In today’s attention-deficit world, you have to grab your audience right off the bat. So you can’t afford to make unforced errors at the start of your presentation. That’s why I put together this new quick-guide called 7 Fatal Presentation Errors and How to Avoid Them. It takes you through the seven worst mistakes speakers … Read more
I spoke at a big conference this week of PR professionals and was frankly appalled at the poor presentation skills of some of the presenters. These are, after all, communications pros! I realized many speakers were picked on the basis of their substantive expertise and credentials. And that is not enough. It just isn’t. I … Read more
Tonight I deliver my first speech based on the book. Being acutely aware of the importance of practicing what I preach, here are 10 rules I’m adhering to in the development and presentation of the material: 1. Dump PowerPoint and templates I did this in KeyNote instead of PowerPoint, which pretty much enforces mediocrity. And … Read more
I’m not one of those who considered Ronald Reagan “The Great Communicator” or even a great communicator. He was a good communicator, certainly, but no more so than I would expect from a successful politician and actor. His speech in the aftermath of the Challenger disaster was especially moving. He could deliver a well-timed one-liner, … Read more
I went to an industry event today where there was a guest speaker. I thinkthere was some value to the substance of his presentation, but it was very hard to tell because I was so turned off by the style, which was forecast by three things he did at the very top: He announced that … Read more