Author Archive: 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.

Speaker Instructions

Speaker instructions are sent out by conference organisers to standardise content, minimise areas of confusion and ultimately to aid conference presenters. Not all presenters view speaker instructions in the same manner. Try to understand the aim of the instructions is…
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*taps microphone

*taps microphone

A great presentation requires effective delivery; the best way to start is not *taps microphone and asking, “Is this thing on?” Speak normally, you will be heard throughout the room if effective amplification has been chosen. There are three basic…
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Size matters

Size matters

In so much of life, size matters. In presentations, size matters a lot. Size affects the nature and construction of a presentation, its delivery and reception. Size matters in the initial planning of presentation. It is essential to understand the…
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Top 10 tips

A recent tweet from a colleague Edd Broad asked me for my top 10 tips on giving presentations to a large group. Being a man of a certain age, a certain musical upbringing and a certain literary experience, top 10s…
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What is wrong with presentations?

What is wrong with presentations? Presentations as they are currently delivered, fail. There is little debate on the matter. Empirical research in communication suffers from many confounding factors and becomes almost impossible to generalise. Reflection highlights, embarrassingly, the fact though…
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Comic sans

Comic sans is one of the most used and also most hated fonts in the world. It was created in 1994 by Vincent Connare to be used in a comic. It was designed to be friendly and playful and to…
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Copying is a compliment

Copying is a compliment whether in art, fashion or presentation skills. Noticing the impact or effect that something has and then utilising it personally is part of life and should definitely be part of the development of a presenter. This…
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Speak Chinese

Approximately 13% of the world speak Chinese. That does not mean you should deliver your presentation in Mandarin to the Yorkshire Paediatric Trainees Annual Scientific Meeting. There is no single way to present, not even p cubed presentation style. We…
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Summary slides

spaced repetition

Summary slides are the latest fashion. Variously titled “Take home messages”, “conclusions” and “summary” they are increasing in use and sadly in number during presentations. They are the message the presenter wants the audience to take home and they conclude…
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Message not story

Message not story is the basis of a good presentation. We must communicate effectively with our audience and leave them with a message regarding the information delivered not simply a story about it or, even worse, a list of facts….
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