll have all the information at your fingertips in the future.

The book covers a lot more than what we cover on the course. You’ll also get:

• A handy checklist for ‘away-from-home’ presentations so that you don’t forget anything critical for the success of your presentation
• How to troubleshoot your laptop and datashow projector so that you don’t melt in a heap before your presentation even starts
• Step-by-step instructions on how to replicate the clever effects you’ll see us use in PowerPoint
• How to handle difficult questions without breaking a sweat

This is the same book that participants on our more advanced courses receive, so you’ll also get extra detail and depth on the topics that we covered on the course.

2. Thirty minutes coaching to help you prepare for your first presentation after the course

We know that a one-day course can’t achieve everything. The real test will come when you do you first presentation after the course. To help you prepare for that presentation we’ll spend 30 minutes with you on the phone, via email or using online meeting software. Here’s how you could use this:

• Extra coaching on using techniques to reduce your nervousness
• Help with the structure and flow of your presentation
• Review of your PowerPoint slides
• Rehearse your presentation and get feedback.

3. Regular reminders of what you learnt on the course

You can choose to subscribe to our 20-part post-course email programme. You receive an email once a week reminding you of the concepts that we covered on the course. We’ll also give you tips on how to apply what you learnt in everyday conversation so that even if you don’t have to deliver a formal presentation for a while, you’ll be able to apply what you learnt on the course.

4. Access to the Members Only area of our website

Here you’ll be able to download lots of extra cool resources:

• A PDF version of our SpeakerMap™ that you can download so that you can use the SpeakerMap™ again and again for every presentation that you have to do
• MP3 audio files of all the modules of the course that you can download to your computer, iPod or smartphone and listen to whenever you want to.

5. One hundred dollar discount on our two-day premium course

At some point in the future you may feel ready to learn more about presenting. We’ll give you one hundred dollars off the cost of our premium two-day presentation skills course. The course is limited to six participants so you get lots of one-on-one coaching, you’ll present to the group and receive video feedback. It’s an intense and challenging learning experience.

Or Register Now

Back to Top

Stories

Read about the experiences of people who have worked with us:

“I avoided presenting whenever I could”

I used to get extremely nervous about presenting. I avoided it whenever I could. If I had a presentation to do, I would obsess over it. It took far too much time and affected my ability to get other things done.

At work, it meant that I was the “behind the scenes” person. I realised that if I wanted to progress I needed to be able to present. The catalyst for coming on the course was when I met somebody at a dinner party who’d worked with you. That  inspired me.

Things are very different now
Now when I’m asked to do a presentation I say to myself “Cool!” I actually find it fun to create a presentation. I still get nervous, but I’ve got the tools to manage it.

Knowing that I’ve got something good to deliver really helps
My biggest achievement is delivering a presentation to the Mental Health Law Conference to an audience of over 200 people. I used a metaphor that really worked. I got lots of great comments on how interesting and engaging the presentation was. In the past, I would have avoided even doing the presentation.

Nathan Clark is a senior policy analyst at the Ministry of Health in Wellington.

“I was a living, breathing example of the fear of public speaking”

Five years ago, I was a living, breathing example of the fear of public speaking. Then I was asked to do a series of presentations on Kiwisaver to groups of our members. The idea terrified me but I wanted to be involved in Kiwisaver and so it was the incentive I needed to dig deeper and address my fear.

My company sent me on your course and it helped in heaps of ways.
 

It’s five years ago but I still keep the book and refer to it. I’m constantly using the tips and tricks that you taught us – like “dancing with the slides”.

These days, I don’t avoid presenting anymore. I enjoy it. I get a buzz out of interacting with the audience. My colleagues recognise that I’m good at it. When there’s a presentation to do, my name is first out of the hat.

Andy Williams is a Senior Adviser at the Medical Assurance Society in Auckland.

“I had good ideas but nobody ever knew about them”

Before coming on the course I was terrified of presenting. If I tried to speak with a group of more than two people I would be lost for words and couldn’t articulate what I wanted to say. It was so bad that I wouldn’t offer my opinion at a team meeting with my colleagues. I had lots of good ideas, but nobody ever knew about them because I couldn’t express them. In my personal life, I never volunteered to be part of community groups or committees because it might mean I would have to speak to groups.

I didn’t want to do the course…
…but I saw the course advertised, and decided I needed to do it.

To my surprise I really enjoyed the course. It was good fun and relaxed, there was no pressure. Everybody understood about being terrified of presenting. It helped me to know that people with a bit more experience of presenting also felt nervous. The techniques taught on the course helped me to prepare. The most helpful was the template for structuring a presentation.

