Go to www.marionclaire.com  and on the Home page, you will find a link to download this valuable speaking tool:

5 MAGIC KEYS TO CREATING ANY SPEECH!

Knowing the answers to these Five Questions will enable you to create a fabulous speech for almost any occasion.  Download your Free Report now and make creating your next speech so much easier!  

Already a subscriber?  Click here.  

   Do You Really Need Power Point?    

         Business Week Magazine Online recently published an article called "Death to Power Point" by Bob Parks** that advocates the 'less is more' philosophy... less Power Point may be more beneficial to your speech and your audience. Considering that millions and millions of computers are equipped with Power Point, and it's ubiquitous in presentations all around the globe, is this heresy or simply another way of thinking out of the box?         

         Admittedly, using Power Point can be called the lazy presenter's program of choice. Many folks simply put the key points of the speech outline on slides and then just read the slides. No need to remember the sequence of the talk, how Point A relates to Point B and so on, it's all right there on the screen. Having your outline on your slides also avoids the need to hold 3x5 cards or stand behind a podium in order to read your notes. You can move around the room and get right down among your listeners as the pointer highlights the items on each slide. Technically, Power Point can be your virtual assistant keeping you on track with a minimum of effort.

         However, does using Power Point make you a better speaker? Is your goal simply to get your information across quickly and with the least effort on your part? Did the audience come simply to learn the subject or did they come to gain your personal insights that you've garnered over years of studying it, working with it, and teaching it to others. Would they get just as much if you simply gave them a handout of your slides, or does your presentation need the human touch that only you can provide?

         There's also the Power Point resentment factor. That's the feeling of some listeners that they wasted their time attending this event when the speaker could have just sent the slides to their computer for them to read. If the speaker isn't someone whose experience and expertise make him worth listening to, why bother to show up? Most businesspeople are way too busy to attend a conference, workshop, seminar or dinner meeting that doesn't give them the big bang for their buck they came for.

         So if Power Point has reached its saturation point, what should you do instead?

         Tell a story!

         Probably 99% of the subjects that a speaker may present in the course of her working life lend themselves to storytelling. We're not talking about the "Once upon a time..." Mother Goose variety. Rather we're looking for metaphors, similes, aphorisms, personal experiences and whatever verbal images you can create that will give the audience a visual picture of what you're talking about. Humans understand and remember information better when they can relate it to something in their own experience. Couching your message in stories draws the audience into the action, encourages them to nod their heads in agreement or recognition, and gives them the feeling they are active participants instead of just passive spectators.

         If you can turn your laundry list of facts and figures into a treasure hunt, your complex theory into a dialogue or a two-sided challenge, if you can relate your new process to taking a journey, running a race, competing and winning a prize, whatever image you can conjure up that challenges the audience to come along on the ride with you, that's your story. Your key points are the signposts on the highway to your goal or the episodes in your story, and your audience will be visualizing your journey right along with you.

         Who needs Power Point when you can verbally create visual pictures using your personality, your experience, and above all, your desire to give the audience something valuable to take home with them?

         What makes your presentation special is that you're the one who's giving it. You're one-of-a-kind. Anything you say is unique to you. Giving the audience insight into who you are doubles your effectiveness, and the audience will be much more likely to be influenced and inspired by what you say. You'll be the unique and sexy speaker they want to hear from again!

**http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-30/death-to-powerpoint