p1

p1 is the basis of the presentation. It is the data, the story, the message that the presenter wishes to deliver to the audience. This section covers blog posts that address any part of the construction of p1; taking the “what” of the data and converting it into a “so what” for the particular audience. In particular, this covers audience needs, the value of a single, identifiable message, an elevator pitch, the arc of the story and development of sparklines.

The cornerstone articles on p1 are below but please surf through the links to gain a deeper understanding of why p1 (the story) is the basis of your presentation and must be the starting point in construction.

1.Hysteron proteron – the place to start with a presentation is the message.

2. It is not acceptable or valuable to just talk, you must have a message.

3. The aim and objective of a presentation are not the same thing.

4. The best presentations are planned analog. Shut the laptop and be creative.

5. Consider principally “why” you are presenting, not what to present.

p1 posts

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…

Spare some time guv?

We look past them, we try to avoid eye contact or politely but with a degree of embarrassment refuse their request. Our reasons for doing so are multiple but the…

Plan analogue

A major step forward in improving presentations is creative planning. The majority of presentations delivered are constructed within the presentation software; data is simply entered, re-organised and read out. The…

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…

What sort of a presenter are you?

The quality of a presentation is the product of the three basic components of p cubed: p1 story, p2 supportive media and p3 performance. It is proposed that a presenter…

The gift of time

One of the reasons there are very few really great presenters is that it is hard work! It’s important to recognise that giving a great presentation is not a gift…

  • Sense you’re not making

    It supports delivery. Many fail due to lack of…

  • Baby steps

    It is often daunting when considering change, such…

  • If you are just presenting data, don’t bother.

    If you are just presenting data, don’t bother….

  • The sigmoid curve of preparation

    The (perceived) overall value of a presentation, the p…

  • Sparklines

    The most important part of your presentation is…

  • I need to present more data. You don’t

    A frequent question from clinicians about presentations involves…

  • Prepare for failure

    SO, the Chair has introduced you and you…

  • It’s for you…

    There’s a great post over on at http://kidocs.org/2015/09/out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new/ giving…

  • It’s .pptx not .docx

    A common mistake in attempting to deliver a…

  • Delete your slides

    I received a question via Twitter about #presentationskills…