Tailoring Your Presentation to the Audience
Even if you have a “canned” presentation, you will want to tailor it for each audience, to better connect and engage the participants, and to specifically address topics related to your presentation that the meeting planner deems important. Through a discovery process of asking questions of the meeting planner and of conducting short, informational interviews […]
Working with the Meeting Planner: The Pre-Program Questionnaire
If you want to hit a “home run” at a speaking event– to engage your audience and to please the meeting planner–start your preparation with a pre-program questionnaire. Elements should include: Contact person information, including a cell phone number Meeting details: date, time, place, length of program, what’s before and after Audience demographics (number in […]
Get More Testimonials with LinkedIn (Ask for Recommendations!)
If you want to increase the likelihood of getting hired as a speaker, testimonials can make a difference! Whether you are speaking for free or for fee, you can ask people to give you testimonials. Video testimonials are great, when you can get them, but you can also use written testimonials. I’ve found it highly […]
3 PowerPoint Photo Tips (Video)
You can take your PowerPoint slides from ordinary to awesome with 3 simple tips shown in this video (4:22): 1. Make your picture BIG! 2. Remove the picture background 3. Match the font of your text to a color in the picture Bonus Tip: If you want to grab the colors from something online, you can […]
Using Quotes in PowerPoint–Video
You get two tips today! Tip #1: Make your quotes look better in PowerPoint. Click below to see the 4-minute Jing video I made on using quotations in PowerPoint: BonusTip #2: Create short videos to explain “how to.” For the above video, I used Jing, a free screen capture tool. Not all of your presentations may be […]
Persuasive Speech Structures
In a recent discussion on the Official Toastmasters International Members Group Facebook Page, member Merv Olsen, asked “What are your thoughts on the ‘Monroe Motivated Sequence’ approach to persuasive speaking?” You might think that this question doesn’t apply to you because you don’t give persuasive speeches. Don’t be too quick to dismiss. Ultimately, almost every […]
Free ebook for Summer Reading: 12 Ways to Be a Confident Speaker
Learn some public speaking skills this summer! This week your free ebook is 12 Ways to Be a Confident Speaker. Get your free Kindle version (US link, Canadian link, UK link) It’s free on Kindle through Saturday, June 21, 2014. You will learn how to: –Speak with Passion –Focus on the Audience –Know Your Material –Use Notes Sparingly –Speak Conversationally […]
Free ebook for Summer Reading: Public Speaking Lessons from TED Talks
Learn some public speaking skills this summer! This week and next, I am giving you free ebooks on public speaking (next week is “12 Ways to Be a Confident Speaker”). Get your free Kindle version (US link, Canadian link, UK link) of the short e-book, Public Speaking Lessons from TED Talks: The Good and the Bad from the 10 Most-Viewed […]
Virtual Communication Skills–Bridging the Digital Divide (Video)
Virtual communication, communication using technology to communicate across continents, cultures, languages and time-zones, is quickly becoming the norm. You can discover practical methods for collaborating and presenting virtually in the video below (34 min, presentation given at a conference at the University of Copenhagen last month–don’t worry, only my speaker introduction is in Danish).Ready. Set. […]
Content vs. Delivery: Which is More Important?
Some people say, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it,” regarding the relative importance of content vs. delivery in a presentation. Is delivery more important than content? My most recent experience as a presenter at a conference at the University of Copenhagen on Virtual Communication (the conference title was “You Lost Me […]