Here is another thing we noticed when videoconferencing this month. Glaring glasses. This occurs when you have a light placed too close, directly in front of you. The glasses pick up the glare of the reflected light. If you have tinted glasses this makes them look bright blue! What you need to do is place your key light slightly to the side of you. To be really professional you will light yourself from 3 directions. Many of the Influencers we teach use a circular light. Try sitting a little further back from it if you wear glasses or your pupils will contain a reflection of the circle light. Not necessarily the effect you are after! 

You've had a few months to get good at video conferencing, however we are seeing some easily-fixed problems happening all the time. We're referring to "eye contact" . If you want to build trust and rapport you need to look someone in the eyes directly. Too many of you are looking down or to the side, which is disconcerting to the viewer. Try raising your computer up on a stand or books so that your webcam is either directly at eye level or a little higher. Also...you can move the other persons image on the screen to directly below your webcam. This allows you to be looking directly at them. Try it!

We have been conducting training virtually for several months now and our clients have said it was a resounding success. We congratulate you all on being able to adapt to having your lessons online. It was rather fun actually! However, we do want to get back to more in-person training as soon as we can, so we have undergone a rigourous safety and health audit to make us covid safe. We have put into place a Covid-19 safety plan and have been registered as a NSW Covid Safe Business. We ask you to join with us as we implement our plan to keep you safe. See you soon.

You'd be amazed what sound can do. An engineering firm in Australia has invented a sonic fire extinguisher that uses super-low frequencies to create a vacuum that starves a fire of oxygen and puts it out. We could have done with this invention at the end of last year during the bushfires. Thinking of bushfires...we haven't forgotten our dear clients who got caught up in them. We also salute the Fireys who worked so hard to keep us safe. 

What a year it's been for everyone ! Sending you all our love. 

It's the question on everyone's lips...but you can't see their lips! How can I wear a mask and communicate clearly at the same time? Depending on the type of mask you're wearing, you'll find a few things that will create a challenge for you when speaking. Firstly, it's weird trying to breathe behind a mask, secondly, as your mouth is hidden it's obviously impossible for people "read your lips".People who are deaf and people who are new to a language rely heavily on lip reading to understand meaning. We suggest, if you can, speak with your eyes and eyebrows and over-enunciate what you are trying to say. Do your best. Hopefully this won't last for too long. 

We've all had to jump online and learn a lot of new tricks. We've had to become teachers to our kids, videoconferencing stars at work and generally keep the show on the road.  It feels unrelenting. Here are a few voice suggestions to keep you sane. 1.Keep breathing. 2.Adjust your computer height so you are looking at it at eye level, thus avoiding neck strain and letting your voice flow out smoothly. 3. Test and adjust your mic volume so you don't need to speak too loudly. 4. Sip warm lemon and honey water intermittently. 5. Rest....a lot more.

Time for fun and games....We're looking forward to meeting the elite Victorian Women's Cricket squad for some advanced training on how to sound great and deliver messaging victories as they continue on their stellar pursuit of excellence.

We've been busy designing and presenting a great course for the brand new Sydney Metro. Their busy controllers and staff needed some professional guidance on how to deliver excellent messages, so we showed them how to do it! Now all they need is for the equipment they announce through to be tweeked a little bit further, so that their well structured messages can be more easily heard in those sleek metro trains and beautiful new stations. 

Well it's almost here. For many of our clients Christmas is a time for family, fun, feasting and celebrations. Carols are sung and stories are told. Not everyone celebrates Christmas of course, however, we wish you all a wonderful end to the year. See our latest Chrismas video on our facebook page and put a smile on your dial. 

We have just had the priviledge of working with Lillian on her personal presenting and recording style.

Lillian has just recorded an appeal for The Lung Foundation Australia who are shining a light on Lung Cancer. Lillian tells of the prejudice that many people with lung cancer are faced with. There is so much more to her story. A brave and beautiful woman, being of service to others. You make us proud.

What is getting in your way as a speaker? Are you feeling unskilled? Embarrassed? Hate your voice? Don't know what to do with your hands? Well guess what. It's all fixable. We have some really good techniques to teach you and some compassionate hearts to help you. We've lost count of the number of people who've said this is the best training they've ever had. So if you're sitting on the fence,dangle your legs a little, hop down and come on safari with us. Let's capture your creativity, talent and confidence and bring it home.

We had a very interesting assignment this month helping with a motion capture project. With motion capture you need to make your face move so that all the dots line up for the many cameras that are simultaneously filming you. Speakers need to remember to move their mouths and relax. Pretty stressful in an odd environment that's for sure. Our reassuring coach helped put the candidate at ease and give a great natural performance.

Not only does YOUR voice have value...so does the domain name Voice.com. It sold for ....wait for it....$30 million! Holy cow! It is now the highest value domain name in the world. 

We've had a busy month so far. Running speech trainings in Brisbane for virtual presenters; teaching Politicians in Parliament and coaching Chinese and Indian delegates in accent reduction in Sydney. Phew. And there's lots more to come as people are gearing up for the EOFY season. Got some training allowance to spend before the end of the financial year? Come on in and learn to make a great impression with your voice. Get ready to rock the new financial year!