This week in the world’s #1 newsletter on leadership communication:

How to Master Your Next Team Presentation
On the Show: Speak Up Without Freaking Out
Book Recommendation: How to Know a Person

How to Master Your Next Team Presentation

Team presentations are hard to pull off.

Most look like disconnected mini-talks.

Having coached 10,000+ leaders in 50 countries, I can tell you this:

Two or three people presenting together isn’t 2-3 times harder.

It’s 10 times harder.

Here’s what happens:

Speakers are not aligned
Transitions are clumsy (“next slide please” - yawn)
The person not speaking looks bored.

Here’s how to make sure your team speaks as one:

1/ Align on your message

Before creating slides, get clear on the shared objective

Ask: What should the audience know, feel, and do?

2/ Create a “plan on a page” together

Agree on structure, outline and who does what.

If it is a 3-act structure, one person may do 1 and 3, the other part 2.

3/ Define the depth and detail

Who goes deep? Who stays high-level?

Only do deep and high-level, avoid the mediocre middle ground.

4/ Corporate or casual?

Bring the same energy.

Coordinate appearance and tone.

5/ Sharpen your speaker transitions

Don’t say, “Now I am passing over to Sophie.”

Say: “Now that we’ve seen the challenge, Sophie will walk you through our solution.”

*** Get my cheat sheet for powerful perfect transitions here. ***

6/ Don’t kill the flow with confusion

Agree in advance who drives the slides and practice together.

Agree on a subtle gesture; don’t say “Next slide, please”.

7/ Stay engaged — even when not speaking

Look at the speaker or audience, not your shoes

If you are not fully engaged, why should the audience be?

8/ For virtual teams

Meet 5min early to test tech and slides.

Keep energy up — Zoom fatigue is real.

9/ Plan your Q&A strategy

Decide who answers what type of question

Assign a “conductor” to manage flow and timing

In a team presentation, every role matters. Get the content right. Get the transitions right. Get the Q&A right.

ON THE SHOW

Speak Up Without Freaking Out

I do a weekly show to help you become a top 1% communicator. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple, or Youtube.

If you ever felt nervous before a presentation, struggled to find the right words in a high-stakes conversation, or want to become a better public speaker, this episode is for you.

Because my guest this week is Matt Abrahams, world expert in communication, Stanford lecturer, and host of the Think Fast, Talk Smart podcast.

We explore how to manage anxiety, stop over-relying on slides, and eliminate filler words. Matt also explains why memorizing a script often makes us more nervous and offers a better alternative. That, and so much more.

Definitely one of the highlights of the year!

Watch and listen to the full episode here:

BOOK RECOMMENDATION

How to Know a Person

I picked up this book in an airport bookstore in Italy last week and couldn’t put it down. Because David Brooks makes such a compelling case for better conversations as the foundation of real human connection.

We all want to be seen and understood, yet we often don’t start conversations – partly because we think they may be awkward and underestimate how much we will enjoy them.

To create deeper connection, the New York Times columnist and author encourages us to:

Be an Illuminator, not a Diminisher. Help others feel seen, ask big questions, listen with care – don’t make others feel small.
Invite storytelling, not just commentary. Ask questions that switch people into narrative mode to draw out their emotions, experiences, and insights.
Consider conditions before content. Don’t start by asking “what should we talk about?” First, understand purpose, context, and where the other person is coming from.

Ultimately, this book is about becoming the kind of person others feel safe opening up to, someone who doesn’t just talk, but truly sees.

Is there someone you want to truly see as a person this weekend?

On that note, have an inspired weekend,

Oliver