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. :) )

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This month's most popular (and useful?) blog posts are:

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sound wave

How to use music to make better presentations

It’s a tricky thing. There are some huge advantages to using music, but some pretty significant pitfalls, too. So here’s your guide to using music well, and avoiding the things can can go wrong. Why use music? An overview Music is intended and designed to be an emotional phenomena. That means you can use it …

Mountain tops

Presentation environments – and the presentation creation process

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 …

Einstein - mad presenter

Presentations for academics (and other hard core experts!)

I’ve just spent some time working with some ‘early years’ researchers. Given that a research career last for a very long time (mine was quite short at 24 years!) in part because it takes a looooong time to get going (ten years in and you’re still just starting!). We were working on presentations to get …

bad presentations make me angry

Presentation targeting – the three by three

I believe presentations should change something – otherwise they’re just a pastime. So, things that improve the likelihood of change are good (all other things being equal 😉 ).  And targeting your presentation makes it more likely to do that. After all, shooing an arrow is more likely to hit the target if you aim, …

Beth Buelow

Personal stories in your presentations: Scars not scabs

“Scars not scabs” is a phrase I picked up of Episode 115 of Beth Below’s “Introvert Entrepreneur” podcast where Beth is chatting to Esther Choy of the Leadership Story Lab. It rang a bell with me because of a couple of things I’ve posted in the last few months. (It’s one of a fistful only …