It’s pretty close to impossible to get all the way to your first real job without hearing the phrase, “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” What people usually mean by it is look professional—like management—even if you are interviewing to be a line cook / intern / stockroom staffer. The...
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“I want my presentation to be perfect.” This is something we hear from our course participants now and then, and I reckon more people think it than actually say it. Most of the time, when people talk about a “perfect” presentation, they seem to mean that their presentation goes exactly the way they envision it...
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Business presentations and meetings exist for one reason: to move business forward. And they ought to do that effectively and efficiently. But do they? As it turns out, in far too many cases, no. Backstory Some time ago, I delivered a keynote address at a conference. The presentation focused on some of the ideas in...
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If you’re a business presenter, you know that the presentations you deliver serve one purpose—they help you get business done. Your presentations aren’t big speeches. They aren’t TED talks. They’re practical, necessary, and far too often time-consuming and frustrating. If you’re like most presenters, you probably spend too much time worrying that you’re over or under-prepared,...
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While listening to All Things Considered on NPR yesterday afternoon, I heard a story about video game jargon. Although I don’t know anything about video games, by the end of the story, I knew exactly what they were talking about. It was part of a special series ATC is doing on trade lingo. The show’s producers have...
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Why a Performance Approach to Business Presentations Doesn’t Work Presentations should not be confused with speeches. Speeches are a type of performance. Presentations are a type of conversation. That’s why we’ve redefined them as “Orderly Conversations.” Unfortunately, many people, even industry experts, hang on to the idea that a presentation should be “performed,” that it...
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A recent workshop participant said, “I don’t want to simplify this slide. The abundance of the data is where the story is.” As his coach, I cannot argue with that. This is exactly why those one-size-fits-all rules about the number of bullets or words on a slide don’t work. Admittedly, sometimes less is more. (And...
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A friend and fellow ATD Chicagoland board member sent this article to me, 9 Habits of Highly Effective Speakers, and asked what I thought. If you don’t feel like reading the whole thing, here is a snapshot of the nine “habits.” They are authentic. They choose phrases carefully. They keep it short. They rewrite. And they rewrite some...
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I remember watching Greg (Turpin’s VP) moderate a panel discussion several years ago. As I observed, I realized that the discussion was one of the best I’d ever attended. It was good, not only because of the insightful panelists (and they were) but also because of how Greg kept the conversation orderly through the use of some...
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Last week we talked about “Beth,” a nervous presenter. Beth is a smart, articulate professional, but when it came to presenting, she struggled and became self-conscious. The first hurdle we had to jump was to settle her thoughts so that she could be in control. We did that through active pausing. Beth was amazed at how...
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