Give First, Connect Faster
Give First, Connect Faster The first time I went to the Professional Speaking Association conference, I was nervous as anything. I was new to the world of speaking and doing that classic thing of pretending to check my emails on my phone so it wouldn’t look too much like I didn’t know anyone. That’s when […]
Networking without even thinking
Networking without even thinking A few years ago, I got an email from my friend Adam. It was nothing to do with work, just the usual post-dinner admin: “Here are my bank details so you can transfer your share.” (a big group of us had been out for a curry, and it really didn’t seem […]
Out of Office, Still in Touch: Rethinking Networking in August
Out of Office, Still in Touch: Rethinking Networking in August Relaxing on the beach I used to treat August like a networking write-off. Everyone’s away, I’d tell myself. May as well focus on admin, batch some content, maybe finally alphabetise my Google Drive. But a couple of years ago, I got an unexpected reply to […]
How to grow your business if you don’t like to self-promote
How to grow your business if you don’t like to self-promote I don’t like self-promotion. It makes me very uncomfortable. But I still need to grow a business – and I can’t do that if I bury my head in the sand and hope it’s all going to be OK. In business, the only way […]
Have you ever tried to sell when at a conference?
Have you ever tried to sell when at a conference? Try these instead… Not long ago I went to a conference, where I met an enthusiastic salesman who was promoting a combined fire and security protection system. He shook my hand enthusiastically and proceeded to hard sell his amazing new solution that would solve all […]
Why I don’t like blowing my own trumpet
Why I don’t like blowing my own trumpet That’s right – I don’t enjoy self-promotion. I don’t like blowing my own trumpet. In my last article (which you can read here) I discussed what self-promotion is and why so many people find it uncomfortable. In this second article in a series of 3, I’m going […]
Are you an Unnatural Promoter?
Are you an Unnatural Promoter? I’m an Unnatural Promoter. What do I mean by this? I mean that I’m not great at blowing my own trumpet. I’m very happy to talk about other people – but when it comes to talking about myself, I find it difficult and awkward. In this first article in a […]
How to connect to the audience when public speaking
How to connect to the audience when public speaking Charlie Lawson speaking to an audience with a hand held microphone When listening to a top-level professional speaker, do you ever notice that it often appears as if they aren’t presenting to the audience so much as having a chat with them? Each individual listening feels […]
Do you get nervous when speaking in public?
Do you get nervous when speaking in public? Everyone gets nervous when speaking in public. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first time, or you’re a professional speaker who speaks to audiences every day – nerves are completely normal. I speak regularly to audiences of all sizes, and I worry if I’m not feeling at least a little […]
What is networking?
What is Networking? In life, you’ll often hear the phrase ‘it’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know.’ This is absolutely true – but when it comes to networking, it goes a stage further than that. Yes, who is more important than what: but more important is how well you know people. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t […]