There comes a time in every public speaker's career when attendance at his presentation is less than what he thought it would be. Through no fault of his own, people just don't show up. He looks out into the audience and sees a few people scattered all over the hall, leaving vast swaths of empty … [Read more...] about How to fix the empty seat problem at your next presentation
Storytelling in PowerPoint
As long as there have been people, there have been stories. From the tale of Oog the Mighty who brought down a mastadon with a single blow of his club to The Hunger Games, people love a good story! We imagine ourselves as the hero, celebrating his victories and suffering his losses right alongside … [Read more...] about Storytelling in PowerPoint
How to avoid four common presenter problems
While it's not possible to anticipate everything that could go wrong during your presentation, there are things you can do to ahead of time to stop problems before they start. Here are four events that could derail your whole presentation and what you can do to avoid them. Problem #1: No place to … [Read more...] about How to avoid four common presenter problems
The best way to make a PowerPoint? You have 5 jobs.
I'll bet you thought you only had one job! But if you want to design an effective presentation, you actually have five jobs as a presenter: writer, editor, graphic designer, teacher, and audience member. Don't focus on one job. You need all five. Designing a presentation from scratch can be a … [Read more...] about The best way to make a PowerPoint? You have 5 jobs.
Persuading with PowerPoint: Features vs. benefits
Understanding the difference between features and benefits will help you to create presentations that audiences will really respond to. The difference between features and benefits Simply stated, "features" are the components that make up a product or service: ingredients, parts, equipment used, … [Read more...] about Persuading with PowerPoint: Features vs. benefits
Why simple PowerPoint presentations are best
Some presenters believe that by loading their decks with text, bullet points, data, complex graphs, and dense tables they are helping their audience to understand their message. Nothing could be further from the truth. The problem: Complexity Slides like these are all to common: Note: This … [Read more...] about Why simple PowerPoint presentations are best
PowerPoint tables: How to simplify your presentations
In January 2014 I wrote about the top 5 top PowerPoint resolutions you should make for the new year. One of these was to avoid complex tables because they make the audience work too hard to understand what's on the slide. Because tables contain mostly text and numbers, not only do people need to … [Read more...] about PowerPoint tables: How to simplify your presentations
How can we learn from Michael Bay’s CES blunder?
To say that the Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, is an electronics and technology trade show is like saying that a 1954 Château Lafite Rothschild is a bottle of wine. It is that and so much more. It is a huge deal and presenters who are introducing new products do whatever it takes to make a great … [Read more...] about How can we learn from Michael Bay’s CES blunder?