Are emails and computers destroying our ability to speak well? Good verbal communication seems to have flown into cyberspace as inboxes fill up with emails and managers mumble their way through monotone PowerPoint presentations, reading aloud from over-packed slides and sending their audience into a stupor. The skills required to analyse spreadsheets are a far cry from those needed to transform numbers into fascinating presentations. But analyse this: UK businesses lose nearly £8bn each year because of dull presentations that force colleagues and clients to switch off and waste company time. This is based on a manager earning an average £30,000 per annum and attending a one-hour meeting every week in which he or she does not listen. With a justified reputation for being boring, it is perhaps unsurprising that British bosses dread public speaking more than any other part of their job. However, “nothing in life is more important than the ability to communicate effectively” according to former US President Gerald Ford. So here are some tips to transform your presentations into a performance that will make people sit up.
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