I finally finished Stranger Things. And like a lot of people, I felt… flat. Not because the show was bad. In fact, most of it was brilliant—especially the early seasons. The world-building. The music. The quiet moments with Steve and Dustin. The heart. The hair. The hero. But that final episode? It dragged.It fizzled.It didn’t stick the landing. And it reminded me of something I see in talks all the time. A speaker holds the room for 20 minutes—clear message, great rhythm, engaged audience....
12 days ago • 2 min read
The talk that made your brain work too hard Most presentations don’t fail because the speaker doesn’t know enough. They fail because the speaker is trying to impress you with the sheer breadth of what they know. I used to do this too. Before I started writing a talk, I’d open five tabs on my laptop and try to work out how I could cram all of that information onto the fewest possible slides. It’s easy to tell when someone has done it. They put up a slide full of dense text in a barely readable...
19 days ago • 6 min read
Every year people make resolutions about steps, sleep, inboxes, diets, finances, habits, fitness, mindfulness…but almost no one makes a resolution about the thing we all do more than anything else: Communicate. We speak in meetings.We teach.We explain.We pitch.We persuade.We present.We stand up in front of rooms — small, large, virtual, fluorescent, hostile, bored — and we try to share ideas that matter. Yet very few people ever say: “This year, I’m going to be better at this.” So here’s your...
26 days ago • 2 min read
There’s a moment I love in minimalist art.A single stroke of ink.A lone line across a page.One curve, one gesture, one fragment… and somehow it says everything. Think of Hokusai’s spare brushwork.Think of Ellsworth Kelly’s single arc of colour.Think of the way a charcoal sketch can suggest an entire landscape with only three lines. Minimalism isn’t emptiness.It’s precision.It’s restraint.It’s mercy — because your eye knows exactly where to rest. Your audience deserves the same mercy. 💡 ONE...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
There’s a moment at conferences that always makes me shift in my seat. It’s not the talk.It’s the introduction. The chairperson steps up, clears their throat, and begins reading a bio the speaker has… generously prepared for them. Then it starts. Titles, awards, committees, fellowships, affiliations, achievements…A slow march through every accomplishment since Year 10. The audience listens politely, the way you listen to someone else’s dream: supportive, but not entirely sure what’s going on....
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
You know the moment. The lights dim, the room hushes, the speaker clears their throat… and then it happens. A wall of text.Twelve bullet points.Maybe a stock photo of a doctor wearing a white coat, though you've not worn one in years. And the speaker apologises — “Sorry, I know this is a bit text-heavy, but I’ve got a lot to get through.”Everyone smiles politely because we’ve all been here before. We’ve all taken photos of slides we know we’ll never read again. Perhaps Richard Feynman could...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Ever seen a talk where the slides felt… off? The speaker’s talking about empathy—but there’s a stock photo of two people hugging.They’re explaining diagnostic reasoning—meanwhile, a glowing blue brain rotates on screen. It’s not just awkward. It’s distracting.That’s not dual coding.That’s dual confusion. In my workshop at the APEC conference, I mentioned how less is often more when it comes to slide text.That sparked a question about dual coding—and how it fits into that advice. So here’s...
2 months ago • 1 min read
I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to show up well.Not perfectly. Not flawlessly. But fully present.Giving a talk at the Compassion Revolution was one of the biggest moments of my year—nine scenes, dozens of rehearsals, lines I’d memorised like poetry.And still…It didn’t go exactly to plan. Not in a cynical way. In a generous one.Because the best presentations aren’t about us. They’re about the people listening. 💡 ONE IDEA WELL They never knew. On the night before my Compassion...
2 months ago • 1 min read
✈️ Airport Thoughts Right now, I’m at the airport waiting to board a flight to Adelaide. Tomorrow, I’ll be stepping onto the stage at Compassion Revolution to do something I’ve never done before. No slides.No clicker.Just me, the audience, and the words I’ve chosen. 🎤 A Talk, or a Performance? Most of the time, I tell people not to memorise every word. Instead: Know your beats.Know where the story turns.Know the feeling behind each section. But this talk… is different. This one’s more like a...
3 months ago • 2 min read