I recently worked with six executives from a large company who were preparing for their Investor Day. Each would give a 20-45 minute PowerPoint presentation to a live audience of about 100, with a simultaneous webcast. All of the presenters received from their Investor Relations VP the same general outline of what to cover. Once… Read More »

Don’t want to be too bossy in your presentations? Think again. When you give a presentation, it’s important to tell your audience what you’d like them to do…and why they should do it. Two reasons: From your point of view: You have an agenda…a reason for giving the presentation. Typically you want something of them…. Read More »

When you give a presentation or a speech, do you sound like an author reading from your book or like a person having a conversation? If you chose the former, chances are you are not connecting with your audience as well as you could be. Humans have conversations with each other. We don’t like to… Read More »

I was recently reminded of the importance of the balance between visuals and the spoken word. I led a session for a small group from a very successful boutique branding and design firm. After discussing the content of an effective presentation, they each delivered a sales or progress report presentation. I knew they would blow… Read More »

Would you notice a gorilla in the midst of a basketball game? That’s what participants saw in an experiment mentioned by Manohla Dargis in her article from the New York Times entitled “What You See is What You Get.”  She describes a phenomenom called “Inattentional Blindness.” In terms of film, it’s when we don’t notice… Read More »

If you’ve ever sold or shopped for a house or apartment, you know that staging your home has become de rigueur for finding a buyer and getting a good offer. An article in the New York Times, “Ruthless Came the Home Stager”  describes the art of staging. My take-away? A good home stager is a… Read More »

William Zinsser, author of the classic book “On Writing Well,” wrote that the four basic premises of writing are clarity, brevity, simplicity and humanity. Today, let’s examine “humanity,” defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary as “the quality or state of being human.” What does “humanity” mean in the context of writing a presentation? For me,… Read More »

Have you heard of “KISS?” (Keep It Simple Sweetie!) Here is what some famous authors have said about simplicity. They all support the notion that short and sweet is the way to go. “I never write ‘metropolis’ for seven cents when I can write ‘city’ and get paid the same.”
– Mark Twain (1835-1910) “The most… Read More »

A recent client was preparing to give a PowerPoint presentation at an industry event. A freelance colleague of hers had done a good job helping her create a preliminary presentation, writing the copy for the slides and the notes sections. In a creative field, my client produced the visuals. Although they are both experts in… Read More »

I was working with an upper level designer for a fashion manufacturer who regularly had to present several lines of women’s fashion to the merchandising executives, her boss in design, and the president of the company. This included showing “boards” (boards with pictures of styles, swatches and other materials pinned to them) and samples of… Read More »