Presentation Tip: Determining the goal of your presentation is hard The foundation of every presentation should be a clear statement of the goal of the presentation. While I am sure you would agree with this, stating a clear goal is much harder than it seems. Don’t always assume that the first goal you come up with…
Category: Latest Information
Presentation resource: History of PowerPoint
A couple of weeks ago Geetesh Bajaj interviewed one of the founders of PowerPoint, Robert Gaskins, on the 25th anniversary of the software being released. It is a great interview and it includes a link to download a book by Mr. Gaskins on his memories of bringing PowerPoint to life. Read the interview here.
Presenting software/website usage; Issue #269 September 4, 2012
Presentation Tip: Presenting software/website usage Have you seen a presenter attempt a live demonstration of software or a website? Too often the demo goes wrong, with the software locking up or the Internet connection not working. Even large companies like Microsoft and Apple have these problems happen to them. Instead of live demos, I suggest…
Presentation Resource: Survey of PowerPoint vs. Prezi from a user perspective
A commonly touted solution to poor presentations is to change the tool that you use. You may have heard that Prezi, an online presentation tool is a popular option. It is one of many tools that exist, and I have seen ineffective Prezi presentations as well, so the tool is not the issue. You will…
Presenting a Recommendation; Issue #268 August 21, 2012
Presentation Tip: Presenting a recommendation In most cases, there is more than one possible solution for a problem. When you have been asked to investigate possible solutions and present your recommendation, you want the decision makers to act on that recommendation. In this article I will discuss how to make the presentation effective and get…
Presentation Resource: PowerPoint on Mac interface tutorials
Recently I did workshops for a company that has a mix of users on Windows and Mac, all using PowerPoint. While the features in the latest versions are very similar, the interface is slightly different. I have used PowerPoint on the Mac before, so I knew where to find the techniques I wanted to demonstrate.…
Make slides easy to see; Issue #267 August 7, 2012
Presentation Tip: Make slides easy to see There is no point using slides if the audience won’t be able to figure out what is on them. While this may sound obvious, I see too many presenters create slides that the audience won’t be able to figure out because of problems with the slide design. You…
Presentation Resource: SpeakerNetNews
Every Friday I look forward to the e-mail I get from SpeakerNetNews. This is one of the publications I signed up for even before I started my speaking career. Each week, speakers from all situations share their best ideas, what they are learning, and ask for help from others. I have submitted many tips and…
Prepare for questions or concerns; Issue #266 July 24, 2012
Presentation Tip: Prepare for questions or concerns It would be rare for a business presentation to be given and have no questions from the audience during or after the presentation. I am not talking about keynote style presentations from the big stage, I am talking about the regular presentations we deliver in our offices and…
How to use the “About Us” information; Issue #265 July 10, 2012
Presentation Tip: How to use “About Us” information In a past article I spoke about the way to structure a sales presentation and suggested that the information about your firm should come after you have demonstrated the solution to their problem. In this article I want to expand on what to do with the “About…