All new posts on this blog can now be found at www.inter-activ.co.uk/blog
If you are an subscriber and want to continue to receive the latest hints and tips on presentation and selling skills please re-subscribe using the links on the new blog.
Sorry for the inconvenience however I believe that the move will allow me to provide a more flexible and attractive format for these tips.
Please take a look and let me know what you think.
Regards
Gavin
Monday, November 19, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
Death By PowerPoint
Death by PowerPoint
I recently came across this presentation via Google and I knew imemdately that you would appreciate it. It's thought provoking and extremely relevant in today's presentation saturated culture.
Fighting death by PowerPoint... How to make a presentation and not to bore your audience to death.
SlideShare Link
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
When passion isn't enough!
Today, I was mind mapping another session at a conference and once of the speakers stood out head and shoulder above the rest because of her enthusiasm and passion but...
She started of well, coming away from the lectern and standing centre stage. She used no visual aids and she challenged the accepted norms of her audience. She had something really important to say and she said it with passion and belief but she could have done so much better.
Why? Because her presentation lacked structure and WIIFM.
Now I've talked about WIFFM before in fact I'm passionate about it. WIIFM means what's in it for me. In other words - the need to quickly establish relevance in the heads of the audience.
So what about flow? Well frankly this lady's presentation rambled. It did have a good summary but it lacked both an effective opening (complete with WIFFM) and a logical supporting structure. Don't get me wrong, the information was all there, but it took a lot of hard work to follow it. Now my rule of thumb is "don't make your audience work too hard". If you do, too many of them will give up and switch off.
Now I can't do anything about this lady's presentation (although I will ask her if she wants feedback!) but what about you? Do your presentations flow?
If they don't then I recommend you read Cliff Atkin's wonderful book - Beyond Bullet Points.
It will teach you how to turn your presentation into a story that wins the hearts and minds of your audience. Alternatively you can contact me directly via this blog.
Go with the flow!
She started of well, coming away from the lectern and standing centre stage. She used no visual aids and she challenged the accepted norms of her audience. She had something really important to say and she said it with passion and belief but she could have done so much better.
Why? Because her presentation lacked structure and WIIFM.
Now I've talked about WIFFM before in fact I'm passionate about it. WIIFM means what's in it for me. In other words - the need to quickly establish relevance in the heads of the audience.
So what about flow? Well frankly this lady's presentation rambled. It did have a good summary but it lacked both an effective opening (complete with WIFFM) and a logical supporting structure. Don't get me wrong, the information was all there, but it took a lot of hard work to follow it. Now my rule of thumb is "don't make your audience work too hard". If you do, too many of them will give up and switch off.
Now I can't do anything about this lady's presentation (although I will ask her if she wants feedback!) but what about you? Do your presentations flow?
If they don't then I recommend you read Cliff Atkin's wonderful book - Beyond Bullet Points.
It will teach you how to turn your presentation into a story that wins the hearts and minds of your audience. Alternatively you can contact me directly via this blog.
Go with the flow!
Quick Tip - Use A bigger font size!
I've been mind mapping the proceedings of the annual APM conference in London and there has been some excellent content. The only problem is that far too many of the speakers use too small a font on the slides!
It may be readable on your laptop, but from the back of a conference hall it ain't! I recommend a minimum of 20 point Ariel and Verdana to ensure readability!
It may be readable on your laptop, but from the back of a conference hall it ain't! I recommend a minimum of 20 point Ariel and Verdana to ensure readability!
Monday, October 29, 2007
How To Develop Resourceful Beliefs - Part 2
Last week I started to talk about the power that limiting beliefs to make us 'Reluctant Presenters'. In Part 2 of this article I want to share with you a simple yet practical technique for defusing your old limiting beliefs and empowering your new resourceful ones...
NB:If you haven't done the exercises in part 1 of this thread, I suggest you go back and do it first as the rest of this post will then make more sense and you'll have something useful to work with.
I often find metaphors a powerful tool for exploring and understanding things. Imagine that a belief was like a table top. In order for the table top to remain in place it needs legs to support it. In the same way, in order for a belief to remain active it needs evidence to support it.
As a simple example, consider the belief in Father Christmas that most children held at one time in their lives. The evidence that supported your belief in Santa was most likely something along the lines of ;
NB:If you haven't done the exercises in part 1 of this thread, I suggest you go back and do it first as the rest of this post will then make more sense and you'll have something useful to work with.
I often find metaphors a powerful tool for exploring and understanding things. Imagine that a belief was like a table top. In order for the table top to remain in place it needs legs to support it. In the same way, in order for a belief to remain active it needs evidence to support it.
