For so many of us, speaking in front of an audience can be an anxiety-inducing experience. First come the physical symptoms: excessive perspiration, blurred vision, dry mouth, rapid heartbeat, and trembling hands and knees. Then, the mental effects--including confusion and mental blocking--make their appearance, making it difficult to focus and articulate our thoughts.

Fortunately, there are a number of effective techniques to deal with the common symptoms of anxiety and nervousness caused by giving an oral presentation.

With ongoing advancements in conferencing technology and an increasing number of organizations employing global workforces, virtual communication has become a regular part of business culture. Virtual meetings, particularly video conference calls, offer many obvious benefits, including convenience and flexibility. Even a hospital stay is no longer an excuse to miss a meeting, as long as your hospital has wifi. But video conference calls can quickly turn awkward if the participants are not taking special attention to their body language cues.

Designing a presentation is only half the battle; the next part is delivering the content to an audience. For many, this task of speaking in front of an audience—whether large or small—can be an anxiety-inducing experience.

One of the first steps in managing the fear of public speaking is understanding the signs and symptoms of speaking anxiety.

We communicate in both personal and professional settings on a daily basis, but how much of our written or verbal communication resonates with the audience on the receiving end? Strong communication skills are essential in all types of business and can help take your career to the next level. If you can communicate with clarity, tact, and honesty, your ideas will have an impact. Check out these ten tips for effective communication in our latest infographic.

With emailing and instant messaging becoming mainstream forms of business communication, being able to respond quickly to messages has become increasingly important. When under pressure, it can be easy to write before you think and make careless and regrettable errors. Check out our latest infographic which covers six tips on writing quickly.

Communication is an integral part of business. However, we often focus on how to communicate verbally and forget to address nonverbal communication skills, including listening. Learning how to be an active listener can help you impart empathy and fairness in your professional and personal relationships. Improve your active listening skills with these four tips.

Is there anything worse than sitting in the audience during a presentation, as the speaker reads word-for-word from a series of PowerPoint slides? Does he really not understand that you can read the slides for yourself? Why not just print out a set of slides for everyone in the audience and let you all continue on with your day?

Using PowerPoint slides can actually be a wonderful enhancement to your presentation, but only if you know how to use them properly. Here are some basic rules to consider in order to keep your audience engaged.

Do the words "public speaking" make you feel excited—or do they make you want to hide in a corner? For a select few, speaking in front of an audience can be a comfortable, even enjoyable, experience. But if delivering a speech or a presentation stirs up feelings of anxiety and doubt, just know that you are not alone. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld captured the prevalence of public-speaking anxiety in this famous quote:

"According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy."

Effective communication is important in both your personal and professional life. Your conversations won’t always be easy, so how do you maneuver through the difficult and uncomfortable situations? Preparation is key. Check out our latest infographic for ten tips that will help you handle difficult conversations.

We communicate with each other all the time, but do we really know what we're doing? Our latest Skye Learning video explains the fundamentals of effective communication.

(Spoiler alert: Be concise, be engaging, and above all, be clear!)