Three Things to say about……
The Art of the Long View: Planning for the Future in an Uncertain World By Peter Schwartz, First published in 1992 and second edition in 1997. “Artful scenario spinning is a form of convergent thinking about divergent futures. It ensures that you are not always right about the future but–better–that you are almost never wrong about the future. The technology is powerful, simple, and […]
After practising, writing out your script, bullets, etc., you get to your big day and sit waiting to be called. I never know what is most nerve racking when waiting to present, sitting in a meeting, waiting outside an office or listening to the last speaker finish and get rapturous applause at the main conference. But which ever one it is, here are a few […]
Perhaps one of the worst sins you can commit as a presenter is to run over time. We have all been there watching someone plough through endless slides, going into magnificent detail – that’s not required. Taking little notice of the yawns and fidgeting in the room. Worst of all ignoring the chairman, frantic waving and calling out of “One minute to go”. Don’t do […]
With more formal presentation opportunities the organisers will sometimes ask you to send in a bio – a short description of you and your career. This can be included in the conference literature and provides the chairman of the conference session a few words to use as an introduction. – often it is used as a filler as you move to the stage for your […]
When I started making my first presentations I was often told that I should ‘Tell them what I was going to tell them. Tell them it. Then tell them what I have told them.’ No doubt there are times when this mantra will work but I find that they are few and far between. Let me tell you why. [adsenseyu1] Giving away your punch lines […]
You will no doubt have a natural pace for talking. However, when presenting it is often difficult to control the pace as you either speak fast to get things in and get the presentation rolling or you speak slowly as you try to remember what you wanted to say perhaps stumbling over the first few words of each sentence. [adsenseyu1] If you tend to speak […]
The introduction can be so important as it sets the tone of the whole presentation. Watching and listening to other speakers will help you identify the openers that work in any given presentation environment. It is of course not possible to provide one that works for all but here are a few suggestions for the clauses that you might use [adsenseyu1] “Good morning, my name […]
I like to us e a few rules for my slides that I hope makes them more attractive and readable by the audience. [adsenseyu1] The slide should have some level of symmetry or balance. For example if you have some bullets on the left maybe an image or diagram on the right to ‘balance’ the slide. Imagine a pivot in the middle of the slide […]
Describing your presentation with a title helps convey the content to your audience, set the tone of what is to come and also provides a reference, should, for example, you want to create a series of presentations. However, often I see people worrying (or even agonising) about the title of their presentation long before the basic concept and structure is created. It is usually far […]