Presentation Skills

I've consumed some very interesting recommendations on presentation skills in the last couple of days. Seth Godin has reposted on how to properly use powerpoint. It's excellent information if you're planning on presenting, pitching or speaking in the near future. Seth challenges us to prepare and match visuals with speaking points rather than using powerpoint slides as our cue cards. Engage the audience with stimulating visuals that accent your speaking points.

David and Terry of InsidePR are presenting recommendations on their podcast for preparing for presentations and the skills to work during your presentation. It's important for us to know our audience and engage them in the conversation and information we're presenting.

Think about the effort and preparation you put into your next speaking engagement or sales pitch and utilize the resources out there from proven speakers.

Comments

[Terry Fallis]

Hey Jamey, thanks for mentioning our humble podcast and for sending in an audio comment. We'll play it in Inside PR #45...

Ter

[Ed Barks]

There is one critical piece Seth Godin's excerpt fails to mention. Never forget the first consideration when it comes to PowerPoint: Do you need to use it at all?

Too many organizations and individuals automatically default to PowerPoint when they start assembling a presentation. Wrong.

Think about your message. Think about your audience. Think about everything related to your presentation. Then think long and hard about whether you need slides. If your first answer is "yes," stop and think things through again. Only opt for PowerPoint after serious contemplation.

Ed Barks
Author of The Truth About Public Speaking: The Three Keys to Great Presentations
http://www.TruthAboutPublicSpeaking.com

[Jamey]

Thanks Ed. Very good point indeed. More often than not, that is the best question. Do you even need the slides.

I think many presenters have a tendency to use presentation slides as a crutch, something to "hide" behind when presenting rather than relying on the value of the content.

[Marthie]

Thanks for sharing. I'm really interested in stuff like this these days as I'm also taking up presentation and communication skills workshops in Melbourne. It'd be amazing if others would also join us. Here is the link: http://ripestuff.com