Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign
[00:00:03] Speaker B: and welcome to this episode of AV in the Wild, where we are live at ISC 2026. We're in the Avixa TV studio.
It's been a busy, busy week and. But we're taking full advantage of the amazing people we've had at the show this week. For those of you who haven't been able to to make it over to Barcelona, we've been recording some great content and this one, honestly, I promise, is a real treat and is going to get lots of you really thinking and I hope, getting engaged.
So let me introduce our guests today. I've actually got an amazing co host who you've seen before with Neil, but it's our first time together. Hi, Sam.
[00:00:47] Speaker C: Hi, Ifat. It's lovely to be presenting with you. And speaking of presenting, we're here with the beautiful Hannah Shelsewell, professional presenter. Would you like to introduce yourself?
[00:00:58] Speaker A: Yeah, sure. Hi. Yeah, I'm Hannah. I am. Well, I have a presentation and media training company called Boost and I also host events. So I've been here presenting on Avixa tv, which has been really fun, and also hosting the Megatrends program. So I have been seeing so many incredible talks and I also got to meet the humanoid robots and robotic dogs. So that was a bit of a. Bit of a highlight.
[00:01:19] Speaker C: Awesome, awesome.
So with your professional presentation and your experience in this area, obviously you've been doing lots of panel discussions, you've hosting the Megatrends, you've been on Avixa tv.
There's a lot of people here who will be kind of at the start of their career in av.
What would you say to someone who's coming to a show like this and looking to push themselves out of their comfort zone and say yes to opportunities?
[00:01:48] Speaker A: It is so important that we are stepping into our yes. And I think that so many people disqualify themselves and may come to something like this and feel quite overwhelmed. And it can be, can't it? You walk into it, it's vast, isn't it? It's huge. And you're meeting new people. But there is such opportunity at events like this and many others as well.
I think women as well, if I'm honest, can disqualify ourselves maybe a bit more and have that real feeling of imposter syndrome. But if we can try and shake that off and think, do you know what, everyone's just human beings and there's such a great chance and opportunity to meet people and to connect. So I think it's just maybe beforehand, as well, you could prepare yourself and think, well, what's my story? You know, what can I tell people about me? But also what are the questions that I can ask people?
And as soon as you start asking questions and you engage in conversations, people love connecting. I've been to. I was at an event last night, actually. People just rocked up to the table, and I think if you could just rock up to the table and come and say hello, people aren't going to turn their back on you and say, oh, I don't want to talk to you. They're going to be, oh, yeah, hi, who are you? So I think stepping into that is great. And then what that does is it helps us to continue to do it more and more and more, because it is those opportunities of saying yes that help us then to progress our career, to make those connections. You never know who you're going to meet. You know, I love talking to people on airplanes. Like, I have met people who I've ended up doing business with or I've end up with friendships because you've just gone and said, hi, you know, who are you? So I think that's why we need to be doing that as much as we possibly can. It's like, shoulders back, walk in with confidence. We've got a story to tell and people want to hear it.
[00:03:29] Speaker C: Yes. Oh, that's so inspiring. They're absolutely right. I think there are a lot of people. I mean, I was one of those people who is. Who was absolutely terrified to step in front of camera, hold a microphone, host a panel discussion. It still terrifies me. But what would you say to anyone who's kind of got that nervousness and they're. They're presented with an opportunity, they don't have time to think about, oh, my gosh, what am I going to say? What am I going to do? Are there any kind of top tips that you can give to someone to give them that confidence to take that first step?
[00:04:02] Speaker A: Yeah, definitely. Okay, first of all, I'd say say yes and then figure it out.
So there's a few things that you can do. So what I talk about the importance of preparing yourself as well as what you're going to say.
So first of all, right, from the moment that you've been given that opportunity, you need to start thinking differently. It's very easy, isn't it, to hear that voice on the shoulder and saying, oh, you're going to fail. You're going to get it wrong. It's not going to go very well. You're like, no, no, no. I've been asked to do this for a reason, which means I can do this. So I say step into that first of all in terms of positive mindset, then think about, how do I prepare myself? We've done it in some training with Wildwood, but, you know, bit of power posing, how we standing, it's shoulders back. It's not, you know, those kind of nervous positions. It's like, how do I prepare myself? I've got a ritual before I present, I have a ritual that I go through and it's trying to be really calm, really positive, and then I shake stuff off. You can shake off that negative energy and really then think, how do I get myself into a really powerful position in my mind and in my body? But also just a top tip on preparing what you want to say for a panel where we always start is, how do you want people, first of all, who's your audience?
