Mar 162015
 
The latest nearby TEDx conference happened a couple of days ago. I was fortunate to be a presentation coach for several of the speakers, so I watched a lot of the rehearsing as well as the main event. TED-style talks are an immense challenge, both for the speaker and for the people who support that speaker. Many variables come into play, some of which may be unexpected for people who only know the ...
Jul 312014
 
presentation nerves
Probably the most important presentation skill is knowing what to do when you are nervous. Here are two things that will help you with your nerves when giving a presentation: Having a well-structured presentation Rehearsing and planning for the event itself. Structure Besides being a great help in communication, the structure of your presentation is the map that shows you where you are ...
Jul 112014
 
An introduction to making professional PowerPoint slides. It is well known that humans can only process around 5 to 7 pieces of information at a time. More than that and we start getting confused. (See, for example, Cowan, The magical number 4 in short-term memory) Let me make one thing clear. When it comes to presentations, we never ever want to make people confused. Look at a typical business ...
May 192014
 
The message of a presentation is like water
The biggest presentation problem The biggest problem with most presentations isn’t that the slides are lackluster. It’s not that the message is missing (though, that’s a close second,) or that the presenter lacks confidence. No, the biggest problem with presentations is that, too often, they lack a clear structure.  You know the kind: someone walks in, starts talking, shows a bunch of slides, ...
Apr 292014
 
Why are some presentations great and others horribly boring? There are two presentation skills that separate great presenters from the rest of us: They always have a goal. They make certain that every presentation has a point. The goal could be a company goal, like more sales, generating investment, or making the working environment better. It could be personal, like being seen as ...
Mar 282014
 
The Function of Powerpoint Slides When I give workshops on using slides in presentations, I bring two famous children’s books as examples of two kinds of illustration: literal and explanatory. First, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle. As you might imagine, it’s a book about food. The beautiful pictures are all very direct: when the text mentions cheese, there’s a picture of cheese, ...