Tag Archive: so what

Effective communication

The purpose of a presentation is effective communication. Effective communication is not recitation of a list of facts. Effective communication is about a message. That message is only effective from the perspective of the audience. Effective communication is about converting…
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Miles ahead

  Miles Davis, improvisational jazz wonder developed a new form of jazz outwith the accepted boundaries of music. He eschewed accepted understanding of chords and scales and gave the world amazing music. He did this, not by adding notes but…
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The best title slide blogpost, ever (ii)

How does one arrive at a great title for a great title slide? With difficulty. It is the culmination of consideration of the audience needs, the “so what” of your data, the storyboard, the elevator pitch and the sparklines within…
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Reading the dictionary out loud.

Guten ist mir Freude hier meine Damen. Es Herren Abend eine zu und sein. That is just a list of German words in a meaningless order. I am hoping it doesn’t mean anything (bad) but using it as a metaphor for the problem of teaching. Simply…
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If you are just presenting data, don’t bother.

If you are just presenting data, don’t bother. The data of your presentation (p1) is much better presented in a document. It lasts longer, may be reviewed at an individual’s own pace and allows for detailed and fulsome interpretation. In…
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It’s alright for you, you’re gifted

I have been working and thinking deeply on presentations now for nearly 8 years now. Please read this post on why it is preZENtationskills. It is humbling to be invited to speak on this topic at various events and I…
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It’s .pptx not .docx

A common mistake in attempting to deliver a (scientific) paper is the failure to recognise the difference between a document and a presentation. They are not the same. Perhaps the nomenclature is the start of the problem but an oral…
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What are you talking about?

Seriously, what are you talking about? If you can’t explain in less than 3 sentences what your presentation is about, then you don’t know. Sadly, many presentations are just a list of facts in no particular order and not getting…
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Where, precisely are you going?

The key mistake made in preparing a presentation is in failing to identify purpose. “What is your objective, relative to this subject, in talking to this group, today?” The answer to that question can usefully be quantified in the elevator…
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Increase signal to noise ratio

One of the key concepts in improving your presentation is to increase the signal to noise ratio. This applies to all parts of the presentation; p1, p2 and p3. It’s like tuning the radio properly, the clarity of the message…
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