Presentation Skills Training Manchester (UK)

If you're looking for presentation skills training in or near Manchester (UK), you should find all the information you need here on this website. All the advice in the Public Speaking Skills section pertains equally to presentation-making as it does to giving any other kind of speech. Because they are such a common form of public speaking, I've included specific recommendations relating to presentations as an integral part of the discussion of public speaking skills.

Essentially, a presentation is a speech illustrated by visuals of some sort, usually slides. Adding a visual dimension changes the feeling and dynamic of a speech, in a way that can either enhance clarity or muffle the impact, depending on the situation, the subject and the content of the visual element.

Presentations are a major means of communication in the modern world and hundreds are delivered every day across Greater Manchester.

Presentation skills training courses in Manchester

To support this, helping people to acquire and improve their presentation skills, Manchester has a strong training industry. Most nationwide training companies have a branch in Manchester and many local organisations also offer presentation skills training. How do you know which course would suit you best?

My experience, over two decades as a presentation skills coach, points clearly towards one-to-one training as the most effective way for anyone to learn presentation skills. A public speaking course with only a single participant may seem counter-intuitive but actually the idea that fellow participants will play a useful role as your audience is a bit of a red herring. What you're really learning on the course is not literally how to address a group of people but how to do this well - in other words, the techniques of successful presentation-making. You're learning how to make best use of your voice, how to stand, how to move, how to use your notes, how to create a rapport with the audience, and all the other practical skills involved. The notion of an audience is of central importance but my experience has shown that this audience doesn't have to be real. An imagined audience serves the purpose perfectly adequately - with the added benefit that, if you're nervous to start with, you get the chance to hone your skills before you actually have to speak to a live audience.

Especially when it comes to practical skills, we all learn best by doing. In a one-to-one training session, you may be surprised how much progress you can make in a short time.

Personalised presentation skills coaching in Manchester

The main advantages of one-to-one coaching are:

It's all about you. No waiting around for other people to speak; you get up and present - with the coach there to give you constructive feedback and offer advice if you need it.

The course is flexible. Whether you want to focus entirely on delivery, whether you'd like some help with designing your slides and shaping your presentation, whether you're terrified and want to spend time working on overcoming psychological barriers, whatever your particular concerns are, this is your course and the content can be customised and adapted to meet your individual needs.

The timetable is flexible. You book as many or as few training sessions as you want to, in blocks of an hour and a half. A standard-length presentation skills course may not be quite enough for you. On the other hand, there's no point in signing up for hours and hours of training when it turns out you master the techniques and become a great presenter in the first 90 minutes.

Read more about personalised presentation skills coaching in Manchester.

Manchester-based presentation skills coach

I've been teaching public speaking and presentation skills for 20+ years. During that time, I've coached clients in London, Milan, Rome, Leeds, Liverpool, Derby and other interesting places - and I still do, although now that I'm living in Manchester most of my clients are roughly within the Greater Manchester area. I work a lot with clients in Manchester city centre and in Salford, Stockport, Tameside and the Manchester suburbs, particularly Didsbury and Prestwich.

If you want to, you can also read more about me and see testimonials from some of my clients.