Maria's Musings

Public Speaking Nerves

As a presenter and a presentations coach, one of the most common questions I'm asked is "How do I overcome nerves when getting up to present?"

Yes, there are things you can do that will help to calm your nerves, during the preparation, when you're about to speak and whilst speaking (subscribers to my newsletter will be receiving a free 1-sheet on this subject soon).  But I just wanted to make a quick observation that's the first thing I always say to anyone who asks me about handling nervousness........

Christmas Gifts

Is it just me or have you noticed more people giving more away this Christmas?

The nice thing is that there seem to be a lot of people who want to give things away all the time.  Maybe I'm just noticing it more because all the emails I'm receiving with giveaways have been headed "Christmas Gift" and such like.

Heck, I've even done it myself!  Yesterday, I sent out an email to all my newsletter subscribers giving them a link to collect a 1-sheet on "Quick Presentation Structure".  I received a flood of emails thanking me for it and sending good wishes to me and my family.  It's lovely to get such messages from all over the world!  I also had about 6 people immediately unsubscribe as a result of me sending out this gift.  Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth. Some people can be so strange.

Woe in the House

There's much doom and gloom in our household after the Arsenal v Chelsea result yesterday.

It's not so much the fact that Arsenal lost that means they're probably out of the Premiership race but the game really was one of men against boys and it's pretty embarrassing for long-standing supporters like my husband.

I'm not overly into footie, only insofar as it affects the entire mood in the house, heck, even the cats want Arsenal to win so we keep an upbeat atmosphere!

A Letter to the Cats

 

A good friend saw this and decided to send it to me today (I can't think why?)

No copyright info was included so thanks to the author (whomever you are), although it could have been written by anyone who's owned by a cat or cats. 

Enjoy:

Dear Cats,

The dishes with the paw print are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food.

Please note: Placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.