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Archive for the 'Presentations' Category
Never how you planned it
Published August 3, 2009 Planning , Presentations , Presentations=conversations 8 CommentsTags: Planning, Presentations
People often try to complain to me that their presentation wasn’t how they planned it.
They forgot a point/story/clever thingy, or something.
If you’re doing it well, it should never be exactly how you planned it.
If a presentation is exactly how you planned it, you’re working from a script and aren’t responding to the people in front of you.
This is the Presentations As Classical Music paradigm: presentations are a piece of Mozart (yuh – you should be so lucky) that need rehearsing and rehearsing and rehearsing until you remember the whole ‘script’. You can tell someone from this school as they talk about ‘writing a speech’.
Using a microphone in presentations
Published July 31, 2009 Good stuff from other people , Presentations 9 CommentsTags: microphones, Presentations
Ever wonder what to do with a microphone?
Lisa B Marshall does it again – everything you need to know about using a microphone.
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Chris Says It Better
Published July 28, 2009 Books , Good stuff from other people , Presentations 2 CommentsTags: Chris Witt, PowerPoint, Presentations
Ok, I’m never writing about presentations EVER again.
Because Chris Witt says it better.
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I finally got around to buying Chris’s book Real Leaders Don’t Do PowerPoint.
Loved it.
Not being a presentation skills specialist any more.
Here’s why.
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First off, Chris chooses some great quotes…
“Safety first has been the motto of the human race for half a million years but it has never been the motto of leaders. Leaders must face danger. They take the risk and the blame, and the brunt of the storm.” Herbert N Casson.
“Information consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence, a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” Herbert Simon, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics.
“A confused mind always says no. ” Len Torres, Primus Design
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Then he says so much that’s true, in a pithy way.
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Here’s Chris…
On leaders
Here’s the paradox: Leaders have to be themselves at all times and yet, when they speak, they speak not for themselves, but for their organizations.
Leaders speak to make a difference, and unsettled times are when their words can have the greatest impact.
Their value to the organization isn’t in what they know; it’s in their ability to present what they know to people in a variety of fields in a way that can be understood and acted upon.
Leaders either stand with, stand for or stand against.
How to use graphs in presentations
Published July 20, 2009 Good stuff from other people , PowerPoint , Presentations , Statistics and numbers , Visual Aids 6 CommentsTags: graphs, PowerPoint slides, presentation skills, Presentations, Seth Godin
Do you use graphs in your presentations?
Seth Godin recently expressed some opinions I agree with (it’s not the first time…).
One point that stands out from his article is to use your graph to tell a story.
Helping the presentation gods to reduce the dread
Published July 17, 2009 confidence , Planning , Presentations 1 CommentTags: Byron Katie, dealing with nerves, Presentations
We really do ask a lot of the presentation gods.
They really want to help sprinkle their magic, smooth out the rough edges, supply us with a great answer to a question or an unexpectedly hilarious yet apt anecdote… and then we get it in their way.
I was coaching a friend the other night for a presentation she’s delivering today. Presenting some papers at some huge event with the whole of her industry attending.
You know, no pressure.
I found myself giving her this advice:
Remember: it’s never as bad as you fear, and rarely quite as excellent as you hope.
Continue reading ‘Helping the presentation gods to reduce the dread’
The importance of energy in presentations
Published July 13, 2009 Presentations 5 CommentsTags: presentation skills, Presentations, technical presentations
How alive are your listeners?
Smart presentation choice four: pitch your energy 5% above where the group is
The brilliant Michael Breen taught me that you should leave people more alive than when you started.
As the speaker it’s your job to be the most awake person in the room.
Pitching your energy at 50% above where they group is is too much, unless you have ambitions to be a cheesy motivational speaker, in which case you need a recording of ‘Eye Of The Tiger’ and a big dark stage to run up on to.
The natural direction of closed systems is entropy. That means its your job to guard against the natural sleepy pull of sitting in a group.
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Speaking It Real – A Challenge For Professional Speakers
Published July 6, 2009 Establishing credibility , Planning , Presentations , Presentations=conversations 2 CommentsTags: authenticity, communication, Planning, planning communication, presentation skills, Presentations, public speaking
How important is authenticity for speakers?
On Tuesday night, I was asked to speak to the members of Asia Professional Speakers – Singapore. (Here’s the blurb, if you’re interested – pdf - scroll down…). It was (bizarrely) my first meeting as a member – they turn out to be a lovely bunch of people!
I chose to speak about authenticity as I’m increasingly aware that rehearsed, polished talks aren’t necessarily the way to go.
Here are my thoughts – in ascending (decending?) order of weirdness.
(Bear in mind these thoughts were aimed at people who make a living at speaking – I tend to hold them to a higher standard as they are being paid for their speaking expertise. And this isn’t a transcript of what I said – no script, see? – but the same thoughts expressed again.)
If you really want to make a difference, is a talk the best way?
I am pretty strong about focusing on behavioural outcomes – specifying in advance what you want people able and motivated to do as a result of your communication. Most professional speakers declare that they are in it to make a real difference in the world, but I’m not sure if delivering a speech is the most effective way of doing that.
Continue reading ‘Speaking It Real – A Challenge For Professional Speakers’
Stuff worth checking out
Published July 1, 2009 Books , Facilitation , Presentations , Statistics and numbers 1 CommentTags: Book reviews
My bookshelf is pretty stacked at the moment. Thought you might be interested in some recommendations. Topics include facilitation, systems thinking/dialogue, critical thinking and one on presentations.
