Author Archives: Hugh Kearns

Public speaking and the imposter syndrome

Posted on December 30, 2016 by Hugh Kearns

Who hasn’t felt like an imposter when they think about standing up to give a public presentation? You might have to stand up in front of an audience, it could be a team meeting, a class seminar or a conference … Continue reading →

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BME: structuring your talk

Posted on December 14, 2016 by Hugh Kearns

It’s important to have some structure in your talk. How do you do that? Well here’s a simple idea. How about having a beginning, middle and end? And a very nice and simple structure is to link your beginning and … Continue reading →

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If English isn’t your first language

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Hugh Kearns

If English isn’t your first language it can be very daunting to have to stand up and make a presentation in English. Most people find public speaking difficult in their native language. It’s even harder when it’s not your first … Continue reading →

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Five conference fails and easy fixes

Posted on September 5, 2016 by Hugh Kearns

I’ve been to many conferences in my time. Too many. And while there have been some great presentations there have also been some epic fails. Fails which could have been easily avoided. I was at a conference recently so here … Continue reading →

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The 3MT Success Story

Posted on July 22, 2016 by Hugh Kearns

Last week I was visiting the University of Queensland, which aside from having a beautiful campus, is the home to an astonishing success story, the three minute thesis. It’s astonishing because the first three minute thesis competition only took place … Continue reading →

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First Impressions

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Hugh Kearns

First impressions We make up our minds about people very quickly. Think about talks you’ve been to. Sometimes even before the person speaks you’ve already formed some opinion about him/her, for example, confident, unsure, dis-organised. If you make a good … Continue reading →

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Practice, practice, practice

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Hugh Kearns

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice. How do get better at tennis? Practice, practice, practice. How do you get better at giving a talk? Practice, practice, practice. There are different types of practice. Let’s look at … Continue reading →

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Challenging anxious thoughts

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Hugh Kearns

Speaking in public is hard enough but what makes it harder is that probably 80% of your brain cells are working for the other side. As you’re preparing to present or in the middle of your presentation it’s likely that … Continue reading →

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Answering questions

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Hugh Kearns

First of all it’s useful to know that most people, and many accomplished speakers, find question time a bit daunting. It’s not just you! One of the reasons people find it scary is that it’s unpredictable. With your presentation you … Continue reading →

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Should you be talking at all? A checklist.

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Hugh Kearns

If you’ve put in an abstract for a conference and been accepted, then we can assume you want to present and you’ve got some idea of the topic. However there will many other times where you are asked to present, … Continue reading →

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