From the category archives:

Presentation skills

What to look for in a presentation skills trainer

May 14, 2010

When you’re choosing a presentation skills trainer there are a number of things to look for: their planning methodology, their views on PowerPoint, and how they’ll coach you on your delivery style. But despite all those variables there’s one critical distinction to look for. That’s the attitude of the trainer: are they rule-driven or [...]

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Three ideas from improv to develop your speaking

March 25, 2010

I’ve just finished a four day improv course for speaking. I first came across improv as a tool for improving public speaking skills when I took part in PresentationCampLA last year. I was a little suspicious at first, because I associated improv with acting, and I think speaking is about being yourself, not acting. But, [...]

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6 presentation tips from a professional speaker

January 27, 2010

Scott Berkun’s book Confessions of a public speaker is full of useful presentation tips. I’ve shamelessly cherry-picked the best presentation tips from his book.
Presentation tip 1: Let go of perfection
If you’d like to be good at something, the first thing to go out the window is the notion of perfection. Every time is I get [...]

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Best presentation tips for different presentations

January 20, 2010

Every type of presentation has its own challenges. I’ve put together my best presentation tips for each different type of presentation.
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 [...]

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How to propose a toast

December 15, 2009

Give the gift of public speaking this holiday season. It’s the time to show your love and appreciation for your family and friends. Here are some tips for proposing a toast:
1. Plan your toast in advance
It might be tempting (particularly if you’ve had a a few drinks) to spontaneously stand up and propose a toast. [...]

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Five Presentation Tips for a Pecha Kucha or Ignite Presentation

October 22, 2009

This week I went to my first Pecha Kucha night in Wellington, New Zealand.
Pecha Kucha and Ignite are two time-limited and slide-limited presentation formats. Pecha Kucha was developed as a presentation format to allow design and creative types to share their passions and show off their work. The format is very tight. You have to [...]

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Don’t follow these presentation tips

July 21, 2009

Whenever I read a top 10 presentation or public speaking tips post, I often find at least one tip that makes me cringe. And I’m not talking about the obviously stupid presentation tips like “Imagine the audience naked” or “Look at the back of the room”.
So here’s my list of the top 10 tips presentation [...]

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3 things speakers should know about virtual presenting

July 15, 2009

This is a guest post by Roger Courville. You can find out more about Roger in his bio at the end of this post.
Web seminars (AKA “webinars” or “webcasts”) are online seminars or presentations used to synchronously engage remote audiences with any content that can be presented from a computer desktop. Using Web conferencing [...]

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What you need to know before your first presentation

July 9, 2009

Giving your first presentation or speech is daunting. I’ve worked with many new presenters and here’s the advice that has made the most difference to them.
1. Content is king
Your audience is there for what you are going to say. Not how you say it.
This is good news for you as a new speaker. That’s because [...]

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Be inspired to speak by Susan Boyle

April 14, 2009

I first wrote this post in a state of great excitement when I first saw Susan Boyle singing on Britain’s Got Talent. Three days later, the YouTube video has gone viral round the world and I’ve had time to reflect a little more on what the phenomena of Susan Boyle means to us as presenters.
If [...]