Presentation Skills - No Joking Matter
Presentation Skills training during your professional career should have included a lesson about telling jokes in a presentation. That lesson should have been, "Don't tell jokes!" Unless you are performing as a stand-up comic in a comedy club, your presentation should not start with or include a joke. Let me give you five reasons why I think you should avoid jokes... Read More >>
Persuasion And Presentation Obstacles
Fear is so debilitating, and yet it is so prevalent. I would say, in fact, that it is probably the number one obstacle standing in the way of having a solid, positive mental mindset. Yet when its true nature is revealed, we are no longer bound by the mental and emotional limitations it imposes upon us.What are our most common fears when it comes to public speaking? That people will think... Read More >>
I recently went through the experience of training a 6 hour program using a provided PowerPoint file of "visual support" – slides filled with text! I simply didn't have the time to make the changes I would have liked to have made – changes that I insist SHOULD BE made to make visual support effective. So, I got to experience the situation a presenter would be in, using visual support that consisted of: - black text on a white screen - whole sentences on the screen that were exactly the same as on the participant's workbook page. Let me urge you to NEVER DO THIS! The result was.. Read More >>
Are They Snoring in the Back Row
Imagine that you have spent the better part of two weeks working on an important speech you plan to give to your company. You think you have done everything right. You have created a PowerPoint presentation with tons of information and flash animation. You have created handouts of the slides for your audience, so they can follow along. Although you haven’t had time to rehearse the presentation you are not worried, because you have the entire speech typed out. You plan to read it while you blow their socks off with the dynamic PowerPoint slides. Everything should be perfect, right? WRONG... Read More >>
Can your PowerPoint Presentation Rival TV Advertising?
Do you ever wonder why some PowerPoint Presentations are so much better than others? Why do some have amazing powers of persuasion, while others simply bore you to death? TV commercials use these marketing strategies to hold and fascinate their viewers. You can too, if you follow these tried and proven techniques. Step 1... Read More >>
Brand Reinforcement in PowerPoint
The fundamental nature of PowerPoint makes it an ideal selling tool. You have a group of people, stuck in a room, listening to a speaker for an extended period of time -- anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour or more. This enclosed environment exists only for the presenters to sell something, whether it is a product, a service, or an idea. However, many presenters, especially those with a corporate interest in mind, fail to capitalize on that environment. Think about it. You have a hundred people in a room... Read More >>
How to Get Control of Stagefright
Remember the last time you got up in front of others to sing, give a presentation, or just to state your opinion? Did you feel awkward or maybe even a little afraid? You might have found yourself making silly mistakes or blanking out on what you were supposed to say. Most of us suffer from stagefright... Read More >>
What Hollywood Taught Me: 7 Ways to Become a Star
What makes a good Hollywood movie? Exactly the same thing that makes a good keynote speech--a great story! Screenwriter Robert McKee says, "Stories are the creative conversion of life itself into a more powerful, clearer, more meaningful experience." We all love stories because, unlike real life, they have a purpose, a beginning-middle-end, and a punch line. Why? Imagine that you have unlimited resources... Read More >>
