Rick Simmonds of Verbu Communications gives some great tips.
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- “Something like 75% of your communication is basically body language; 20% is about tonality and 5% is content. And whilst that isn’t an exact representation, you realise just what a difference body language makes; for the past few months we’ve had a large part of that communication taken away from us.”
- “From a very early age, I realised the pictures you can create with your voice. To a certain extent, the brain fills in all the gaps and a voice on its own can be a very powerful way of communicating.”
- “When you’re having a one-on-one conversation with a real human being, you’re looking at their eyes, their face, and when you’re talking to them they can see you looking at them; the minute you put a bit of technology in the way, it gets a lot more complicated. The disconnect can have an impact on how your message is being received.”
- “A lot of people ask me how long a podcast should be, and the answer is as long as it should be. But don’t try to make a 30-minute podcast out of what is essentially ten minutes worth of of material.”
- “There’s only so many hours a day when people are going to dip away from radio. I don’t have the ability to look into the future, but all the evidence suggests that podcasts, gaming, Netflix, and all that kind of stuff, is actually ending up on top of the radio listening. It does fascinate me that when lockdown happened, the increase in smart speaker listening to radio stations went absolutely through the roof.”
- “A level of nervousness before public speaking is quite useful. I don’t think any of us have done something we’ve truly excelled at and is a little but outside of our comfort zone without a little bit of nervousness. I think it helps the performance.”
- “Go in there prepared. Know your beginning, middle and end. Check your pace by recording yourself ahead of time so that you’re comfortable with your speed of talking.”
- “The most important thing when you’re on stage is to have an open stature. The more you keep your arms out, the more you use your hands to express yourself and not be stuck on the spot, the better.”