Wednesday 19 September 2012

The Presenter's Handbook - Contents



What is included in The Presenter's Handbook? 
The answer is below.  
You can order your copy today.
ISBN 978-0-9571909-0-0 (Paperback)
ISBN 978-0-9571909-1-7 (Hardback)
Contents
Acknowledgements 7
Introduction 9
How this book works 11

Section 1  You as a presenter 15
Introduction 16
Understand when your presentation starts 19
Processing & removing fears 22
Mirror neurons – Look at the best, learn to be the best 26
Anchors, anchoring and firing 30
Dress code – Be respected and remembered 33
Body Language – An introduction to the subject 36
Language – It’s about you not me 40
Language – Representational systems 42
What mood do I need to portray 46
Section 1 – You as a presenter: Summary 48

Section 2  Your presentation 52
Section 2 – Your presentation: Introduction 53
What is my story? 58
What message am I conveying? 60
What is the question you are going to answer? 63
Key messages – What? 64
Key messages – When? 67
Human attention span – 20, 20, 20 69
How long is the presentation scheduled for? 72
Short and long term memory 74
How many delegates are expected? 78
Who are my audience? – How well do they know me? 79
Evolution, surprise and what grabs attention 83
Emotions and connecting with the audience 86
Meet audience needs – Central six fitness indicators 90
The front cover slide: It has a number of objectives Don't skimp 93
Providing too much information too quickly 95
Cognitive dissonance 99
Human brain limitations 102
Building slides 104
Animation dos and don’ts 107
Is the presentation numbers based? 110
Presenting text-based information 113
They can read faster than you 116
Presentations and handouts are different things 118
Bullets – No, no, no 121
Clip Art – No, no, no 125
Sourcing better graphics 127
Video dos and don’ts 128
Music & sounds 131
Owning someone else’s presentation 135
Section 2 – Your Presentation: Summary 137

Section 3  Your performance 144
Section 3 – Your performance: Introduction 145
Where are you in the big picture? 149
When was the last break for delegates? 154
What is the orientation of the room? 156
Freedom to move 163
Standing, moving and focussing 166
Where to look 169
Stand on the left: Where humans look 172
Creating attention and distraction 174
Dual encoding – Multi sensory processing 177
Synchronised dual encoding 179
Words are only 7% of the meaning 183
Remote presentation but not a laser 186
Pre-slide pausing 188
Learn from the weathermen and politicians 190
Rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse 193
Get a second opinion 196
Safety nets - A script somewhere, prompts and a back up 199
What backup plan do I have? 202
Delegate interaction 208
Audience participation 210
When allowing question and answers 213
Section 3 – Your Performance: Summary 218


Section 4  Final thoughts 226
Section 4 – Final thoughts: Introduction 227
Would you yourself sit through the presentation? 228
Reflection – Analyse and improve 230
Self reflection 233
Electronic feedback 237
Further support – Live advice 239
Section 4 – Final thoughts: Summary 243
About the authors

And finally do not forget about the supporting training courses that are available.


Order your copy today.
ISBN 978-0-9571909-0-0 (Paperback)
ISBN 978-0-9571909-1-7 (Hardback)



  247

Monday 10 September 2012

OOP’s that wasn’t meant to happen.


During presentations occasionally things go wrong. When things do not go as expected the key is not to panic and stay calm.  How many times have you sat through a presentation or training session and heard the line “It normally works at this point”, or “It worked fine this morning?" These lines are not what you want to hear as a delegate.  As a delegate you want to see the product in its best light. 

There are circumstances when something might go amiss which could have amusing connotations. 

These are generally outside the presenter’s control. This small burst in unscripted humour can be both a pause for breath for the audience and for you as the presenter to take a valuable few seconds to compose ready for the next important topic of the presentation.

What we will focus on are those items that are under your control as a presenter.

Software updates
Software updates are one of the most dangerous areas for presenters. Even more so in the current climate of tablets where automatic updates can be enabled, PC users will be familiar with experiencing Windows updates. These updates can have a dramatic effect if your computer connects to a WiFi network. An update can take place, which invariably slows the computers performance for a short while. More often than not this leads to the computer needing a reboot.  If the reboot notification is not cancelled the computer can shut down halfway through your presentation. For that reason try to have automatic updates switched off.

Virus software
Virus software can work in a similar way slowing down the computer performance whilst updates are taking place. For most tasks this may not even be noticed but start playing a video during a presentation and loading may become an issue, let alone performance. Therefore we recommend switching off these updates also.

Office connectivity
Office connectivity provides a standard and expected way of working, with shared diaries, email, interactive whiteboards and files stored online. Presentations in offices do provide their own set of problems.  Make sure during your presentation that email is switched off.  The group of delegates or key business figures do not want to see a notification pop on the screen stating you have an email from a friend inviting you to a drunken party that evening, fancy dress optional. The same can be said for any active social media sites you may be running.

Upgrades
Upgrades in software do provide many opportunities for the presenter and trainer to fall down.  Small changes in layout when you are in full flight during a presentation of software can lead to the thought of “Where has that icon disappeared too”. Alternatively new icons appear in unexpected position. 
Importantly as well, do not leave it to chance that old files will automatically load. New software may prevent older file versions loading or if they do load check that they open and that the layout is as expected. 

Therefore be vigilant when upgrading software, always run through and experience the upgraded version as much as possible ahead of a presentation.  

By following these tips your presentations will run smoother and without any unwelcome intrusion.