Tag Archives: Presentation skills

One sentence that turned an awkward moment into opportunity

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Photo credit: Laura Oja

What do you do when you realize you’re about to have a business meeting with a client, and at the reception desk you hear the person next to you is going to meet the same person at the same time? 😃

You network. 😃

I said ”Excuse me, I get the impression we’re about to meet the same person at the same time”. 

We introduce ourselves to one another and assume there must be some kind of a misunderstanding. 

While waiting for the meeting to begin, the Swedish guy and I have a conversation and realize we’re not competitors to each other. We exchange contact details and agree on a meeting about potentially working together at some point. 

This happened yesterday. 

I’ve seen a lot of interesting situations in meetings, but this was a first. 

Sometimes buyers like to put people in awkward situations, but not that buyer I was about to meet, he is not that kind of a guy. Yesterday was about a misunderstanding.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve encountered in a meeting? 💥

Join Finlandia Toastmasters and improve your Spanish speaking skills!

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Photo: A blast from the past, when we used to meet at a local café in Helsinki, in 2019. 

Join us tomorrow and practice your Spanish! 🇪🇸 🇨🇱🇵🇪🇨🇴🇻🇪

Finlandia Toastmasters meets again and as always, the program includes improvised speeches as well as prepared speeches that receive tailored evaluations by experienced speakers to maximize learning and personal development.

As to the atmosphere, we are a deadly serious club 😃

Join the meeting either online or face to face at Oodi Central Library in Helsinki, in meeting room #1, Wednesday Jan 21 at 6pm Finnish time. 

The membership fee is a ridiculous 60 euros for half a year (plus a one-time fee of 20 euros for new members), and it’ll give you a tremendous boost on your Spanish and public speaking skills. 

Having said that, you’re always welcome to visit for free to check us out.

You’ll meet people from various Spanish-speaking countries, as well as a couple of non-native speakers.

We meet twice a month, always on Wednesday’s at 6pm Finnish time.

👉 Let me know if you’d line the Teams link.

#Toastmasters #publicspeaking #presentationskills #Spanish

It’s speech contest time!

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Just for the heck of it, a keynote speech in ten seconds 😀

It’s this time of the year again: the season of the Toastmasters autumn speech contests. All over the world, people are competing in two categories: humorous speeches and improvised speeches. Loads of fun. 

This Saturday, I’ll be hosting this speech contest in Helsinki. It’s called an area contest, with participants from Finland and Estonia.

No one, except me, knows the topic of the improvised speeches. 😃 The contestants will find out the topic 30 seconds before they begin their speech. 😬

In the attached video from exactly a year ago, from the same contest, you’ll see a primer in stage presence and body language in ten seconds 😀

Also, you can find a couple of brief thoughts about hosting an event behind this link.

I’ll publish something more comprehensive on the topic of event hosting later this year. 

For now, come and see a bunch of superb speakers at the event space ”Vapaakaupunki” at the Redi shopping center at Hermannin Rantatie 5 in Helsinki this Saturday, October 25 at 12:00 (doors open). The program starts at 12:15. The language of the contest is English.

You’re warmly welcome!

Three opportunities to improve your public speaking skills during your freetime

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Waiting for my time to shine. Photo credit: Alessandro Rampazzo

Would you like to improve your public speaking skills in a hobby setting?

In addition to paid work in the public speaking coaching domain, the hobby side of practicing public speaking skills is now in full swing after the summer holidays. 

Here are a couple of options that I’m familiar with, because I’m there myself 😃

  1. Last Monday I gave a speech at the Stadi Talkers Toastmasters club. 

    It’s always a pleasure to be on stage at this club that meets at a bar downtown Helsinki. The audience is friendly and supportive. They don’t throw you with a pint of beer, even though based on the feedback I know that every speech of mine, while having its strengths, it also  has room to improve for the next time. This club is in English. 🇬🇧

    Stadi Talkers meets bi-weekly on Monday evenings at 6pm Finnish time, next time on September 8.

  2. This Wednesday evening I’ll be hosting a Finlandia Toastmasters club meeting. 

    It’s otherwise the same as described above but this one is in Spanish. 🇪🇸 We have native speakers as well as mere mortals like me. 

    We are hybrid, so you can also participate via Teams from anywhere in the world. Meetings occur every second Wednesday at 6pm Finnish time. Bienvenid@!!!

  3. The Famous Speeches Reading Club is something I started with a couple of friends last year. 

    As the name suggests, we practice public speaking skills by reading renowned texts, a method of learning that has been used already since the ancient Greeks. We read traditional speeches, movie speeches, poems… whatever contains impactful language in a compact package. This one is in English. 🇬🇧

    We meet on Zoom every two weeks on Tuesday evenings at 6:15pm Finnish time for about one hour. Reach out if you’re interested in joining!


All in all, I would encourage you to use every opportunity you get to speak up and to be on stage, because the best way to improve your public speaking skills is to practice, practice, practice, constantly. 

It’s a lifelong journey and today is a good day to begin.

Why does the term ”shooting star” inspire more than a ”meteor”?

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”Le stelle cadenti ci ricordano ogni anno che c’è seumpre qualcosa in cui sperare, c’è sempre qualcosa da desiderare. Ama, sogna, desidera e ele stelle faranno da contorno alla tua luce.”

”Shooting stars remind us every year that there’s always something to hope for, there’s always something to desire. Love, dream, desire, and the stars will frame your light.”

Pretty poetic. Or is it?

Here’s something useful for those who study the art of influencing people through language, e.g. for public speakers.

Note that the key term in this quote is different in different languages and gives a different message to the reader.

