Using stories in your presentations – picking a story size
How “big” should the stories be in our presentations? How “epic” and inspirational? The answer isn’t quite as spectacular as it might sound…
Welcome to the better presentations blog!
I do my best to make this blog a resource for presenters - not pro-speakers, but real people who need to make presentations as part of their 'day job'. If there's something you really want to know about, just email me and I'll see what I can do (no promises except that I'll read your email - use simon@ and you can guess the rest of my address. :) )
Also, I have to be honest, this blog only gets updated every month or so. If you want a bit more, consider signing up for the (almost weekly) newsletter instead called "TalkTactics". You can also sign up for a bucketload of freebies too!
This month's most popular (and useful?) blog posts are:
- How to make a cheap studio for better online presentations from your home or home-office... https://presentationgenius.info/online-presentations-with-a-cheap-studio/
- How to use stories in your presentations (not just telling them! ;) )... https://presentationgenius.info/a-story-matrix-and-using-them-one-your-presentation
Or scroll down if you're just browsing!
Stories (and authenticity) in Presentations
Storytelling is a big part of presenting… and frankly of our whole culture. When we go to the pub we don’t sit around in silence, and a lot of that time is filled with sharing stories. Gossip is a story after all. Back-in-the-old days is nothing but stories. When-I-was young… you get the idea. From …
The first slide of your presentation
What should you put on your first slide? You know the one, the one that’s up there before your presentation. It might be there while your audience come in or just for a few minutes at the start of your turn, if there’s a speaker before you. Your mileage will vary of course because of …
Presentation with complicated data
Presentations are often thought of as being rubbish ways to get over lots of messy information – the complex and complicated. Here’s how to handle it.
props in presentations: 4 benefits, 3 problems
Better presentations can change your world. And props can make a presentation better! Or screw it up badly. Here’s 6 thoughts on how to use props properly in your next presentation.
Reluctant storyteller resources
This is a simple blog with simple ambitions! It exists purely as a place for you, gentle reader, to get hold of all the free material I’ve created so far for the. The Reluctant Storyteller itself isn’t free, but these are the free bits. (Most of them are one-take live recordings shot during the Corona-Virus …
presentations and identity variables
What’s an identity variable? I self-identify as male. I self-identify as married. An identity variable is something that is you use to build your self image. If I looked in the mirror and found that instead of a six-feet-tall white man I could see a five foot tall woman I’d be very, very confused! Personal …
interactivity in presentation slides
Just to be clear, I’m not talking about interacting with the slides themselves (that’s a different blog). I’m talking about interacting with your audience when your presentation uses slides. After all, one of the big things that Prezi claims is that it allows you to jump around your presentation in a non-linear way, making for …
pluralistic ignorance
I’m a bit of a fan of the podcast You Are Not So Smart. It’s a classily understated podcast based on interviews and grown up conversations with experts. (Lots of people say they are experts, David McRaney talks to the best, trust me!) One recent episode, on something called “Pluralistic ignorance” really struck home for …
