LMGTFY
“How does one get images for a presentation?” is a question I am frequently asked. The answer is the same as so many other questions we have. Ask you friendly local search engine. Click here. I mostly use Google image…
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.
No script.
At no time should you use a script when giving a presentation.I know one should write paragraphs with three or more sentences that explain the initial statement but that statement stands alone. It needs no explanation, no justification, no clarification,…
It’s not about the slides
As Lance Armstrong famously entitled his book on “winning” the Tour de France, “It’s not about the bike.” So, with presentations, it is not about the slides. They are important. Without the slides it is just a talk. Ultimately the…
One message per slide
In the last blogpost I suggested the best place to start improving #presentationskills is by deleting the slide set. The rationale behind that statement was not to suggest that presentations should be done without supportive media but in order for…
Delete your slides
I received a question via Twitter about #presentationskills and where I might focus beginning the journey of improvement. As with so many things, the more I considered the issue the deeper the answer became. I think a good place to…
That’s a paper, not a slide
As conference season gets into full swing more and more presenters are showing audiences that their thoughts are built upon previous work. That is often very important. What is not necessary is to show a screenshot of that journal article.…
Design affects function
Simple design changes in the supportive media make dramatic differences to the audience’s perception of value in a presentation. The overall value of a presentation (p cubed) is the product of the story (p1) x the supportive media (p2) x…
It’s alright Ma, I’m only bleeding
This is the Mona Lisa, probably one of the most famous images in the world. Putting a frame around her doesn’t make her any more amazing. Putting a load of white space around her would detract from her. There is…
Never say, “I’m sorry.”
There is no place in a presentation for apologies. There should be nothing in your preparation that would cause you to apologise and nothing in your delivery that you should apologise for. Apologies are an expression of contrition and of…
Something they will always remember
My drive is for presentations to be remembered, so that the amazing things people have to share and teach and talk about will not be “lost in time like tears in rain.” One way to help the audience is to have…