by Steven Maddocks | 26 May, 2021 | Body Language, Communication, Nerves, Performance, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking
Lisa’s heart is racing. Her breathing is rapid and shallow. Her armpits are sweating, her hands are clammy, and her neck and face are red. Her legs are jittery, her mouth is dry and her teeth are clenched. Her brain is alternately racing, then going blank. She has...
by Steven Maddocks | 6 May, 2021 | Communication, Nerves, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking
Public speaking gets a bad rap. One well-known poll places glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, at the top – making it a more terrifying prospect than spiders, enclosed spaces and even dying. (As Jerry Seinfeld wryly observed, at a funeral, most people would...
by Martyn Barmby | 31 May, 2017 | Authenticity, Difficult Conversations, Nerves, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking, Q&As
The first question I asked when listening to Jeremy Corbyn’s uncomfortable stumbling on Woman’s Hour when he had forgotten the answer on the cost of Labour’s childcare policy was, “Does it matter?” If the policy is a good one then perhaps it does not...
by Martyn Barmby | 13 July, 2016 | Blog, Leadership, Nerves, Public Speaking
One of our most popular workshops at MSB Executive is “Communicating Brilliantly Under Pressure”. We often like to look at famous public speakers and see what we can learn from the times when they have had to speak under great pressure. David Cameron’s last Prime...
by Martyn Barmby | 19 May, 2015 | Building Confidence, Difficult Conversations, Interview Skills, Nerves, Perception
We talk to every client about the effect the nervous adrenaline produced by our amygdala can have on our bodies. Our brain senses fear and our system rapidly produces a defence – flight/fight or freeze, in short a way to get ourselves out of imminent danger....
by Martyn Barmby | 7 February, 2014 | Authenticity, Authority, Blog, Building Confidence, Client Skills, Emotional Engagement, Featured, Leadership, Nerves, Perception
Avoid being a headless chicken when faced with difficult conversations Last week I was lucky enough to be part of a team of coaches at a leadership academy for a large financial services firm. For the delegates, one of the most insightful parts of the sessions were...