As a simple example, consider the belief in Father Christmas that most children held at one time in their lives. The evidence that supported your belief in Santa was most likely something along the lines of ;
- My parents (whom I trusted) told me he was real
- I saw him in the local department store and on TV
- The biscuits, drinks and carrots I left out for him and his Reindeer had gone when I awoke on Christmas morning.
- There were presents in my stocking or under the tree
QED - Father Christmas is real!
Now consider what happened to undo this once extremely strong belief. I'm sure you didn't just wake up one morning and say "Oh gosh, how stupid I've been , of course Father Christmas doesn't exist." No, the belief changed gradually as you started to question its authenticity because the evidence that supported it started to get shaky. Your friends or older siblings told you it was a fairy tale. You started to wonder how he could be in so many different stores at the same time. You started to consider the consequences of him eating all that food and drinking all that alcohol on a singe night. You stayed up and caught your parents putting the presents in your stocking. I'm sure you get the picture - Right!
Well, the same process can be used to tackle your own limiting beliefs about presenting.
Step 1: Identify the limiting belief (See previous post on this topic)
Step 2: Examine the evidence that supports this limiting belief. (Often when you do this, you will find that the belief is based on just one critical experience). Imagine you are a detective or investigator interested only in the facts!
Step 3: Look for counter examples. - When and where does this belief not hold true? Are there certain times in certain contexts where you have presented well? Have you ever had even a little bit of positive feedback about a presentation or speech you have given? The more counter examples you collect, the shakier the old belief will get.
Step 4: Repeat Step 2 for the new belief you would like to hold. Gather evidence to support it and look for opportunities to practice so that you can create new supporting evidence.
Have a go and you will see how you can eliminate your limiting beliefs and unleash your potential to be a confident communicator. What are you waiting for? Isn't it time to took action?
Multi-Media In Presentations
The latest advances in computer technology allows us to produce high quality video content for a fraction of the cost of just a few years ago. How important is it that we jump on the video bandwagon and start utilising video clips in our presentations...
Last week I was fortunate to listen to a presentation by a video producer friend of mine, in which he outlined the use of video on the Internet as a small business marketing tool.
In order to demonstrate the impact of video, his 40 minute presentation (produced in Apple Keynote rather than PowerPoint, because of the Keynote's superior video handling capabilities.) was packed full of high quality video clips.
The problem for me, and for other members of the audience too was that, too much video is as bad if not worse than none at all. In the same way that too many animations and effects distract us from the key messages of the presenter and quickly flip us into boredom. I believe that too much video does the same thing!
Now I know that my friend was "selling" the power of video and that he absolutely needed to have video clips in his presentation. The problem was that his own enthusiasm for the medium ran away with him and he forgot the effect that too much of any one medium has on the audience.
Another thing about watching video clips is that, to me at least, it appears to be a pretty passive process compared with watching a live presenter. When the video clips came on, the audience settled back and went into "observer mode" rather than "participant mode". Think about what happens when you veg out in front of the telly and "switch off". Is this the type of reaction you really want to provoke in your audience?
So my advice is, use video sparingly. less is more! It is a powerful tool, but too much of it at a time undermines the quality of the communication.
Last week I was fortunate to listen to a presentation by a video producer friend of mine, in which he outlined the use of video on the Internet as a small business marketing tool.
In order to demonstrate the impact of video, his 40 minute presentation (produced in Apple Keynote rather than PowerPoint, because of the Keynote's superior video handling capabilities.) was packed full of high quality video clips.
The problem for me, and for other members of the audience too was that, too much video is as bad if not worse than none at all. In the same way that too many animations and effects distract us from the key messages of the presenter and quickly flip us into boredom. I believe that too much video does the same thing!
Now I know that my friend was "selling" the power of video and that he absolutely needed to have video clips in his presentation. The problem was that his own enthusiasm for the medium ran away with him and he forgot the effect that too much of any one medium has on the audience.
Another thing about watching video clips is that, to me at least, it appears to be a pretty passive process compared with watching a live presenter. When the video clips came on, the audience settled back and went into "observer mode" rather than "participant mode". Think about what happens when you veg out in front of the telly and "switch off". Is this the type of reaction you really want to provoke in your audience?
So my advice is, use video sparingly. less is more! It is a powerful tool, but too much of it at a time undermines the quality of the communication.
Monday, October 22, 2007
How To Develop Resourceful Beliefs - Part 1
Many reluctant presenters have one or more limiting beliefs that hold them back from developing their full potential. If you'd like to learn some simple ideas to break through this self imposed barrier, read on....
