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Add a QR code to your presentation
By now, you’ve probably seen QR codes in many places. You may even have used them. They’re still fairly new. What’s a QR code? A QR code is a square image — usually black and white — that works...
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How to create a self-running presentation
We usually think of PowerPoint as being used by a live presenter who stands in front of a live audience. But PowerPoint can be used in other ways: PowerPoint is often used an an elearning tool. In this...
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3 changes you should make in the Options dialog box of PowerPoint
I’m starting to use the upcoming PowerPoint 2013 a lot and doing so has reminded me of some of the default PowerPoint settings that I hate. Here are 3 simple changes you can make that I think will make...
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The #1 thing employers want most in a new hire
Are presentation skills important to employers? Sometimes I think that employers speak out of two sides of their mouths. On one hand, they seem to let their employees give awful presentations without...
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The difference between a persuasive and an informative presentation
I think that most presentations can be classified as persuasive or informative.These two presentation types can cover quite a range — more entertaining or less, informal or keynote,for example. What...
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Death to agenda slides!
Someone sent me an example of a sales presentation. The second slide’s title was Agenda and it had several bullet points. The presentation reminded me how much I hate agenda slides. Agenda slides say:...
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The role of persuasion and emotion in training
I’ve always thought that persuasion and emotion were best left to sales and proposal presentations. After all, in an instructional setting, isn’t persuasion like propaganda? But in my course,...
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How to convince executives that presenters need presentation skills training
I hear it all the time. It usually comes from people in the Communications or Marketing department. They’ve been reading this blog — and others — about how to create powerful, persuasive presentations....
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Free video training: How to Turn Your Organization’s Leaders into Powerful...
I recently did the second of two free webinars for the good folks at Training Magazine Network. The recording is now available…and still free, of course! The topic is a timely one: How to Turn Your...
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Use the 4 principles of meaningful communication
When you first find out that you have to give a presentation, you need to think about what you’ll say. Here are 4 principles of communication — guidelines that you should use to ensure that your...
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Compare options with the Balance SmartArt layout
Have you ever looked for a way to show advantages and disadvantages of 2 options? One way to compare options is with the Balance SmartArt layout. It looks like a scale. What’s so cool about it is that...
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Intrigue your audience
If you can intrigue your audience, you will engage them and maintain their attention. How can you get there? Organize your content for intrigue I heard a keynote by Sam Horn at the Presentation Summit...
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The flipped presentation
Let’s say that you’re giving a presentation that requires you to provide a lot of detailed information to your audience. Perhaps you’re Training supervisors about vacation, sick day, and leave of...
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Put all benefits on one proposition slide
When you are trying to persuade your audience to buy or make a decision, you need to explain the benefits of your proposition. Of course, you’ll spend time on each benefit and support each one with...
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Create a tabbed presentation for longer presentations with lots of topics
When you do a long presentation with lots of topics, you can help your audience understand and remember more by explicitly displaying the presentation’s organization. A training session comes to mind...
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7 quick fixes to your slides based on my experience with clients
I see lots of slides that clients create and then ask me to help them make over. There are some problems that I see over and over and I thought I’d tell you about them because avoiding these mistakes...
View ArticleEngage: How to avoid becoming a human tranquilizer by Paul B. Evans
I came across this short video by Paul B. Evans and thought it provided practical yet inspiring advice for speakers. What do you think? What advice do you have to keep the attention of your audience?...
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Start your presentation BIG
Presenters often ask how to start a presentation. I have an older post, “A good opener/introduction” in which I cover ways to start a presentation and it gets a huge amount of traffic and comments —...
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Stupidity, lies and coverups = literal Death — by PowerPoint, or not?
I’m going to ask you to stick with me here and click 2 links. It’s important. You could save lives. This post is in response to “Did PowerPoint Ruin GM?” You can skim the article, but do read the first...
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2 ways to collaborate with others on your presentations-Part I
Many presentations are collaborative efforts and you may have discovered that putting your comments in an email and attaching the latest version of the PowerPoint file gets confusing fast. Here are...
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