Yesterday evening, I sat alongside Paul Zikopoulos from IBM; Duncan Stewart from Deloitte; and Vanessa Cohen from Evironics as a proud panelist for a special North of 41 event entitled, ‘How to Deliver a Killer Presentation’. Together we shared our top tips and tactics to delivering quality presentations by discussing ways to properly prepare for your presentation, convey your message effectively and even admitted to our most embarrassing/worst moments to learn from.

I thought it was a tad ironic that while I was on a panel about presentations, Janet Yellen was simultaneously delivering an important speech at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst that she had to cut short after coughing and pausing to recompose herself a few times, losing focus, repeating some words and slowing down.

This was Yellen’s first speech since last week's Fed decision to delay the very anticipated rate "lift-off" and as arguably the most powerful figure in the world of finance, any questions about her health could disturb financial markets further during a time when the Fed is debating raising interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.

Thankfully, Yellen was seen by the university's emergency team and later carried on with her schedule followed by an email from spokesperson Michelle Smith suggesting that "Chair Yellen felt dehydrated at the end of a long speech under bright lights…but felt fine awards and continued on with her schedule Thursday evening”.

In response to that, North American markets opened higher this morning as global markets reacted to Yellen’s main message - which was that she "expects the U.S. central bank to begin raising interest rates later this year as long as inflation remains stable and the U.S. economy is strong enough to boost employment. She and the policy-making Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) expect the world’s largest economy to be strong enough to achieve maximum employment and to keep expectations for prices stable".

In preparation for my panel yesterday evening, I made sure that I was hydrated, knew what to expect by way of the audience and questions and thought twice about what I was going to wear…luckily I have friends like Sonia Nanda, founder of Style 4 You Image Consulting Services who give me tips when I need them. As a gift to the female readers of Word on the Street, she has put together some Fall fashion tips that can always be applied to your wardrobe and individual style. Check them out here.