Tim Wilson makes a short but very valid point about the questions to ask while speaking so that you can connect with the audience.
http://speakingquicktips.blogspot.com/2008/07/power-of-moment.html
The more mainstream Twitter becomes, the more chance that there will be Twitterers in your audience. Is your presentation worth tweeting? How will you cope with the seeming inattention? How will you harness the power of this phenomenon in your presentation?
Olivia Mitchell as given us an excellent 8 key points on presenting live to a Twittering audience. And Laura Bergells at Maniactive has added 2 useful ones of her own.
What do you think?
PRESENTATION TIP: THE CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE
Are you afflicted by the curse of knowledge?
No, this isn't the latest bit of Harry Potter wizardry. It's a phenomenom that many presenters suffer from, to the detriment of their audiences.
Popularized in Chip and Dan Heath's book, Made to Stick, the curse of knowledge is when you can't remember what it was like not to know the things you now know.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOUR AUDIENCE?
1. Respect (from the audience)
2. Love (to the audience)
There are no doubt important evolutionary reasons why this is true, but in my experience, every great presenter earns the respect of the audience (through her appearance, reputation, posture, voice, slides, introduction, etc.) and captures the attention of the audience by sending them love.
A strong post from Rowan on Powerpoint. He makes excellent points with extremely valuable supports.
If your presentation consists of a PowerPoint and the File Properties tell you that the audience will be spending more than half of your allotted time reading your slides, I would recommend staying home and sending an email.
http://fortifyservices.blogspot.com/2009/02/putting-value-on-your-audiences-time.html
The most memorable speeches are observations about the world at large, and remarks that unify, not observations about the speaker and his or her accomplishments and goals. To identify a speech given at a higher level, one that is not self-centered, simply count the number of times the word “I” is used vs. the number of times “we” occurs.
http://www.socializedpr.com/i-vs-we-in-presidential-rhetoric/
Gary writes :
I’ve been doing my research, and I’ve identified several strategies that you and I can learn to enhance our delivery skills. It’ll probably take some getting used to, but it’s really simple to learn. All you have to do is focused is focused on ONE small word to create a BIG.
Has a guy ever told you something, and you just had to go, "Really? That's what you thought. Really?"
I had one of those thoughts when reading Guy Kawasaki's Reality Check. (a must read for every entrepreneur and marketer)
Guy gives tips about public speaking, and one of the tips was to overdress - never dress beneath the level of the audience. I totally agree. But it was Guy's reason not to underdress that made me go, "Really? That's the signal it sends?"
http://marketingtowomenonline.typepad.com/blog/2008/12/underdressing-for-public-speaking.html
by Sue Gaulke
There's nothing worse than sitting in the audience while an inept speaker stumbles through an ill-conceived business presentation-- unless, of course, you're the one floundering in the spotlight. In 101 Ways to Captivate a Business Audience, Sue Gaulke, founder of the Speaker's Training Camp, strips the mysteries from the process by showing how to prepare and present an effective address that will successfully involve your audience and deliver your message. (more …)
Buy it from Amazon or request it for free if you are a Pivotal Gold member
with W Mitchell, CSP, CPAE
How many professional speakers have you heard speak in the past 10-20 years? A lot, we’ll bet.How many of their presentations have stood out to you as truly memorable? Probably just a few.
Do you think that if your presentations were more memorable, you’d be asked to speak more often?
We have a treat for you. If you’ve ever heard W Mitchell, CSP, CPAE speak, you know his extraordinary personal story and his ability to command a room. Like people used to say about E.F. Hutton, when Mitchell talks, people listen. And they remember.