But what do you want them to think, feel and do? And if you think about that first of all, and what you want them to think about you as a presenter, as a moderator or on a panel, what you want them to feel. If you want them to feel excited, you need to be excited, right? If you want them to feel motivated, you need to motivate them and use that kind of language. So those are a couple of tips. I mean, there's so many things that we could cover right now, but I think those are the main things. Audience, what do you want them to think, feel and do and then really think about? Right. How do I prepare myself really well for this and think positively.
[00:05:49] Speaker C: I love the power poses. 1.
That's brilliant. I do that every time I have to do something. Now. Yes. I've got my favorite power poses. This is one of them. And it really does work. I think you said 30 seconds for a power pose and it really does. It kind of changes your mindset and gives you that sort of positive outlook and you just feel stronger. So that's a really good tip.
[00:06:11] Speaker B: I mean, my brain is going at a million miles an hour now, and I'm just thinking and I'm going back to my very first panel. And I remember thinking, why would anybody want to hear from me? Or what I've got to say? And I think that's quite a common thing. And so many people have said, but you.
I haven't got anything to say, or I haven't got a story.
[00:06:33] Speaker A: How do you.
[00:06:33] Speaker B: How do you break through that? So it. I think I feel like it's a layer more than imposter. It's quite a deep rooted thing of, you know, how do we get people to just jump in?
[00:06:46] Speaker A: It's really hard, isn't it? I think so many people struggle with these limiting beliefs. And again, it's back to disqualifying ourselves or discounting ourselves. But I want to pick up on the first point that you made about everyone's got a story 100% and storytelling is what it's all about. If you can start your presentation or your panel, whatever it is, with something that's going to hook people in and help to connect with you, then straight away that's going to take away a lot of the nerves.
But for people who really struggle, I think with those kind of traumas, one of my coaches actually works with people to help support with this area. So some people have had genuine trauma situations. So I was working with a lady recently, really high up in government.
She worked with my colleague first and she did some what's called eft, so emotional freedom technique. And she thought it was all going to be really woo, right. She's like, it's not for me. Thanks. I'm all right, Hannah, I'll just work with you. Doing the presentation training. I went, no, you need to see Jo first. So she did this and she'd worked through some physical intelligence stuff like breathing. Breathing. I know it sounds obvious, but we just need to take a few breaths. That's one of my rituals before I present.
So if that's really a struggle for you, I'd say go and hunt that out. You can find YouTube videos, by the way, on that kind of material and then break through by thinking, what story can I tell? And it's back to knowing that you've been chosen. If you've been asked to do something, you've been chosen for a reason, so you need to have that belief. And so often it's other people who can see our potential and they, they're the ones who go, oh, yeah, you need to step into this opportunity. And we go, no, you're right, thanks. No, it's not for me. Someone else can do it, Sam can do it. And it's like, no, you need to do it. So I know it can feel really hard. But, you know, I was working with another lady the other day, she was going back to work after being on Maternity. She was really struggling with confidence. We worked together for an hour, looked at her presentation and I messaged her, I said, how did it go? And she went, hannah, it was amazing. I sat down, I wanted to stand back up again. I wanted to do it again. And. And often it's just having the go. You do it, and then you go, oh, do you know what? It wasn't so bad. And I think you said that to me the other day. You were hosting a podcast and you said, do you know what? I actually really enjoyed it. And I think that's the thing. We don't realize that it can be a very enjoyable experience.
[00:09:00] Speaker B: Yeah. I think when you're in the moment, you don't know how you're being seen either. But quite quickly you lose yourself because you're. So if you are genuinely interested in the. The topic you're talking about, that's what you're talking about. And it doesn't become about who's watching you, does it? Would you agree?
[00:09:18] Speaker C: I would completely agree with that. And I think one of the things that I always held me back for so long was this thought about, what do other people think of me? What are they seeing when I'm up on stage? I had a chat with some of my colleagues after one of my panel discussions earlier this week, and they said, all I was thinking was that, thank God it's not me up there.
