Welcome to my blog!

Thanks for stopping by to read!
I want to let you know that I appreciate this and your feedback is of the greatest importance.
Feel free to leave a comment.

Check out my business website too, http://www.powertalkng.com

Friday, September 24, 2010

Speak Right 24/7 with Temiloluwa Awonbiogbon

Do you want others to listen when you speak?
Do you want to improve your communication skills?
Do you have challenges pronouncing words correctly and want to improve?


This training programme as the name implies has been designed to empower you with the requisite skills you need to become an excellent communicator. We will teach you to improve your communication skills using the tools of diction and elocution as a springboard.

This full-scale training session will hold on Saturday, the 30th of October somewhere in Surulere, Lagos.
The venue is 277 Babs Animashaun Road by Bode Thomas Junction, Surulere.
The start time is 11:30am and stop time is 4:30pm.

If you are interested in this training session, pay N5000 only at any Guaranty Trust Bank branch into the following account:

Account Name: Power Talk Services
Account Number: 226940457110

You are sure to get more than your money's worth.

There will be practical sessions and the courses available are as listed below:

Diction and Elocution 101
Diction and Elocution 102


"There can be no better investment than the one you make in yourself. When you invest in yourself you will be able to recognise other viable investments" - Temiloluwa

I really look forward to seeing you there.

Confirm your seat now by paying N5000 only at any GTBank branch nationwide.

Account Name: Power Talk Services
Account Number: 226940457110

See you at the training session!

Monday, September 20, 2010

How to get it right: Posture and Movement in Speech Making

Knowing that even before you start speaking your audience will start to evaluate your ability to deliver the goods on your presentation, there is a need to be conscious of every little detail from the minute you arrive the venue until you make your presentation. It is all about increasing your believability level and your ability to establish a connection with your audience on all fronts. When called to make your presentation, it is preferable to walk smartly to the lectern with your head raised and your shoulders straightened out. This tells the audience that a confident person is about to speak to them and will most likely boost their expectations of you. Having said that it is up to you to justify their level of expectation and even go on to surpass their expectations.

Here are a few tips that will help you to maintain a good posture during that important speech you are preparing to make. They are very simple and easy to follow and should be practiced as many times as possible to attain perfection.

Shoulders Straight - There is no need make your audience begin to feel sorry for you if that is not the objective of your presentation and presentations like that are usually reserved for the theatre if you get my drift. Do not slump as it indicates tiredness on your part, which can easily be transmitted to your audience.

Chest Out - No matter what the subject matter of your speech is, you need to be convincing when making your presentation. Stand with your chest out and look smart with your posture.

Stomach In - This might not work for everyone as we all are physically endowed to varying degrees. Despite this, tuck your stomach in to enhance your appearance before your audience.

Head Up - When your head is down, you easily pass yourself off as one who is dejected. Even if truly you are then you should not let your audience know that that is the case. The standard procedure then would be to raise your head so that you can easily maintain eye contact with your audience.

Stand Erect - Standing erect is the easiest way of passing off as being confident and serious about what you are talking about before an audience. One of the crimes you can easily commit against yourself is to reduce your believability level in the eyes of the audience and this can happen in any way. Do not lean on one leg, as you must learn to put your weight equally on both legs to maintain the stance of confidence.

During your presentation, you must make sure your movements match the message you are trying to pass across, as there is a whole world of difference between moving with intent and moving aimlessly. Making deliberate movements to emphasise a point is the key point to note here. You must limit your movements such that they only add value to your presentation and not detract from it; this kind of approach is best in very formal settings like conferences, business presentations and the like.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

How to Increase Your Charisma and Confidence

One of the hurdles public speakers will have to climb has to do with raising their confidence level to an acceptable standard. This is more like begging the question really, as no one will be interested in a message you are not convinced of so this makes exhibiting a great measure of confidence of the utmost importance. So the next question is how do you go about increasing your confidence and passing yourself off as believable? Confidence without charisma is like a slice of bread eaten as is, without any supplement say butter or jam. While tasty as an independent food substance, it tastes better when eaten with something else. This same symbiotic relationship exists between charisma and confidence.