Now, I can get my ideas across
Since the course, I’ve given it a go. I haven’t shied away from opportunities to present like I used to. I speak up in team meetings – they don’t even register on the nervousness scale anymore! I applied and was accepted on Kiwibank’s Leadership Development Programme. I wouldn’t even have applied for this before the course. At the end of the Leadership Development Programme I delivered a presentation to 50 Kiwibank managers. I was nervous but I could manage it. Outside of my work I’ve joined the Parent Committee for my son’s childcare centre and have a lead role. Now I’m able to get my ideas across, I’m given more challenges in my job and I’m able to contribute to my community. It’s opened a lot of doors.

Janette Waggott is a Credit Analyst at Kiwibank in Wellington.

Or Register Now

About us

It’s our mission to help people overcome the fear that holds them back.

We’re specialists

We’ve channelled that mission into a narrow niche – running training courses to help people become more confident and competent presenters. It’s the only thing we do and we’ve been doing it for over a decade. As well as running public courses like this one, we also run inhouse courses for organisations. Our clients include New Zealand Transport Agency, Kiwibank, Air New Zealand, Red Bull, and the Department of Conservation.

Recognized internationally

We write a blog on presenting, Speaking about Presenting, which is recognised as one of the top presentation blogs in the world. We were invited speakers at the 2011 Presentation Summit in Austin, Texas, USA.

But behind our current success are the struggles we’ve both had with fear and nervousness in our lives.

Here are our stories:

Olivia – “I was really shy”

At school I had just two good friends at school who shared my passion – horses. I never learnt how to mix with people and socialise. When I was in my mid-twenties, I decided I needed to do something about this. At the time I was a lawyer for a Government agency and I could see that my shyness and the fear of public speaking was holding me back in my career. I hated speaking up in meetings, let alone presenting. I joined Toastmasters, did a presentation skills course (like the one you’re considering now) and forced myself to take opportunities to present whenever they came up.

My real breakthrough
Although all that practice helped, my real breakthrough came when I learnt about psychological methods to manage my nervousness (you’ll learn about these on the course). Now I’m a confident, relaxed speaker in most situations. I’ve taken on challenging presenting situations – like being a political candidate and speaking at a conference of other presentation trainers in America. In those high-stakes presentations and I do feel the nervousness creep up on me but I have the psychological skills to manage and harness that nervousness.

Tony – “Fear held me back from using my talents”

From a young age I was interested in performance and entertainment. At age five I was given a ukelele and I taught myself to play. My parents encouraged me but I was too shy to perform when they asked. I also loved magic and taught myself tricks and sometimes performed at friends birthday parties. I would get really nervous though – my hands would shake uncontrollably – not very useful when you’re trying to perform delicate sleight-of-hand.

At ten years old I started learning the guitar – again teaching myself. After a while I got the confidence to play if other people would sing along – I figured “if they’re willing to embarrass themselves, then so can I.” After a year or so my parents offered to pay for lessons. I should have jumped at the chance but the thought of having to play in front of a teacher and be judged really scared me – so I said “No.”

In my teenage I performed in bands – I was not so nervous if I had other people around me – but the moment an audience started to seriously listen to me perform, I withdrew. Although I loved playing the guitar and entertaining people, I told myself that I could never be a professional musician. I told people that it was a lack of talent – it was actually fear.

I chose a career that would allow me to be connected to my love of music, but wouldn’t require me to perform. I became a sound-engineer, and later, a record producer. I got involved with amateur drama- but as the sound operator, never an actor.

“You’re a shadow artist”
One day I was talking to a person I’d just met at a party. I’d played a little guitar for a group sing-along and she’d asked some questions about how I’d learned to play and my subsequent career. I told her about my ‘connection’ to performing without actually having to be in the spotlight. “You’re a shadow artist” she said.

She turned out to be a psychologist and she explained that what I was doing was quite common. I had the desire and the talent to be “out there” but my fear kept me in the shadow of the other artists – where I was safe. Unfulfilled – but safe.

That conversation changed my life.

The next day I made a plan that would enable me to become the person I really wanted to be. That plan lead to a psychology degree, post-graduate studies in Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, performing the lead role in the play “Liasions Dangereuses”, winning the Toastmasters National Evaluation Competition and setting up our presentation training business, Effective Speaking. I now speak at conferences and run training courses.

My joy is to help people whose fear is stopping them so that they can actually be, the person they are.

Read on for more comments about us or…

Or Register Now

Back to Top

Early Bird

The last date for the Early Bird for the Auckland course is 29 February.

Enter your name and email address below and we will honour the early bird discount even if you register after 29 February.

We’ll be in touch soon.

Olivia and Tony