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Welcome Message
Big news to announce this month! I'm ecstatic to share with you the official 'inauguration' of my YouTube channel, and my new blog, The Ideal Communicator (named after this very newsletter...so now you can never forget!). The goal of these two new media channels is to provide you not only with compelling, engaging content, but to start discussions and share ideas on public speaking and presentation skills. I invite you to visit them often!
The other piece of news is that this newsletter - and the blog - has happily decided to accept guest posts. Do you have something to share about public speaking? How to improve your presentation skills? Tips to engage an audience? This month's guest writer, John White of VenTAJA Marketing, discusses some of the more painful aspects of PowerPoint, and what you, as a speaker, can do to avoid it.
This guest post fits right into this month's Feature Article, which discusses the new phenomenon of "Ignite" Presentations -- Five-minute speeches with 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds. It's a lesson in choosing your content -- and your slides -- very wisely!
You are invited to my upcoming speaking engagement in Chateauguay, QC on May 10.
And finally, enjoy this month's new feature, "You've Got To See This!" -- a quick video that's guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
As alwaysI look forward to hearing from you! Feel free to email me with your feedback, opinions, or if you just want to tell me about some of your public speaking successes!
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For the Entrepreneur Support Network
Date: May 10, 2010
Time: 7pm-9pm
Place: St-Willibrord Community Learning Centre, 300 McLeod, Chateauguay, QC
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Customer Raves
The Community Business Network (TCBN) was treated to a 45 minute seminar that was both fun and informative, and all came away with valuable tips on improving their presentation and public speaking skills.
Suzannah Baum is an engaging and well prepared speaker, and you will be too if you follow her advice.
- Bob Coley BrandXPromotions
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Cool Quote
"PowerPoint doesn't kill meetings. People kill meetings. But using PowerPoint is like having a loaded AK-47 on the table: You can do very bad things with it."
- Peter Norvig, Google Director of Research
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YOUTUBE CHANNEL AND BLOG - OFFICIAL LAUNCH!
I am ecstatic to announce the launch of my personal YouTube channel and the Ideal Communicator blog - two new ways for us to continue focusing on the constant improvement of public speaking and presentation skills. Visit, subscribe, comment, discuss, debate...but above all, stay in touch!
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IGNITE YOUR AUDIENCE IN 5 MINUTES!
 I recently had the pleasure of attending an evening of "Ignite" presentations last month. For those who have not yet heard of this speaking phenomenon, Ignite is a series of speedy presentations, where each speaker shares their personal and professional passions, using 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds for a total of just 5 minutes. A 5-minute presentation is not very different from a 10-minute, 30-minute, or 4-hour presentation. The basic rules of public speaking is no less important in this context. As always, it's crucially important to focus on the 3 main components of any speech: Content, delivery, and audience engagement.
With up to 20 speakers sharing the stage on the same night, Ignite presentations challenge the speaker to get their point across concisely, persuasively -- and most importantly, memorably. Add to that the expectation of clear and entertaining slides, a lot is riding on these 5 minutes.
 An IGNITE presentation in action!Let's look at one particularly stand-out Ignite presentation - the 22-minute meeting, by Nicole Steinbok - and see what makes it so successful.
- Relatable Topic: She speaks about a topic that most of the audience can easily relate to. Most of us have suffered through pointless meetings, and she capitalizes on this.
- Speech Structure: There is a very clear introduction, middle and conclusion to this speech. Special kudos goes to the fact that Nicole referred back to a particular point from her introduction in the conclusion, bringing the speech full circle.
- Engaging Images: The images in this presentation are very straightforward and easy to digest in the mere 15 seconds that we've got to look at them. And in the case where a slide is particularly busy (for example, "the 9 easy steps to washing your hands"), it's obvious that the audience is not supposed to read the slide closely; rather, the slide is meant to poke fun at the "new complexity" surrounding something that is fairly easy to do. Every single slide had a point.
- Faces the Audience: While Nicole may turn to look at her slides for a second or two, she never turns away from the audience. And her other hand remains free to gesture, and is never hidden in her pocket (as I saw with many other Ignite speakers).
- Enthusiasm and Humor: Nicole's energetic delivery and genuine sense of fun electrifies and entertains the audience.
As I watched the Ignite speakers, all of whom were of very different skill levels, I thought to myself, "This is, without a doubt, an exercise that every speaker should go through - no matter how long their presentation." Given that this speaking phenomenon is spreading like wildfire, I think we can definitely look forward to more of this in the future.
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GUEST ARTICLE: 3 REASONS TO THROW AWAY YOUR POWERPOINT
By John White, Marketing Communications Writer, VenTAJA Marketing
There is an art to writing slide decks that support your presentation, and an art to presenting without a slide deck. Hire a writer who can help you with both.
Have you ever seen a slide deck get in the way of a presentation? Your own presentation, perhaps?
You're standing in front of forty people delivering an animated presentation, when it dawns on you that the members of your audience are not engaged. At first they ogle the screen and leaf through your handouts. As your presentation goes on, some of them pick up their phones, check e-mail and surf a bit. Finally, you begin to read a message on a few faces: "All right, we've got the deck with your information. May we go now?" If you could read their tweets, you would probably confirm that they've checked out (and are telling people about it in real time).
DISADVANTAGES OF A SLIDE DECK
- PC logistics are against you. Your goal is to convey a message between two parties: yourself and the audience. Like it or not, the laptop, the remote control and the screen get involved as well, even if you're fortunate enough that they're all behaving properly.
- Your audience is reading the screen instead of reading you. You lose eye contact each time there's a change on the screen. For that matter, by clicking from one slide to the next, you are the one deliberately sending people's attention away from your on-stage presence.
- The presence of a slide deck induces - in fact, rewards - laziness. If I don't have to do any work, I probably won't remember your message for very long. "Can you send me a copy of the slide deck?" means, "I'm not engaged right now, so send it to me and I'll ignore it later."
Quit doing too much for your audiences. Try throwing away your PowerPoint™. Try delivering a "self-propelled" presentation.
Want to submit a guest article for publication in the Ideal Communicator newsletter or blog? Contact me to discuss publication guidelines.
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WHERE WAS I LAST MONTH?
The Community Business Network
I spent the morning with a group of dynamic entrepreneurs from the Community Business Network in my "Speak Well - and Get the Sale!" workshop.
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YOU'VE GOT TO SEE THIS!
 Nothing to do with public speaking...but everything to do with putting a smile on your face!
Try to watch this 4-minute video and not crack a smile.
You may never look at fruit the same way again! |
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