Read on Twitter
A tweeries on effective speaking & presenting.
BETTER PRESENTING 1.
Slides come LAST.
Define your purpose/intention for the talk.
Hook.
Structure the narrative.
All with your audience in mind.
Develop your script from those foundations.
THEN start thinking about slides…
BETTER PRESENTING 1.
Slides come LAST.
Define your purpose/intention for the talk.
Hook.
Structure the narrative.
All with your audience in mind.
Develop your script from those foundations.
THEN start thinking about slides…
BETTER PRESENTING 2.
Any fool can read bullet points off the screen; it takes expertise in the topic, plus real effort and humility, to know your material so well you can speak with no script in your eyeline.
Professional actors do this 8 shows a week, so can you.
Any fool can read bullet points off the screen; it takes expertise in the topic, plus real effort and humility, to know your material so well you can speak with no script in your eyeline.
Professional actors do this 8 shows a week, so can you.
BETTER PRESENTING 3.
“What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.” (Samuel Johnson)
Most presenters: “I think, therefore I dump it at random on a PPT slide. Oh, maybe with a little blurry picture?”
Yeah, not that.
Write with care to effect a change.
“What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.” (Samuel Johnson)
Most presenters: “I think, therefore I dump it at random on a PPT slide. Oh, maybe with a little blurry picture?”
Yeah, not that.
Write with care to effect a change.
BETTER PRESENTING 4. 1/2
No professional stands in front of an audience without a tightly-honed script.
Every speaker, comedian, actor, musician, juggler, magician you’ve ever been impressed by – they had every detail of their performance down cold a long time before you ever
No professional stands in front of an audience without a tightly-honed script.
Every speaker, comedian, actor, musician, juggler, magician you’ve ever been impressed by – they had every detail of their performance down cold a long time before you ever
BETTER PRESENTING 4. 2/2
…saw the performance. The idea / joke / act needs to be really good. But its success or spread starts and finishes with the writing.
“This is a day I’ve been looking forward to for two and half years…” (Steve Jobs, Jan 2007) https://youtu.be/vN4U5FqrOdQ ">https://youtu.be/vN4U5FqrO...
…saw the performance. The idea / joke / act needs to be really good. But its success or spread starts and finishes with the writing.
“This is a day I’ve been looking forward to for two and half years…” (Steve Jobs, Jan 2007) https://youtu.be/vN4U5FqrOdQ ">https://youtu.be/vN4U5FqrO...
BETTER PRESENTING 5
Big.
Clear.
One point per slide.
Split one busy slide into three clean, clear ones.
Your audience will appreciate you for it.
You don& #39;t have to pile info onto your slides, you really don& #39;t.
Slides are free now and no one cares how many you use.
Big.
Clear.
One point per slide.
Split one busy slide into three clean, clear ones.
Your audience will appreciate you for it.
You don& #39;t have to pile info onto your slides, you really don& #39;t.
Slides are free now and no one cares how many you use.
BETTER PRESENTING 6
If your slides can be used as stand-alone handouts, they are shitty slides.
<deep breath> SLIDES ARE NOT HANDOUTS.
If yours can stand alone, I bet they are very wordy.
For every 10mins, you will speak c.1500 words. What % of those are already in your deck?
If your slides can be used as stand-alone handouts, they are shitty slides.
<deep breath> SLIDES ARE NOT HANDOUTS.
If yours can stand alone, I bet they are very wordy.
For every 10mins, you will speak c.1500 words. What % of those are already in your deck?
BETTER PRESENTING 7
Own the room.
Review your last preso – sit in the room & see what the audience saw.
How are the sightlines?
Top and bottom of the screen fully visible?
Glare or de-saturation from lights or windows?
Note anything too small or distracting on your slides.
Own the room.
Review your last preso – sit in the room & see what the audience saw.
How are the sightlines?
Top and bottom of the screen fully visible?
Glare or de-saturation from lights or windows?
Note anything too small or distracting on your slides.
BETTER PRESENTING 8
Great talks, great lectures, and great presentations cannot be built on foundations of poor-to-average writing.
Great talks, great lectures, and great presentations cannot be built on foundations of poor-to-average writing.
1/3 BETTER PRESENTING 9
Nerves are normal, and are not always a bad thing.
Nerves while speaking in public derive from 3 elements:
1. “The eyes, the eyes! They’re all looking at me.” (Your inner mammal, afraid of being eaten)
Nerves are normal, and are not always a bad thing.
Nerves while speaking in public derive from 3 elements:
1. “The eyes, the eyes! They’re all looking at me.” (Your inner mammal, afraid of being eaten)
2/3
2. “I hate standing up in front of the tribe.” (Your inner primate, afraid of rejection)
3. “I wish I was better prepared.” (Modern brain, cognisant of how much you left things to the last minute)
Once you identify what the first two voices are saying to you, you can…
2. “I hate standing up in front of the tribe.” (Your inner primate, afraid of rejection)
3. “I wish I was better prepared.” (Modern brain, cognisant of how much you left things to the last minute)
Once you identify what the first two voices are saying to you, you can…
3/3
still them with rational self-talk + centring/grounding techniques.
The 3rd voice is pointing out an ugly truth – one you had the power to prevent.
All I’ll say is, presenters who finished their brain-dump slides at 1am, and are going to read them out, SHOULD be nervous.
still them with rational self-talk + centring/grounding techniques.
The 3rd voice is pointing out an ugly truth – one you had the power to prevent.
All I’ll say is, presenters who finished their brain-dump slides at 1am, and are going to read them out, SHOULD be nervous.
