Whether you are new to presenting, or an old hand, the structure of your presentation is the key to its success! Of course there are many other elements to creating a great presentation, but if you have your structure right, you are much more likely to make a winning one. I feel a little evangelical…
I’ve been experimenting a lot recently. Always trying to use fewer words on the screen, sharing the thoughts with the audience, trusting them to come up with the relevant items that you can then build on to get to your point. I’ve loved using interesting, engaging and memorable videos, easily sourced from YouTube as a…
There are many things you can do when you’re working hard to connect with an audience. To do more than just speak to them; to engage their hearts, feelings and hopes. Being interesting is one of the most special skills you can develop. What is interesting to an audience? Obviously relevance comes first. Your audiences, of…
Want to know how to give a successful presentation? I can sum it up in one sentence: answer your audience’s questions. Successful Presentations Answer their Audience’s Questions I’ve often seen presentations which were captivating, funny and interesting, with great visuals and well presented by the speaker…which has left the audience disappointed and frustrated. Why? Because…
It’s a horrible moment in a speaker’s career. You build a speech around a story you found. You use it for years. It’s a great start to a session, you rely on it, it has warmth, depth, a point and it carries you on a wave of laughter into Act 1 of your story. Then,…
I am assuming that most people reading this post write frequently, and write well. However, it is worth going back to basics from time to time to consider not just what we write, but how we write it. Whether you are writing for presentations, hand-outs, blog posts or any information sharing documents, it’s a waste of…
The purpose of all advertising and marketing is to sell some idea. Be it, “I need that product”; “I want that product”; or “That product will make me feel good”. To be successful, the advert has to persuade the audience to believe the idea. The purpose of most presentations is also to sell some idea….
Nine times out of ten, your audience will be made up mostly of your peers. Even if you’re presenting to young, uneducated or mixed audiences, they’ll probably be somewhat as intelligent as you. Treating them as such will make them like and listen to you. Leave Things Unsaid There’s no hard and fast rule to…
I love geeks but sometimes they don’t seem to love me. I’m not stupid but I’m often made to feel that way when I hear brilliant engineers, scientists and systems analysts ‘trying’ to explain what they do. It’s a crying shame really, because my starting position is admiration of expertise and excitement of the possibilities…