He skis; he smiles; he waves; he does not win….. except in the hearts of the fans. African skier Kwame Nkrumah-Acheompong is known as “The Snow Leopard”….. coming from a land where skiing is almost non-existent. He’s already won a gold medal in charisma – here’s how:
1. His Goals are Real: According to Kwame, he has two goals: to finish the race, and to not finish last.
2. He is a Copy Cat. He calls himself a copy cat because he copies the styles of other skiers
As presenters, one of the fastest ways to improvement …

I am in Washington DC preparing for a training session tomorrow. I’ve been working on my laptop all afternoon – catching up on tons of work. Of course I have the Olympics on tv, playing in the background. I was so busy that I was not paying attention to it….. until “the voice” happened. I don’t know what his name is…. but the NBC cross-country commentator had such an exciting voice as he was describing the event that I developed goose bumps, my heart started pumping, and I abandoned my work. Wow! What a voice – full of emotion, energy, …

Kiss and Cry. In figure skating it’s the little booth in which the skater and coach await the results. They kiss, they hug, they drink water, they hold roses and Teddy bears…. but most of all they come to grips with the performance. As presenters, we all need a kiss and cry moment after delivering a talk. For me, it’s usually when I’m driving home or back to a hotel at the end of the day. I always ask myself: “What two things went really well, and what two things would I do differently next time?” When I return to …

Shaun White has it. It! Olympic Champion, innovator, media darling. He has it! Here are some tips you can use in your next presentation – inspired by Shaun:
1. Do the McTwist 1260 Shaun had a surprise for the audience – a trick they had not seen before. Instead of doing the same old boring PowerPoint presentation, why don’t you surprise the audience with something unexpected? You could change your presentation to a discussion format, take in an interesting prop, do a top-10 list, tell a compelling story or example. Get the drift?
2. Smile more If you’ve seen Shaun, you have …

Canadian figure skating champion Patrick Chan had a mediocre performance in his short program. He suffered a full point deduction for not ending his routine when the music stopped. Ouch! The judges place a high value for ending on time. So does your audience. Respect the fact that your audience wants you to end on time. If you are crunched for time, cut to the message and a few remaining points. When the music stops…… the message stops.
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