This blog a resource for presenters — not pro-speakers, but real people who need to make presentations as part of their 'day job'.
I have to be honest, this blog only gets updated every month or so. If you want a bit more, sign up for the (almost) weekly newsletter instead called "TalkTactics".
A friend of mine was recently not chosen to speak at a TEDx conference. That’s no big deal – there are always more would-be speakers for TEDx than could possibly be allowed on the stage. What was a big deal however was the reason why TEDx rejected their presentation idea… The feedback was… wait for …
Being able to move around when you make a presentation is a god-send. I’m not suggesting you wander around as you present, but being able to move around and not being tied to your laptop gives you a lot of options. Remote controls are pretty much a requirement for a serious presenter. A fellow presenter …
If you’ve not heard the phrase “jumped the shark” it means to have gone so far down the line that things have become silly, past their best and so on. It comes from (I’ve been told) and episode in Happy Days when Fonzie goes waterskiing. In short, it’s the beginning of the end because things …
Sometimes you don’t need to say much… This is taken just before France go out to play in the World Cup Final
There’s quite a lot of evidence that we’re very susceptible animals – easily programmed. (My experience is that we’re depressingly almost as easy to train as dogs – and if you do it right that’s pretty easy!) If you’re not sure, just think of how you respond when the phone rings. Think of how you …
Read more “Presentation environments – and the presentation creation process”
I’ve been working in more cities than there are days in the week recently. I’ve seen more training rooms than friends 🙂 (Fortunately that’s changed this week in case you cared! 🙂 ). That got me thinking however, about how the different rooms affect presentations. Room layout: Example 1 Let’s start north of the border …
At 05:30 I’m not at my best. Despite that I was up, cleaned, dressed and out in time to be at the Sage, Gateshead by 06:15 and in my seat by 06:30. Yes, really. AM. Errrrr… why? Simple really – my wife and I had been lucky enough to get tickets to sit in as …
Read more “What BBC radio tells us about making better presentations”
Cautionary note – this particular presentations blog is a bit of a personal rant, not the usual fact-based stuff I do. 🙂 I attended a networking/coaching session recently where I was the guest speaker. To save blushes I’ll not name the organisation, but there were a number of things I noted going wrong that the …
Read more “Serious presentation mistakes… aka Presentation unconscious incompetence”
One of the biggest issues I face when I do presentation skills training are ‘the SYDs’. Syd is a nice chap, I’m sure but it stands for Slow You Down. A SYD is anything that gets in the way of you getting better at what you do and making progress. There are lots of SYDs …
Leading a team or doing your own marketing? Awesome! But not having the impact on the world you think you should? Less Awesome.
StoryMaking is my new book that looks at how to tactically use stories in your presentations, your marketing and your sales. It's my usual light-weight style over heavy-weight research!
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The StoryMaking System is the result of reading (in mind-numbing detail) over 400 peer-reviewed research papers, dozens of books, thousands of ours of observational research and blood sweat and tears!
It's the framework for designing a presentation which gives you the fastest way to getting something is (almost) guaranteed to work. It gives your audience what they need - and only what they need - to be impacted.
The key elements are:
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