Category Archives: Business Communication

How To Make Good Eye Contact with Audience

Public Speaking Tips on Making Eye Contact

The eyes are the windows to the soul.  You can hardly build a relationship with your audience unless you make proper eye contact with them.

Great public speakers make eye contact in order to connect with the audience. But how to make eye contact properly when doing presentations?

Check out the below videos about how to make good eye contact in speeches.

Public Speaking: Giving a Great Speech: Public Speaking Tips: Eye Contact

How to Make Eye Contact with Audience | Public Speaking


Talk to your entire audience.  Not avoid them, not focus on one, but talk to everybody. Don’t forget to deliver your speech to the whole group, making eye contact with everyone. Use your face, smile and make great eye contact.

Effective Presentation Skills: Using Eye Contact to Connect with Your Audience


Practice is the key to helping you improve in public speaking.
Do you lack a platform for practice? Simply join a toastmaster club.

You are welcome to visit our Kampong Ubi Toastmasters Club if you are living in Singapore.

Share

How to Talk to Anyone?

How To Talk to Anyone, Anytime?  meet-new-people

Do you feel uncomfortable during conversations with neighbours, co-workers, acquaintances or even family members?

Do you want to be a better conversationalist?

Here are some tips for talking to anyone, anytime extracted from the article “Become a Better Conversationalist” written by Patricia Fry, ATMS which was published in December 2014 Toastmasters Magazine:

To Become a Better Conversationalist

  • Express a sincere interest in the other person.
  • Ask meaningful questions.
  • Give compliments.
  • Listen.
  • Avoid debates.
  • Keep up to date on current events and issues.
  • Use humor.
  • Model someone whose communication skills you admire.

“If you know how and when to speak, and when to remain silent, your chances of real success are proportionately increased.”  
– Ralph C. Smedley

How to Talk to People Without Being Awkward: 3 Quick Tips

  1. Be Genuinely Interested.
  2. Ask Open-Ended Questions.
  3. Be Willing and Open to Share.

Natural communication does not always come naturally.  A good place to practice your conversation skills is at your Toastmasters meeting. While the Toastmasters Competent Communication manual focuses on public speaking, many assignments in the Competent Leadership manual can help you practice one-on-one communication.

Practice is the key to helping you improve your communication and presentation skills.  Join Toastmasters and find a club that you like to practise your speeches in a friendly environment.  You are welcome to visit our Kampong Ubi Toastmasters Club if you are living in Singapore.

How to Talk to Anyone with Ease and Confidence

This video shows you a few conversation tricks and nonverbal tips that use both your communication and people skills to lead to amazing conversation and memorable first impressions.

Share

Great Icebreakers: How to Break the Ice and Meet New People

How to Break the Ice and Talk to New People?

meet-new-peopleCheck out the below Toastmaster International YouTube video “Great Icebreakers” and learn how to break the ice with confidence at your next networking or social event with these time-tested tips.

Having the ability to break the ice in any social situation makes networking more effective and fun. When you’re having fun people naturally want to interact with you.

Here are the points mentioned in the video:

Be in the moment.

  • Talk about relevant topics
  • Avoid negative or controversial topics
  • Ask questions about the event
  • Talk about interests
  • Make sure it’s a two-way discussion

Approach a group or person.

  • Smile and introduce yourself
  • Start with easy questions
  • Read body language
  • Ask the group a relevant question

Creating a lasting connection.

  • Exchange business cards
  • Write down a few details

Incorporate the tips and techniques as stated above and in no time you will be amazed how quickly you will be able to break the ice with other people.

For more information, to break the ice, you can check out our other blog post “How to Talk to Anyone“.

Since 1924 Toastmasters International has helped more than four million people gain the confidence to communicate.  Join Toastmasters and find a club that you like to practise your speaking skills. You are welcome to visit our Kampong Ubi Toastmasters Club if you are living in Singapore.

Share

Learn How To Write Better

Learn how to write better is important for your career or studies. How to improve your writing skills and communication skills?

The following article and videos will show you some tips on how to write better. Be a better communicator!

1.  10 top writing tips and the psychology behind them

“There are plenty of folks happy to tell you how to write better, just as any doctor will tell you to “eat right and exercise.” But changing your writing (or eating) habits only happens when you understand why you do what you do. I can help you with that…”Top10 Writing Tips

2. Scott Berkun – How to write well, instantly, every time
The video teaches us some of the techniques Scott Berkun uses to write well. In the background is a time-lapse video of him writing an essay – from start to finish.

 

3. How to Write Better- Writing Tips on Voice, Tense, Perspective, Cliché and Wordiness  
The above video discusses how to correct the most common mistakes made in writing. Whether you are writing fiction, non-fiction, or in an academic setting, these tips are a vital foundation for good writing.
– Passive and Active Voice
– Tense- Past, Present, Future
– Perspective, Point of View- 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Person Perspective
– Cliché
– Economy of Language- wordiness, modifiers, phrase

 

4.  5 tips to Improve Your Writing
The video shares 5 easy and quick tips that will improve writing in formal and academic settings. If you’re in college or university or plan to study overseas, this video is for you!

Practice is the key to helping you improve on your communication and presentation skills. Join Toastmasters and find a club that you like to practise your speeches in a friendly environment.  You are welcome to visit our Kampong Ubi Toastmasters Club if you are living in Singapore.

Share

How to Create an Effective Business Presentation?

Tips on Creating an Effective Business Presentation

Even as a seasoned executive and a confident speaker, sometimes you might struggle to keep the audience’s attention. Why?

One of the common problems is that you might have not thought enough about shaping the content to suit the needs of your audience.

 

Here are five steps to creating a great audience centered presentation:

  1. Find a story to tell.
  2. Draw your listeners in quickly.
  3. Explain the threat.
  4. Outline the solution.
  5. Give them an action step.

For details, please view the following YouTube video:

Practice is the key to helping you improve on your presentation skills.  Join Toastmasters and find a club that you like to practise your speeches in a friendly environments.  You are welcome to visit our Kampong Ubi Toastmasters Club if you are living in Singapore.

Share

How To Improve Your Public Speaking Skills?

Do you want to speak better in public?

Check out the below videos presented by Conor Neill on step-by-step tips and techniques for improving your public speaking skills.

3 Steps to Write Your Speech

The 3 step approach to prepare your speech as stated in the above video are:

  1.  Audience
    Spend some tome to think about the audience. Why are you speaking about the subject and for the audience? What does the audience know about the subject?
  2. Objective
    Define my objective in a single sentence. What is it that you want the audience to do after listening to your speech? Do you want them to take an action? Do you want them to feel emotion?  Do you want them to just think differently about something?
  3. Message
    Every presentation is always about the audience.  What is your key message? Try to write down your entire presentation in one or two sentences.

4 Steps To Speak Better

Jim Rohn always said that it takes 4 simple steps to becoming a great speaker:

  1. Have something to say
  2. Say it well
  3. Read your audience
  4. Intensity (the right words mixed with measured emotion)

Practice is the key to helping you improve in your public speaking skills and techniques.  Join Toastmasters and find a club that you like to practise your speeches.  You are welcome to visit our Kampong Ubi Toastmasters Club if you are living in Singapore.

Share