Credit Crunch and Confidence

Ah, not that old chestnut I hear you cry. Well yes...the more I read about the credit crunch the more I am convinced an increase in confidence will get us out of it faster.

Last night I attended an open evening at Deafblind UK. They were showing us around their conference centre (great facilities, if you need a venue in Peterborough DO give them a try). Their speaker talked about how to avoid participating in the credit crunch and yet again, one clear message was to stay positive.

So what's new? It's a mindset game. I was sitting next to a lady who was talking about a new competitor who was setting up large, modern facilities just down the road from her. "We may go out of business" she said. They will if she thinks like that. After the talk she was much more positive and had identified niches offered by her business that the new, shiny, large competitor would not be able to offer. Namely a small, bespoke personal service. All a change of mindset.

So what are you thinking? Will the Credit Crunch be yet another disaster for you, your business, or your job? Or will it provide opportunities?

Toady the news is talking about Asda opening up new stores, creating 000's of jobs. Then the doom mongers get talking about more job losses.

The opportunities are out there. Change your mindset and go and find them - I know I shall.

Did Obama fluff his words?

Well this week's debate has been fascinating - did he, or didn't he?? I am of course referring to the "fluff" President Obama made at his inauguration. Yet did he make the mistake, or was it Chief Justice Roberts?

On watching the footage several times I see Obama interrupting Chief Justice Roberts on the initial repeat of his name, yet the next "fluff" and the important one, Obama used the power of the pause. The words he was given were not what he expected, so he stopped and waited for them to be repeated, the repeat wasn't clear - so who was at fault?

Well, the fault doesn't matter. As I mentioned when interviewed on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire yesterday morning, what Obama did was use the power of the pause. He stopped, waited and continued when cued.

What would you do if you had the eyes of the whole world on you?

Many would crumble at the mere thought of the eyes of a few hundred people, let alone millions. So what do you do when faced with a situation where your brain seems to have frozen?
1. Don't um, er, ah, stumble for words
2. Do pause
3. Collect your thoughts
4. Ask for help if necessary
5. Recap what you have just said - that often kicks the brain back into action.

So was his inaugural address his greatest speech? No, I don't think so, but it was delivered, clearly with energy, enthusiasm and with some great phrasing.

Listen again and look for the run of threes, the use of pauses and the vocal inflection. Obama is certainly one to watch for future speech techniques.

For more tips on presentation skills and public speaking contact me via my website Aspire 2