A charismatic speaker is a much better option than a dull, uninspiring one any day, this goes to underscore the importance of charisma in speechmaking. It is that ability to attract others and cause them to have confidence in you and your message. Most people buy on emotions rather than logic so if the messenger does not captivate them how can they possibly accept the message.

There are no hard and fast rules to becoming more confident and personally, I do not believe in the fact that you have to stand before a mirror to deliver all your lines to have an idea of how well you fare. What I feel is important is to have someone who is willing to give you honest feedback listen to your for about 2 minutes or so, this person will be your pseudo audience. This will help you to get honest feedback before encountering your real audience. Based on the feedback received you can work on yourself to bring your strengths to bear on your presentation and minimise your weaknesses.

One of the techniques employed by great speakers in a bid to be more charismatic is to develop a likeable personality. It reminds me of what my friend, Damilola Oluwatoyinbo, one of Nigeria's up and coming public speakers once said about charisma in public speaking, "People do not want be reminded of their school teacher or lecturer complete with cane in hand". The idea behind that simple statement was simply to develop a more likeable personality in other words every successful speaker must learn to be more personable if he or she wants to be charismatic and attract people like a magnet.

You can learn and harness virtually every skill; the same applies to charisma and confidence. When you get an opportunity to interact with people you meet on a personal basis, a simple act like stretching out your hand with a smile on your face and introducing yourself might just do the trick. You can practise this simple technique as often as possible and the good part is that it is free. Remember the important thing is to enhance your charisma and confidence.

Confidence and charisma are two attributes of great speakers you want to be associated with and you will do well to have them to add value to your presentations. 

Monday, September 13, 2010

Love song

Come, my beloved!

And I will sing you a love song

Though my voice be not sonorous

As of a choiring angel

Yet will I sing you a love song

As an oasis is to a desert land

As raindrops are to a scorched earth

As knowledge is to a barren mind

As light is to a dark path

As health is to one long ravaged

So, inamorata is your love, to me!

Friday, September 3, 2010

My thoughts on 'The Colloquium'

I was one of the guest speakers at 'The Colloquium', a speakers-for-change conference directed at young people, which held on Friday the 27th of August as a project of the FAITH Initiative (see www.thefaithinitiative.org) to celebrate the annual International Youth Day Conference. I spoke on the theme: 'Violence, Terrorism and Crime: Who can stop the Unholy Trinity?' and this was during the first session as there were three in all.

I hinged my presentation on 'The Neighbour Principle', which was first postulated by Lord Atkin in 1932 in the case of Donoghue and Stevenson. This principle states that, "You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour". It goes on to define a neighbour as someone so closely and directly affected by your act that you ought reasonably to have him or her in contemplation as being so affected when you are directing your mind to the acts and omissions being called to question. The rationale is that if you consider the effect of your action(s) on the person next to you before you take them and your decisions before you make them, then this world will be a better place for everyone involved.

Worthy of note is that the people behind 'The Faith Initiative' are very young and at the same time wise beyond their years. I make bold to say that our country would be a better place if there were more of them like that in every nook and cranny. Just in case any one of them reads this piece, know this I am proud to be associated with people like them.

Anyway, back to the issue of my presentation I started out by asking a question that required feedback and I think that was able to get their attention at the start. I spoke for about 20 minutes in all but I do not think that was my best presentation ever but it was good enough to pass across the message I needed to and get them inspired in the process, even if I say so myself:-).

Just in case you are wondering how to become a better speaker, the approach would be to start accepting the opportunities that come your way and to give your best at all times. The bottom line is that one gets better with practice.

I enjoyed my time at 'The Colloquium' and I believe we all took time to sow important seeds for the future of our nation. For all those who attended, the time to act is indeed now!

As Featured On EzineArticles Follow @temiloluwa14 Tweet
Custom Search