IT has been a busy but rewarding week with the high spot a day-long training session for Sky on presentation skills.
No it wasn’t the Sky newsreaders who needed the benefit of my help but regional managers who work in the group’s home service division.
We put together and I hosted the day called ‘Powerful Presenting – public speaking and media skills to become a better presenter’ in the very impressive and welcoming surroundings of Bowcliffe Hall near Wetherby.
Involving some interactive sessions and some filming and feedback from broadcast journalist Simon Hare, we spent the day outlining how to create and present effective and engaging content to a very likeable and talented group of people who asked lots of questions and really threw themselves into the day.
A memorable presentation is made up of many things but I believe the key is all about delivering your content with power and passion, inspiration and impact, authenticity and humour.
Get those right and you can enthuse and empower your audience.
I’m a great believer that audiences shouldn’t be feared, they want to get something out of the time they put in attending an event and not view it as a waste.
As a journalist and writer you might expect me to also believe in the power of storytelling as a great method of getting a message across in a presentation.
I recruited another former journalist, Scott Allen, who is now a children’s author, to come along and present a session for the Sky team.
His second book, called Llamas Go Large – about a team of Llamas who represent England in the World Cup – has recently been published and is selling well.
Given his usual audience are classes of nine-year-olds it was always going to be an interesting session.
He did a great job engaging the audience with stories, humour and bizarre facts and had them queuing up at the end to get signed copies of his book.
His first book, also published by Macmillan, is called Llama United. I won’t spoil the story but it is about a team of Llamas playing in the Cup.
The books are available at bookshops, supermarkets and online and are a great read for anyone aged between seven and 107.
Even the weather was on our side and the attendees were able to sit out and eat lunch on the terrace of Bowcliffe Hall, taking in the sweeping views of its lush gardens and quirky decorations such as an historic aeroplane, red telephone box and statue of Alice in Wonderland.
With my colleague Liz Theakston pulling the strings to make sure everything ran smoothly – despite being on crutches after a knee operation – it was a really enjoyable day working alongside talented people.
Now it is on to the next one – arranging a conference next month for 175 people in the Sky team.
If you are interested in presentation and media training or need ideas and content to liven up your corporate event then get in touch.
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THEY used to say you know you are getting older when the policemen start looking younger.
My age was brought home the other day when a chap approached me and said he had done work experience with me at TheBusinessDesk.com some years ago.
He had grey hair.
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I bumped into a woman in a hotel coffee shop the other day who said she didn’t normally do meetings in there as she preferred using a meeting room in Starbucks.
I said I didn’t even know Starbucks outlets had meeting rooms.
“Oh yes they do, the one we use is at the back of the shop and is quite a small windowless room.”
I asked whether she was sure that wasn’t the disabled toilet.
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AS days go last Friday was a bit different.
Well I’d probably go a bit further than that.
It was totally bonkers.
It all started when I walked into John Higo’s boxing and mixed martial arts gym off Kirkstall Road in Leeds for a regular Friday lunchtime training session that a few pals and I take part in.
John’s usually powerful voice was hushed to a whisper as he told us some filming was going on in the main part of the gym.
I asked what it was all about.
“I’m not sure, it’s something to do with a food challenge,” he replied.
Just then Robin Hilton and Jonathan Clough of research company Researchbods arrived.
They were accompanied by a colleague – a big young man with chiselled features, a muscular torso and hair swept back in a quiff.
“He’s a butler in the buff in his spare time,” explained Jonathan.
I looked blankly at him until he explained that his colleague attends women’s parties wearing very little other than a small apron and serves drinks and nibbles to the guests.
It’s guaranteed to liven up any finger buffet.
“He gets loads,” said Jonathan.
I’m assuming he meant work.
It turns out the reason he was at the gym was to take part in the filming.
I decided to go and discover what it was all about.
As if the surreal nature of the day needed to be amplified any more, I saw an attractive girl in a boxing ring trading punches with a man dressed as a hot dog.
It turns out the gym was being used to film some scenes from an upcoming Channel 5 programme about food.
Daisybeck Studios in Leeds, which makes the popular The Yorkshire Vet show, were also behind Britain’s Favourite Biscuit which the channel broadcast earlier this year.
The programme attracted plenty of viewers and so Daisybeck has been commissioned to produce several more shows about more of Britain’s favourite foods such as chocolate and breakfast cereal.
As part of those programmes they have one of Britain’s most successful ‘speed eaters’ Leah Shutkever attempting to break some Guinness World Records for eating certain foods in the fastest possible time.
A glamorous fitness fanatic with a six pack is probably the least likely person you would expect to be a speed eater.
But she is and has been to America to tackle various burger challenges.
Her world record attempt in Leeds last Friday was to eat a Terry’s Chocolate Orange in the fastest possible time.
Apparently the world record was 76 seconds.
She broke it but I’ll have to wait until the show is broadcast to find out what the new world record time is.
I started chatting to one of the production team who told me the format of the shows is to have celebrities chatting about their favourite foods.
“We’ve had all the celebrities at our studio in Pudsey,” he said.
I asked who.
“Su Pollard, Kim from How Clean is Your House, Sam and Mark from CBBC…”
Have a great weekend.