Blog - presence and presentation mastery by Eleni Kelakos

Confidence Building

How to Wear Your Invisible Crown: Boost Your Confidence and Command the Room

How to boost confidence and presence! When I was fifteen, I was cast as Queen Aggravain—the scheming, overbearing, and gloriously dramatic mother of Prince Dauntless—in my high school’s production of Once Upon a Mattress. It was my first time playing royalty. I was thrilled, intimidated, and completely unsure how to be a queen. But my director, Ora Lichtenstein, had other plans. “By the time I’m done with you,” she declared in her commanding South African accent, “you will walk, sit, stand, gesture, and speak like royalty!” Turning Into a Queen Our first rehearsal began with Ora handing me a book.“Imagine

October 10, 2025 No Comments

Coaching

How to Manage Anxiety and Recharge After Presenting

Public Speaking Tips for Introverts Public Speaking Tips for Introverts: When “Alice,” a CFO I once coached, told me why she dreaded giving presentations, she didn’t hesitate. “It’s because I’m an introvert. I’d much rather talk one-on-one than get up in front of a group. Having all those eyes on me makes me anxious. The whole process—the prepping, the speaking, the emotional drain—completely exhausts me. I’m toast afterwards!” Alice’s struggle isn’t unique. Many introverted leaders—CFOs, CIOs, and executives—would rather be behind their laptops than behind a podium. Yet their roles require them to speak: delivering financial updates, leading project briefings,

October 6, 2025 No Comments

Communication & Influence

4 Ways Speakers Can Stay On Time

How to Avoid Being a Time Gobbler How to Avoid Being a Time Gobbler -> Have you ever been in the audience when a speaker runs long, pushing the entire program behind schedule? Or maybe you’ve been on stage yourself, caught up in the moment, only to realize you’ve gone well past your allotted time. That’s what I call being a Time Gobbler—and I know the feeling because I was one. Early in my speaking career, I gave a keynote that was supposed to last 50 minutes. But the evening started late, dinner service dragged on, and by the time

September 30, 2025 No Comments

Public Speaking Training in the Age of AI: Why It Still Matters

Is public speaking training even necessary anymore? “You know what I’ve been hearing a lot lately?” Eleni, now that AI can help people write presentations, is public speaking training even necessary anymore? My short answer? Absolutely. AI Can Give You Words—But Not Presence AI is brilliant at spitting out words. But words alone don’t win hearts, spark action, or make someone leave thinking, “That talk changed me.” That kind of impact comes from presence—from you showing up genuine, grounded, and human. Your voice. Your quirks. Your energy. Your humanity. Or, as I like to say, your yumminess. Training Isn’t About

August 28, 2025 No Comments

Customer Service Excellence

7 Ways to Deliver Bad News with Grace — Lessons from an Exceptional Server

We’ve all been there—ready to share exciting plans, only to have them derailed by an unexpected curveball. Whether you’re a leader, business owner, or customer service professional, delivering bad news is an unavoidable part of life and work. But there’s a big difference between simply giving bad news and delivering it with presence, empathy, and grace. Recently, I was reminded of this lesson during what should have been an ordinary night out with my husband. Here are 7 Ways to Deliver Bad News with Grace: A Dinner That Became a Masterclass in Communication We went to our favorite seafood restaurant,

August 14, 2025 No Comments

Communication Skills

How to Build a Compelling Investor Pitch That Gets Funded

After more than two decades helping entrepreneurs craft investor pitches, I’ve noticed one glaring trend: Most pitches don’t grab me. They don’t spark curiosity, stir emotion, or get me to care. And if I don’t care, I don’t listen—and I certainly don’t invest. Instead, many pitches are overloaded with jargon, scattered ideas, and flat delivery. The result? A lukewarm response at best, and missed funding opportunities at worst. A Great Idea Isn’t Enough It doesn’t matter how revolutionary your idea is, or how solid your research may be. If you can’t convey it clearly and compellingly, it’s just an idea—floating

July 31, 2025 No Comments

Breathwork Techniques

How to Release Tension Before Speaking or Performing

Release tension before speaking: When I was a young actress in New York City, I stepped into my first professional acting class and immediately questioned my life choices. Thirty actors lay scattered across the dusty studio floor, eyes closed, twitching and sighing loudly:“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Aaaaaaahhhhh!” I must’ve looked horrified, because my teacher, Michael Howard, offered a kind, knowing smile and explained: “From the moment you wake up and start to worry, tension begins to attach itself to you like armor. The busier and more stressed you get, the more armored up you become. And when your body is armored, you stop

July 31, 2025 No Comments

Charismatic Presence

9 Ways to Sustain Charismatic Presence & Presentation Skills

Charisma isn’t a one-time performance—it’s a lifelong practice. Charismatic presence for speakers. If you’re striving to become a compelling communicator, you already know that delivering a standout presentation takes work. But the real magic lies in sustaining your presence and evolving your skills long after the applause fades. Today marks the launch of my third book, Charismatic Presence: 5 Principles For Magnetic Presentations. To celebrate, I’m sharing an exclusive excerpt from Chapter 8, “Moving Toward Mastery,” where I offer nine powerful ways to help you maintain your presence and presentation excellence over time. Whether you’re leading meetings, delivering keynotes, or

June 26, 2025 No Comments

Body Language

Maximize Your Physical Presence: Why How You Stand Changes Everything

Maximize Your Physical Presence: I was taking a walk a few days ago when a neighbor stopped me with a compliment that made my day: “I was just thinking about you—actually, I was trying to stand like you do! Your posture is always so good!” Her comment brought me back to a packed NYC dance studio years ago, where I first learned a life-changing lesson about posture, space, and confidence. When You Shrink, So Does Your Impact Back in my 20s, while training to become a professional actor, I squeezed my six-foot frame into a dance class crowded with leotard-clad

June 9, 2025 No Comments