It’s not about you
The value of a presentation is NOT what you thought it was. Too often a speaker leaves the stage disappointed in their work, upset that a section hadn’t gone as well as planned, that a previous rehearsal had been better,…
ffolliet
At work I'm a Consultant Paediatric Surgeon. That involves Surgical Oncology, Neonatal Surgery and Trauma. There's also a lot of teaching and mentoring. None of this actually makes me particularly clever.
I'm pretty heavily into improving presentations and long for the world to lay down the weapon of bulletpoints and embrace creative and engaging presentations. I lead presentation workshops and am currently working up a book on presentations.
I did a wee thing at TEDx Stuttgart in 2014 of which I'm quite proud https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFza3W87eDg
Outside all of that I struggle to keep fit, cycle a bit and the odd triathlon. I'm a father, singer, laugher, learner, sharer, blogger, thinker, strummer and much more.
One at a time please? One at a time
If you are going to use images in a presentation use them only one at a time. Multiple images in a slide are impossible to look at comfortably. The eye is constantly looking from one to the other and the…
It’s not a shaggy dog story
Intro. Waffle waffle waffle, essential and potentially key interesting information. Waffle waffle waffle. Facts. Waffle waffle waffle. Build up with more key information. Waffle waffle waffle. Punchline. A great presentation is better than a shaggy dog story; it should make…
just for reference- don’t
Big hair, flares, shoulder pads, mini skirts, wide ties, skinny jeans, platform shoes and putting references in powerpoint slides in a tiny font at the bottom of a slide. Just for reference- don’t. No matter who it was suggested to…
Which part of your preparation took the most time?
A great presentation takes time. None of them fall from the heavens perfectly constructed and no great presenter steps on the stage having just written their piece last night. So which part of preparation took the most time in your…
200 and counting!
This post marks the 200th in a series of little comments on #presentationskills. I started the blog in March 2013 and the current number of hits is over 120,000. Thank you for your interest!The most popular posts are listed below.…
Presentation wisdom from Winnie the Pooh
My dear friend @nicolegugger is very wise. She recently wrote this blogpost on the presentation insights from Winnie the Pooh. If your German is up to it, I strongly commend the original over at your German isn’t so good, please forswear…
reflections on failure
So, I stepped onto the stage to give a Keynote presentation having checked and run through the whole IT setup, twice. The IT guy pressed the button to swap from the Conference backdrop to my presentation and launched…absolutely nothing, just…
M’eh.
If you are going for an important interview would you just put on any old clothes? If you are going on a first date would you just wander straight from work without considering your make up? Your parents are coming…
Look ’em in the eye.
The best way to reduce your nervousness on the day of your talk is to look the audience in the eye. Preparation is essential and will deliver the majority of speakers to a point on the day of relative confidence;…