Giving a talk in public? We're at that time of year when there seem to be a whole bunch of conferences taking place. Actually, thinking about it - they're taking place all the time as best I can figure it. I read a couple of blog posts recently where people were talking about speaking at conferences, and I thought that since I've been doing public speaking for uh... a long time, I'd share a few things on the whole tricky subject of speaking in public. It's daunting isn't it. It's one of things that most people are really scared of - it's up at the top of the list along with spiders. Your audience wants you to do well. Your audience will doubt themselves before they doubt you. Set up your ground rules before you start. Timing. Write down or note what you want to say. Tell stories. Hopefully you at least smiled at that. Don't read from your notes!
Oh yeah - back to the audience. What if it all goes wrong? Take water. Questions. OK, I'm bored now. Ok, it's this. The 12 Most Common Presentation Mistakes | Hello. I’m on a mission to help people avoid the 12most common presentation mistakes. If you have to give a speech, whether elevator, PowerPoint, or impromptu, remember to avoid these 12 pitfalls: 1. Failure to prepare Unless you are Robin Williams, it’s a good idea to think through your material. Williams was famous for not following the script during his early days in TV, and why should he? 2. If you are saying, “I’m so thrilled to be here”, with the enthusiasm of a turtle after a long nap, you are not going to capture anyone’s attention. 3. Why do people start with “I’m sorry…” for things like the traffic on Route 53? A stalling tacticA propped-up delay for a disconnected speakerPermission not to pay attention, cause you haven’t gotten anywhere near what really mattersAsking for pity, a feeble attempt to connect with an audience on the weakest possible level. 4.
“Hi, I’m Tina and I run the accounting department.” 5. Starting with a joke that falls flat. 6. Start with a weird metaphor. Microsoft's PowerPoint isn't evil if you learn how to use it. - By Farhad Manjoo. How many lives has PowerPoint cost us? It's hard not to wonder after reading a New York Times story in which a parade of military brass strafe Microsoft's ubiquitous presentation software. PowerPoint, the Times reports, has "reached the level of near obsession" in the military, with junior officers in Iraq and Afghanistan wasting many of their waking hours monkeying with slides to present at mission briefings, training sessions, and staff meetings. These presentations aren't merely boring—they're actively harmful, some in the military told the Times.
Brig. Let me respond in a way that will be familiar to folks in the military: I cooked up the above slide in less than a minute using PowerPoint's ready-made templates and clip art. But are bad presentations PowerPoint's fault, or are they ours? That's not true. What's the right way to use presentation software? First, make sure your topic is right for PowerPoint. So when should you reach for PowerPoint? Skip the bullets. Presentation skills: 5 secrets of the pros. Let's face it. At most organizations, presentation skills are uneven, at best. You have the rock stars of PowerPoint who seem to enjoy a cult-like devotion within the company, and an uncanny ability to make things happen and influence outcomes. And then there's everyone else. Well, here's the good news: Sure, some of these rock stars are naturally gifted at storytelling (visually or verbally), but the reality is, good storytelling is not relegated to the cool kids.
It's an inherent skill we all posses and have always possessed since the beginning of civilization, across literally every culture in every country. 1. 2. 3. If your audience values time above all, pour your creativity into cultivating a sense of elegant but purposeful restraint. I'll never forget the time I saw someone present a case study on her work with a major technology brand (think big, beloved consumer brand). (For those of you saying, "Yeah, but I deal in ROI and metrics. Next page >>