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Learn From Radio to Boost Your On-Screen Presence

In the children’s classic book, one of the unfortunate brats to come a cropper in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory is Mike Teavee who finds himself shrunk down to the size (three inches) where he becomes trapped inside a television screen. This scene is one that will resonate with many who have found themselves trapped behind […]

The Importance of Striking the Right Tone

Do you ever stop to think about how your voice sounds? I don’t mean the instant reflex of “ugggh do I really sound like that?” when you hear yourself on a recording, but what your voice is saying about you? The human voice is one of our primary tools for creating impact. It’s something we […]

Don’t Stress the Zoom Blank Face

Once upon a time it used to be said that the eyes were the window to the soul. That expression sounds rather quaint today because the window into most aspects of our lives is now an LCD display, of varying sizes. How much time do you spend staring into a screen each day? Clever apps […]

Star Quality. Can it be Made?

There is a moment in the 1980s movie Thelma and Louise when a young actor walks on to the screen. In the film his role is a little larger than a bit part, just a two-bit hustler who steals a heart and a bag full of cash to conveniently move the plot on to the […]

Working with time and not for it

My question this month is ‘how do you spend your day?’ As the UK enters another stage of loosened lockdown I appreciate that there will be a differentiation between a normal day (pre) and a new normal (the past couple of months), however the question remains pertinent. For all the talk of ‘things being different’ […]

Digital Fatigue Strikes in Lockdown Zoom World

In 1986 something happened to television in the UK. It went from being a regulated daily dose, interspersed with frequent ‘trade test cards’ to being a 24 hour broadcasting affair. Around the same time mothers would frequently rebuke children for soaking up all that extra TV with the beration- come-warning that they would end up […]

Have You Adjusted Your Video Mode?

“Meetings are indispensable when you don’t want to do anything,” once said American liberalism advocate, John Kenneth Galbraith, and yet the meeting is an ingrained component of modern day business. It is a component that has had a drastic makeover in recent weeks with the number of meetings and conferences now conducted via video soaring. […]

Why Presentation Rehearsal Makes Sense

Think you’re good enough to roll up to the podium, or take the floor in the seminar room and embark on a cold launch of a presentation or speech? Many people think they can do it, but let me assure you there are very few who are actually capable of pulling it off. Sorry to […]

Time to Tear up the Script?

The opposite of spontaneity is rigidity. It’s how most of us live our lives – through a combination of rationality, hard work and a devotion to format. There is nothing wrong with rigidity in terms of getting the job done, but it is hardly a formula to get to get you noticed. If you are […]

Make sure your audience understands you

When did you first hear the word ‘prorogue’? While the occasion may not be up there alongside the likes of other great life events (JFK, Watergate, the Spice Girls splitting), if you are not familiar with the distinctly quirky terminology of the UK Parliament you may well have checked its meaning online only to find […]