Blog - presence and presentation mastery by Eleni Kelakos

Executive leadership coaching

5 Ways to Beat Zoom Performance Anxiety (ZPA)

As a presentation skills coach and trainer, I’ve spent almost twenty years helping clients manage presentation performance anxiety. But it’s only been since Covid-19 reared it’s extremely ugly head that I’ve needed to help my clients manage what I’m calling Zoom Performance Anxiety, or ZPA (and oh, how I wish I could have found a way to make ZAP work instead of ZPA)! Several presentation coaching and executive presence leadership coaching clients, both new and old, have confessed to a surprising and off-putting fear of speaking while using online platforms like Zoom. They typically experience Zoom Performance Anxiety when they

June 29, 2020 No Comments

presentation skills training

Paint Your Speaker Vision in Living Color

Imagine going to an archery range that had no targets. You’d be standing around with your bow and arrow, scratching your head and wondering “Uh, where do I point this thing?” Or you might be firing off arrows willy-nilly in all manner of directions, which isn’t exactly productive. Without a target, you have nothing to aim at. That’s the reasoning behind writing and using a Speaker Vision. By vision I mean a clear, specific, and compelling picture of how you want to see yourself as a speaker at a specific point in time in the future (e.g. six months or

February 17, 2020 No Comments

Executive leadership coaching

To Boost Public Speaking Confidence, Take Time to Take a Bow

Claudia had spent weeks working with me to prepare a high-level presentation for a prestigious conference that would showcase her considerable expertise. The effort she’d put into developing and internalizing the presentation was almost as mighty as the effort she’d put into managing the anxiety she’d had about giving it. I was confident that she was ready, and that her performance would make us both proud. On the day Claudia gave her presentation, she shot me a brief text: “Went great! More when I see you next week.” Claudia’s brief text sounded triumphant. Which was why I was so taken

January 28, 2020 No Comments

Executive leadership coaching

Embrace Your So-Called Mistakes and be Perfectly Imperfect

Women are notorious perfectionists. We need to “get it right, and we beat ourselves into a pulp when we don’t. In the corporate world, women are more likely to be perfectionistic and deeply self-critical than the men they work with. This is what Psychologist Peta Slocombe, senior VP of Corporate Health at Medbio, concluded through an Australian survey of 4980 workers from 41 workplaces. I wasn’t exactly surprised to read these findings, because I continously encounter this tendency towards perfectionism in the women who come to me for executive leadership coaching. And, as a recovering perfectionist, I understand all too

December 16, 2019 No Comments

Executive leadership coaching

Like Joan of Arc, You Were Born to Make Your Difference

I was shopping at the grocery store, when a quote on a card in the greeting card rack stopped me in my tracks “I am not afraid,” it read. “I was born to do this.” I stepped closer, to read the source of the quote, and was surprised to see that it was attributed to Joan of Arc– a heroine of France who led the French army to victory over the English at Orleans in 1430 when she was eighteen years old. She was ultimately burned at the stake by the English and canonized as a saint. Joan of Arc

September 9, 2019 No Comments

presentation skills training

Presentation Skills Tip: To Keep Your Audiences Engaged, “You-nify” Your Presentations

As a presentation skills coach and trainer, one of the most common questions I get asked is “How do I keep my audience engaged?” There are, of course, multiple answers to that question (which I’ve written about here and here and here). But one of my favorite responses and techniques is also one of the simplest: “You-nify” your presentation. By that I mean, say “you” more. Say the word you more than you say the word I. Say you more, so your audience members can see (and feel) themselves in the story you’re telling, the scenario you’re sharing, or in

August 26, 2019 No Comments

presentation skills training

To be a Better Speaker, Honor the Sacred Stage

(Or Lessons in Peak Performance from an Italian Waiter) While dining in a rooftop restaurant in Venice, Italy, I was struck by our waiter’s commitment to providing us with a memorable, meaningful dining experience. “Giacomo” made sure to provide every little thing we needed—from changes of silverware between each course, to finger-bowls with lemon after we’d dug into our mussels and clams appetizer. And he plated and served our food with the kind of focus and dramatic flair reserved for top-level magicians or performing artists. As I watched him lovingly twirl a pyramid of pasta onto my plate, and meticulously

July 7, 2019 No Comments

presentation skills training

Public Speaking Training Tip: Three Ways to Slow Down When You’re a Fast Talker

As a public speaking training coach, I am constantly saying some version of “Whoaaaaa, Nellie!” to my fast-talking clients. By fast-talking, I mean folks whose natural inclination is to talk (and, often, to think) a mile-a-minute, often verbally galloping way ahead of whoever they’re talking to. If you’re a fast-talker you’re probably going to be inclined to talk even faster when you give a presentation and your nerves and adrenaline kick in. Unfortunately, the faster you talk, the more your audience has to work to keep up with you. And the harder they work to stay at your pace, the

July 7, 2019 No Comments

presentation skills training

A Lesson in Presentation Skills from Young Slam Poets

I recently watched a documentary film called Louder Than a Bomb that tells the story of four teams of high school students competing for first place in a Chicago-area youth poetry competition. The documentary – and the Louder Than a Bomb competition —were brought to our attention by my husband’s client, the remarkable Canadian spoken word artist Shane Koyczan. Since anything Shane suggests is not to be taken lightly, I figured the kids would be good— but I honestly had no idea they would, in fact, be jaw-droppingly great. I was riveted by their fierce passion, and the depth and

February 11, 2019 No Comments

5 Ways to Beat Zoom Performance Anxiety (ZPA)

Paint Your Speaker Vision in Living Color

To Boost Public Speaking Confidence, Take Time to Take a Bow

Embrace Your So-Called Mistakes and be Perfectly Imperfect

Like Joan of Arc, You Were Born to Make Your Difference

Presentation Skills Tip: To Keep Your Audiences Engaged, “You-nify” Your Presentations

To be a Better Speaker, Honor the Sacred Stage

Public Speaking Training Tip: Three Ways to Slow Down When You’re a Fast Talker

A Lesson in Presentation Skills from Young Slam Poets

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