How to handle a heckler
February 25, 2010
Most hecklers are made, not born. If people don’t feel listened to they will turn into hecklers. So the critical step to avoid making hecklers out of people in your audience is to listen.
At the Presentation Camp in LA last year I facilitated a session on handling a heckler. Lisa Braithwaite’s husband videoed the session, but we didn’t have microphones so the audio is very faint. But you may find it useful, so I’ve included the video at the end of this post.
1. Manage your own emotional state
How to manage feedback from the presentation backchannel
February 11, 2010
In my eBook How to present with a backchannel I recommend that the first time you present with a backchannel, you shouldn’t try and monitor or respond to feedback in real-time (the term backchannel refers to an online conversation taking place at the same time as people are talking live). I’ve changed my mind. The catalyst is danah boyd’s experience with the backchannel at the Web2.0 Expo in New York (the lack of capitalization is not a mistake – danah prefers her name to be written in lowercase and I’ve decided to respect that).
Danah’s story
Danah had prepared a new presentation for the conference and she was working from a script. She was initially rattled by the set-up: a flat lectern, a Twitterstream displayed on the screen behind her, and bright lights blinding her. But it got worse – here’s what she experienced: [Read more]
What you need to know before using a cartoon in your presentation
February 1, 2010
I was reviewing a technical presentation for a client. The topic was the latest dental procedures. Every few slides a cartoon popped up. Cartoons about people with bad teeth. They were tangentially relevant to the topic of the presentation – but didn’t help to promote the message of the presentation. When I asked the client why she had included the cartoons she said: “My presentation is soooo boring. I need something to keep the audience awake.”
Can you relate?
Philippa Leguen de Lacroix
6 presentation tips from a professional speaker
January 27, 2010
Scott Berkun speaking at the Web2.0 Expo 2009. Photo by James Duncan Davidson.
Scott Berkun’s book Confessions of a public speaker is an entertaining and enlightening read on what it what it takes, and what it’s like, to be a professional speaker.
I’ve shamelessly cherry-picked the presentation tips from Scott’s book that I most agree with. [Read more]
What’s my best presentation tip for the presentations that you do?
January 20, 2010
Every type of presentation has its own challenges. As part of a “Public Speaking and the New Year” blog carnival organized by Angela DeFinis, I’ve identified what I see as the major challenge or trend for each presentation type in 2010 and given you my best presentation tip to overcome it.
Best presentation tip for a training session
Running long (sometimes all-day) training sessions is probably the worst possible method of learning. So, as trainers we have to compensate for the terrible format. John Medina, author of Brain Rules, delivers 50 minute lectures. His experience, backed up by peer-reviewed studies, was that after about 10 minutes of the lecturer talking, most students had checked out. So he applies the 10 minute rule: [Read more]