And I think you kind of. You don't realize that the professional edge that it gives you when you do build a bit more confidence to push outside of your comfort zone and get onto stage and grab the mic and get on camera. I mean, I'm still very much at the early stages of my journey, but I'm already seeing the benefits and the possibilities of that.
So thank you to Hannah for doing that. We had a wonderful training session, didn't we?
[00:10:09] Speaker A: We had such fun. You know, if you get the opportunity to do any coaching like that, take it, because it's just about building confidence ultimately. And like you said, you know, stepping into that. Yes. Taking the opportunity. And yeah, you're absolutely right, because we saw people that day, you know, fly, you know, and that confidence issue is huge for so many people. But it comes down to as well, I think, that fear of judgment that you were just talking about, and I couldn't agree more. You know, if you think right now, if you're going to a presentation and you're watching someone present, are you sitting there going, they don't look great. What are they wearing? Or hope they fail, you're not thinking that, right? You're thinking, glad it's not me. Oh, you know, she's doing a good job. And that's. And if they're not thinking that, they're the ones with the problem, not you, if that makes sense. So also, people. We think that people are thinking about us way more than they really are. We are the ones thinking about ourselves. And I think if we can flip the spotlight off ourselves, it helps. I try to think more about the audience, and I also try and think about the one. So rather than thinking, right, I've got a room of 800, I've got a room of 1 and 1 and 1. And they're just people, you know, and they're kind for the most part, and they want me to succeed. And I think if you can have that mindset when you're going up to present as a. Well, and, yeah, you'll. You'll do a good job. I. I've seen you and you're amazing. You're both brilliant communicators. So, yeah, everyone should be doing this.
[00:11:35] Speaker B: That is amazing advice. And it's actually been really nice to just step back and think about it. So I'm now thinking about all the presentations I've done. What can I do better? You know, all. All of those things. I know you said you're at the beginning of your journey, Sam, but we're all on a journey. We're, you know, none of us are a finished article.
We will always learn. There'll always be times where you lose your train of thought, but, you know, it's how you recover and pick up and get back on the horse, as they say.
[00:12:02] Speaker A: Can I just mention something?
[00:12:03] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:12:04] Speaker A: Very quickly. When I worked in television news for 15 years, we would do, I mean, all kinds of shows. And there were shows that went well, and there were shows that did not go well.
[00:12:13] Speaker B: Right.
[00:12:13] Speaker A: And you are being watched by a lot of people, like hundreds of thousands of people. And you'd come into the office the next day and you'd be like, oh, gosh, here we go. And because you knew what was going to happen, the news editor would be like, right, we're going to sit down and watch that. And you're like, oh, okay. But you know what? It's when you do that and you. You really think about, well, what went wrong, how do I improve? Rather than going, I'm never going to do that again, and people start to say, no, because something went wrong. We only grow. We only learn when we push ourselves out of our comfort zone and when we fail and when we make mistakes and it's okay to do that, you know? So I just wanted to say, you know, don't worry if you have got things wrong. Pick yourself up, dust yourself down And I had to learn that resilience and it was painful. But I just like to encourage people just to not let that stop them. You know, dust yourself off and go again.
[00:13:01] Speaker B: Perfect. Thank you so much. And where can people get in touch with you? How can they find out more about the work that you do?
[00:13:07] Speaker A: LinkedIn's a really good place. You can find me Hannah Schell's. Well, but my name's really difficult. It's got two L's in the middle and two L's at the end. It's very complicated. Maybe just look up Boost, my website. So it's Boost. Yeah, training and coaching. You can find me there. It's boostpresents.com. thank you.
[00:13:22] Speaker B: Perfect. Thank you so much. Thank you for joining me, Sam.
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[00:13:57] Speaker D: That's a wrap on this episode of AV in the Wild. Big thanks to our guests and to you, our listeners, for joining us on this journey through the AV landscape. If you liked what you heard, don't forget to subscribe. Share Leave a Review it helps us keep the conversation going. Catch us next time as we hit the road again with more voices, more stories, and more of what makes AV wild.
Until then, stay curious, stay connected and stay wild.