What we believe about ourselves can imprison us or set us free. It's a choice. Typical limiting beliefs of Reluctant Presenters include:
What we believe about ourselves can imprison us or set us free. It's a choice. Typical limiting beliefs of Reluctant Presenters include:
- I'm not good enough
- I'm a poor presenter
- I'm too nervous
- I don't have anything new or interesting to say
- I'm not experienced or smart enough
Typical beliefs of Confident Communicators on the other hand include:
- I've got something that my audience want or need to hear
- I'm good enough
- Practice will make me better
- I'm an expert in my field
- I have a unique insight into the topic
So step one is to ask yourself what might be the limiting beliefs that are holding you back from being a confidence communicator? Get out a piece of paper and write them down. Don't analyse at this stage, just do a brain dump of all the things that you say to yourself about your ability to present that are less than supportive.
Step two is much more fun. Create a list of all the things that you would like to believe about yourself that would help you to be a better presenter. What would you need to believe? What do confident presenters believe about themselves or their audience? Again, don't analyse or judge, just write.
In my next post I'll cover how to discharge the old belief (s) and power up the new one(s)
Enjoy your day.
Gavin.
P.s If you haven't already done so, go to www.reluctantpresenter.com now to download my free booklet.
Practice Makes Perfect
Like it or not, all the great presenters I have met have one thing in common. They practice their craft. Do You?
So many people who come on my presentation skills workshops admit that they don't practice enough. When I ask them why I get a range of excuses including.
So many people who come on my presentation skills workshops admit that they don't practice enough. When I ask them why I get a range of excuses including.
- I don't have the time.
- I like to be spontaneous
- There's nobody to practice on
- I don't make presentations often enough to justify the time
Well, I can guarantee one thing. If you don't practice you'll never get better. You need to make the time and create the opportunities.
You can also make use of local public speaking clubs such as Toastmasters. They provide both the opportunity to practice but also the structure and constructive feedback which is vital to developing your skills. Alternatively, you can set up your own club or group within your community or workplace.
There is no substitute for practice to make it your goal to do more of it.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Strip Off To Present Better!
As an NLP Master practitioner, I am ialways interested in modelling excellent presenters to uncover what is the difference that makes the difference between the medioce and the best. Recently I was reminded that some of the best presenters present naked...
Hope I've got your attention now. Naked presenting? Has Gavin finally lost his mind. Well no, not really. What I mean is that the best speakers I have seen are all 'authentic 'when they present. They don't put up any artificial barriers between themselves and their audience.
Contrast this on the other hand with presenters who think that, in order to be effective, they need to 'put on' some sort of alternative persona. This seldom if ever works. The reverse is true. The more you can strip away the psychological barriers between you and your audience, the more authentic and persuasive you will be.
Who are your favourite presenters? Can you think of any that are inauthentic? Please send me your examples and I'll share them with the rest of my readers.
Hope I've got your attention now. Naked presenting? Has Gavin finally lost his mind. Well no, not really. What I mean is that the best speakers I have seen are all 'authentic 'when they present. They don't put up any artificial barriers between themselves and their audience.
Contrast this on the other hand with presenters who think that, in order to be effective, they need to 'put on' some sort of alternative persona. This seldom if ever works. The reverse is true. The more you can strip away the psychological barriers between you and your audience, the more authentic and persuasive you will be.
Who are your favourite presenters? Can you think of any that are inauthentic? Please send me your examples and I'll share them with the rest of my readers.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Don't Blame PowerPoint
If your PowerPoint presentation is a disaster don't blame PowerPoint...
It seems these days that everyone is condemning this powerful tool without taking any responsibility for the fact that they created and delivered the slides that put their audience to sleep !
As a child I was taught that "A good workman never blames his tools" and to me PowerPoint is just a tool to help me deliver my messages. Sometimes it is not the right tool to use and sometimes it is the right tool but we don't use it in the best way.
A great craftsman doesn't just be a set of great tools and magically become a master. He works hard, he studies the masters and through experimentation and practice learns how to his tools properly.
Contrast this with how few business people have had little or no training in PowerPoint yet use it all the time. I it any wonder that there are so many bad PowerPoint presentations out there.
It seems these days that everyone is condemning this powerful tool without taking any responsibility for the fact that they created and delivered the slides that put their audience to sleep !
As a child I was taught that "A good workman never blames his tools" and to me PowerPoint is just a tool to help me deliver my messages. Sometimes it is not the right tool to use and sometimes it is the right tool but we don't use it in the best way.
A great craftsman doesn't just be a set of great tools and magically become a master. He works hard, he studies the masters and through experimentation and practice learns how to his tools properly.
Contrast this with how few business people have had little or no training in PowerPoint yet use it all the time. I it any wonder that there are so many bad PowerPoint presentations out there.
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