No Presentations: Is the Pen Mightier than the Slide?

In case you missed the post on Monday, I recently had the opportunity to speak without the aid of a presentation. A bit uncomfortable for me, but I wanted to prove that there is no reason to hide behind slides and design to effectively (memorably) present information.

How did I do? I’ll let you be the judge. Below is a link to the whole presentation; it’s about 45 mins long and the team are working on cutting it up a bit to produce two short segments.
Continue reading →

No Presentations!

Is the pen mightier than the slide?

Ok, I’m nervous.

I am frequently asked if I get nervous before a presentation and my stock response is, “If somebody says they’re not anxious before a presentation, they’re either lying or dead.”
Continue reading →

The Pursuit of Happiness

Not for the first time, I’m wondering about the insanity that is the global procurement process. One of my clients is bidding on a £1 billion IT outsourcing project – alongside 10 competitors – a process that has collectively cost these companies upward of £10 million. Eleven teams, eleven solutions developed over the past year and only one that will see the light of day.

Of course, I believe the team we are supporting is the clear leader –  not just because their presentations are going to be Killer – I think they are going to win because they’re happy! Continue reading →

Learning Techniques Your Audience will CRAVE

“I wish I knew then what I know now.”

Partly because last weekend I spent a heart-aching evening watching my scout troop – 14-18 years old – as they struggled to cope with the dress and demeanour of their female counter-parts at a barn dance. But mostly because I have been recording the presentation for the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) for first year undergraduates to try and encourage active learning rather than passive participation.

Although it is a cliché, I do wish I had had this knowledge back when I was a student – life would have been so much easier had I really understood how to learn.

This is a reversal of another kind for me since I generally teach or sell ideas, rather than teach audiences how to learn. But my experience in making content engaging and memorable also applies to those trying to remember what they have been taught.
Continue reading →

Audience Attention and Recall

People speak at around 125 words a minute but think considerably faster. When listening to a presenter, hearing the words takes a relatively small toll of the mind of an audience member, leaving them plenty of cognitive capacity to think about other stuff. Depending on what they do or are thinking about will determine how much of the information they will recall later.

As a presenter, your job is to do everything possible to ensure that they don’t drift to grocery lists, carpool schedules and other work tasks – one of our greatest challenges. Continue reading →