How a tin of beans helps me to speak to big audiences

Ahh, public speaking.

Some fear it, most hate it, but me? I can’t get enough of it. Being a Young Ambassador for The Prince’s Trust has given me plenty of opportunities to give speeches (not to mention sample some rather excellent food) and I take every chance I’m offered.

But a question I get asked a lot is: “How do you manage to speak to audiences that big? Don’t you get nervous?”

Of course I do. Anyone was close enough to me when I was speaking at the HR Distinction awards would have seen my hand shaking a scary amount.

But the ability to speak isn’t about not having those nerves, it’s the ability to control them and still deliver the message you want to send. In fact, the presence of nerves comforts me. Anyone who isn’t nervous before public speaking is either a superhuman or, more likely, somewhat arrogant of their ability.

So, what is the best way to cope? Some would tell you to imagine the audience naked.

No thank you.

When I’m about to go on stage and give a speech, the first thing I do is sit up very straight and pretend I’m someone extremely powerful. This gives me the illusion of power and therefore a bit of control over how I’m feeling. That sounds stupid but it really works for me so I don’t mind too much.

And then, I remember my audience is just like a tin of beans.

I don’t picture them all dressed as cans of Heinz*, that would be ridiculous and would put anyone off. No, I just look at the audience and realise that I can’t actually see any facial details. They’re all just a mesh of unidentifiable beings all gathered closely. They’re all beans in a can, that’s it.

Now, what is terrifying about talking to a tin of beans? Unless you’re an outsider watching someone actually talking to a tin of tomatoey beany goodness of course. That'd freak me out no end.

It works for me. It makes me more comfortable in front of a crowd. Maybe I’m just a bit crazy but why not give it a go yourself next time you speak?

Remember:

Audience = tin of beans

I’d be fascinated to hear how other people manage with public speaking. Do you have a unique (and slightly less crackpot than mine, I imagine) way of preparing for a speech? Let me know in the comments J

*Other, similarly excellent, brands of beans are available

Should you be on Google+?

There’s been a lot of talk this year about the rise of Google+ as a social network. It is now the second largest, behind only Facebook. Experts predict that by May 2016, it will overtake Facebook in the social sharing kingdom – a staggering consideration when you think it currently accounts for a measly 2% of the global sharing (onlinemediadirect.co.uk).

What’s so great about Google+ then? It seems that almost nobody I know personally uses it as a social network.

Well, having done lots of research on the platform for work, it appears to me to be one of the most underrated options out there for marketers and brands.

It pins together a lot of the features of its competitors (and tweaking them, it is worth adding) and adds its own unique features to create a user experience that is actually pretty fantastic.

Of course, there’s also the additional feature of Hangouts, a video platform in which, from a marketing perspective, a company can hold live Q&As or open forums to gather opinions.

The simple fact, ladies and gentlemen, is that Google+ simply just isn’t big in this country. Across the pond, its fantastic potential is being realised and we need to follow suit and get on there before it becomes the “thing” that every business automatically does.

Remember, also, that with Google+, you can link all Google products under one account, a rather neat move by the online giant. There just seems to be something really smooth about the way you don’t have to log in to each account and can share your thoughts from Youtube automatically on G+.

“Circles” is also a slick way of grouping your contacts and allows you to ensure that your content is seen by a specific group, rather than a generic audience. This allows you to filter which content goes where, maximising the relevance of your content to its audience.

Facebook, of course, is still the biggest platform. The focus of my research for work has been kind of “Facebook vs Google+.” My perspective? Why not Facebook AND Google+?

There’s certainly the attitude that “Facebook is dying” or that it is past its peak. Be that as it may, it is still by far the largest platform and has a rather frightening dominance in the social media realm. This simply can’t be ignored, whether the company be big or small, private or public sector.

So, which should you be on, if you HAD to choose just one? Both platforms have their benefits and their drawbacks and it all really does depend on what you want out of social media. Perhaps this a rather sketchy analogy, but allow me to refer you to my main man José Mourinho, following criticism from his Man City counterpart that Chelsea were overspending. He said that Man City were building a team for now, to succeed whereas Chelsea were building a team for long term success in the future, even if it meant failure in the immediate term.

My opinion? Man City is Facebook, where the audience are now. But if you want to get ahead of the game and build a social media platform that is yet to establish itself, you need to get on Google+ (and also start supporting Chelsea. Just saying).