Latest posts

Below are the most recent articles or resources I’ve published. If you are looking for help on a specific topics, it would best to look at the topics in my Articles archive as I have grouped my recent and best articles by topic there.

  • Confusing the message with supporting information; Issue #322 October 14, 2014

    A recent consulting assignment was a good demonstration of the problem presenters run into when they confuse their message with the supporting information. My client was presenting to executives to suggest what they should do about a situation in one of their divisions. The problem was that she had structured the presentation so it listed…… Continue reading

  • Have a backup story ready; Issue #321 September 30, 2014

    While I was working with an executive earlier this year on an important presentation she was delivering at a conference, I realized how important it is to have a backup story ready. If you are relying on a story to illustrate a key point in your presentation, this may be advice you will want to…… Continue reading

  • Discernment; Issue #320 September 16, 2014

    Discernment is defined as making wise decisions or judging well. In order to make wise decisions as a presenter, you have to ask the right questions. Too often, presenters don’t ask key questions that help them determine the content and approach that will be most successful. Why don’t presenters ask the right questions? Often it…… Continue reading

  • Jargon and Acronyms; Issue #319 September 2, 2014

    For a number of years I have been advising participants in my workshops to minimize the use of jargon or acronyms in their presentations to audiences that will likely not know what those terms mean. I didn’t fully realize how problematic these were until the results of my recent survey on the state of financial…… Continue reading

  • Top 5 PowerPoint Tips for Student Presentations in School

    Recently a friend, Beverly, asked if I could please give some advice that elementary school kids could use when preparing PowerPoint presentations for class. For those of you who don’t have kids or grandkids in elementary school, teachers are now requiring many projects to be presented using PowerPoint (our kids started using PowerPoint in third…… Continue reading

  • Paperless handouts; Issue #318 August 9, 2014

    The proliferation of smartphones, tablets, and hybrid laptop/tablet devices in organizations has given presenters opportunities to move towards paperless handouts. A recent client experience had me re-examine methods that can work today. The attendees at this particular workshop are all regularly travelling and this has necessitated them moving to an almost totally paperless environment. They…… Continue reading

  • Free Pre-Made Diagrams; Issue #317 August 5, 2014

    Where do you turn when you want to use a diagram to show a sequence relationship or a relationship between entities (two of the six categories of messages in my book Select Effective Visuals)? Microsoft will tell you to use SmartArt. I suggest you don’t use SmartArt. It is inflexible, hard to edit, hard to customize,…… Continue reading

  • Review of a Data Viz Checklist; Issue #316 July 22, 2014

    In the last six to nine months I have been paying more attention to the world of data visualization. This is the practice of showing data in a visual way that clearly communicates the message. This is important to presenters of financial, operational, and technical information. I have found this industry a good source of ideas…… Continue reading

  • When you should use a dual-axis graph; Issue #315 July 8, 2014

    It is not uncommon to see a graph with two axes. But it is rare that the graph makes information easier to understand for the audience. It usually confuses the audience and obscures any message the presenter was trying to deliver. In this article I want to explain why dual-axis graphs are usually confusing and…… Continue reading

  • Comparing groups broken into segments; Slide Makeover #79

    Use a stacked bar chart instead of two pie charts for comparing groups broken down into segments Continue reading