Usually something going upwards is understood as positive, and something going downwards is considered negative. 

In Italian, ”stelle cadenti”, ”falling stars”, go down. That’s usually understood as something negative and not seen very often in quotes that are supposed to inspire. 

So, why are the ”stelle cadenti” still inspiring for us? It’s because of another popular dichotomy used in metaphors: light versus darkness. Light is good, and shooting stars shine a bright light.

Herein lies the reason why the inventor of the above quote didn’t use the term meteor instead of a shooting star. After all, both words are about the same thing.

Our minds visualize a meteor more easily as something going down. In addition, the remains of a meteor are called by a similar term, meteorite, and a meteorite is made of dark stone. No shining light.

So, two bad things in a meteor. We are brought up learning that light is better than dark, and upwards is better than downwards. 

Therefore, a ”shooting star” inspires, a ”meteor” does not.

The choice of words is of crucial importance for a writer, as well as for a public speaker.

My daily Duolingo. 

A very successful event!

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Oh yes! We did it 🔥🔥🔥

If the client says so, then we must have done something right.

The machinery worked exactly like it should and then a bit more.

The speakers, the organizers, the production company, the staff at the Oodi Central Library.

And the audience who showed up by the dozens and engaged just beautifully!

Yksi-kaksi-kolme …sauna!! 🔥🔥🔥

How do you host an event and also act as a coach to the speakers?

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How do you host an event…and also act as a coach to the speakers? 🔥

Here’s a snapshot of my day yesterday, preparing to emcee an international event tomorrow night:

– Change of plans: one of the speakers had to cancel!

– Coaching the speakers preparing for their talks.

– Preparation meeting with the client, the organizers and the production company.

– Update my script and continue rehearsing.

– Visit dentist

1️⃣ Yes, the first thing I saw in the morning was a message from one of our speakers: they had to cancel their participation in the event. Contrary to what many think, this is business as usual and happens all the time. We discussed a plan B (and C, D, E and F 😀) with the organizers and went ahead with a solution. The content of the event continues to be solid.

2️⃣ Acting as both the emcee of the event and a coach to the speakers. 🔥

This is slightly more complex than what it sounds.

Coaching public speakers is fun and rewarding, and there are actually many benefits when the host of the event is also the trainer to the speakers and panelists.

First of all, you get to know the speakers and the content they will deliver in advance. This makes it so much easier for you to interact with the speakers while on stage.

You’re also able to give more insightful comments on the content of their talks to the audience.

In addition, you’re able to coordinate the roles and content of the speakers during the Q&A or a panel discussion.

This makes your panel discussion stand out from 99% of panel discussions, by not being boring.

Finally, you will know that the speakers will deliver fantastic talks as you yourself have helped them prepare and rehearse. …Well, of course only if you’ve done a good job 😃

By the way, there’s an interesting dichotomy here: many emcees don’t exactly shine as excellent listeners, and a speech coach needs to have advanced active listening skills. Many people are both good listeners and good speakers, but not everyone. 🤔

3️⃣ Visit dentist: a piece of my tooth broke! I don’t want to have a toothache while on stage! Fixed!

Other activities yesterday included a final planning meeting with the organizers and again, updating and rehearsing my script.

The photo depicts a speaker coach at the end of a rehearsal session with one of the speakers. I guess I’ve gotta shave and get a haircut before climbing on stage.

Link to the event (fully booked already, sorry) https://ihhelsinki.fi/events/new-in-helsinki-09-04-2025/

How do you prepare to be the master of ceremonies and lead a panel discussion at an event?

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How do you prepare to be the master of ceremonies and lead a panel discussion at an event?

Well, in many ways. Here’s a snapshot from today, preparing for a gig on Wednesday:

1️⃣ Today, as every day until the event, I’ve been rehearsing my script.

For instance I’ve been thinking on how to make sure my choice of words will work for both native English speakers as well as for an audience coming from all continents except where the penguins live.

2️⃣ How will I handle audience questions to the American panelists if the discussion turns to American politics?

3️⃣ Should I wear orange, my go-to color that energizes both the audience and me, or something else?

One thing I know for sure: the song I want played when I walk onto the stage. 😃

It’s my feel-good song since already for weeks now. Has to do with sauna. 😀

Hosting events is fun and rewarding. I consider to have succeeded when I get the speakers to shine and the audience to be satisfied with the event.

Click this link to know where to go this Wednesday evening! https://ihhelsinki.fi/events/new-in-helsinki-09-04-2025/

Are you able to speak impromptu?

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This photo was taken at a club meeting where we had a speech contest with humans competing against ChatGPT in giving speeches. Guess who won?

Tonight, for a change, I’ll be hosting an exercise on giving improvised speeches at the Stadi Talkers Toastmasters Public Speaking Club. 

It’s probably the best place in Helsinki to improve your public speaking skills in English. 

Check it out at 6pm at the bar Willi Wäinö, Kalevankatu 4, downtown Helsinki. At the back of the bar, downstairs.

Who doesn’t need public speaking and human interaction skills at their work, their community or within the family? 

Yep, everyone needs them, whether you’re an AI wizard or not. 

Join us tonight for both the fun and the learning.

My mission is to help people become better communicators and to improve their interaction skills.

The best kept secret to acquiring superb public speaking skills

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On this day, a hundred years ago, the first ever Toastmasters meeting took place in California. 

Fast forward a hundred years, here I am, giving a keynote speech and an event in Estonia last weekend. 😃😃😃

Thanks to Toastmasters, I have become a better speaker, trainer and coach. Here’s to the next one hundred years! 🎊🎉🎂

If you want to become a more confident speaker, check out your closest Toastmasters club.