Writers, gurus and your next door neighbor will tell you that you should "tell a story," "be more visual," or "keep it simple". I recently gave a pilot workshop at a large corporation that is considering adopting BBP training on a wide scale. I asked the group where they are with their current PowerPoint approach, and where they would like to be, and they came up with this list:

You've visualized yourself giving a successful presentation where the audience walks away feeling like they've received great value and they're motivated to do something 9. Cam Beck asked me this question the other day in response to my post about your worst public speaking fear coming true : "So how do you know the difference between preparing and over-preparing?" First of all, here's what it looks like to be unprepared . Also, here's a post I wrote about how I prepare for a presentation .

Thanks to No Impact Man for the original post.) As a PowerPoint slide, this would have too much going on, but as a model for how to create an interesting visual or handout, take note. As always, the data and visuals should be secondary, and an enhancement to the presenter and the message. But if your visuals can complement your talk in a way that helps the audience grasp your point Check out this fact sheet from the Pew Campaign for Fuel Efficiency . (Thanks This handout about the Auto Lobby Bill on Fuel Economy was delivered, along with candy, to members of Congress

Beginning to think about design by exploring the tenets of the Zen aesthetic may not be an example of Lateral Thinking in the strict sense, but doing so is a good exercise in stretching ourselves and really beginning to think differently about visuals and design in our everyday professional lives. Thankfully, Patrick Lennox Tierney (a recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun in 2007) has a few short essays elaborating on the concepts. Exposing ourselves to traditional Japanese aesthetic ideas — notions that may seem quite foreign to most of us — is a good exercise in lateral thinking, a term coined by Edward de Bono in 1967. "Lateral

Thanks to Garr Reynolds at Presentation Zen for the tip.) Not only does Rosling present data in a completely new and refreshing way (demonstrating that yes - it can be done ), but he also infuses his own personality and subtle sense of humor throughout - and closes his 2007 presentation in a truly memorable way. Not only is the data visually presented in an unusual way, but he also uses other successful presenting strategies to explain the data. Watch these presentations (below) by Hans Rosling from TED . (Thanks These are presentations about poverty in developing countries,

Bill wrote a good book in 2007 called Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design. There are a few other download options on their site here , including the actual (gulp) PowerPoint deck (sans Bill's special font). Displaying the presenter & the visual simultaneously Below are a few screen captures from the website. Displaying presentations online with both You may not have heard of Bill Buxton yet, but the Canadian designer and computer scientist is well known in the field of human–computer interaction.

There's a strong psychological aspect to preparing for sport competitions as there is in speaking, in terms of positive self-talk, visualization, and relaxation techniques. Are you visualizing yourself blowing your audience's minds and giving them something of extraordinary value? " Some people think they are concentrating when they're merely worrying. " ~ Bobby Jones I keep coming back to athletics as an analogy for public speaking . Athletes are performers , as are speakers.

Make a commitment to learning the principles of effective visuals, whether they're flip charts or computer-generated. Here are some resources for you: * Blog post: Why you can't read slides and listen to a speaker at the same time * Blog post: New research about PowerPoint titles * My article on "old-school" visuals * My public speaking e-course, " 7-Week Shortcut to Public Speaking Confidence " (week 4 covers visual aids and PowerPoint) * Dave Paradi's PowerPoint Blog * Cliff Atkinson's book, " Beyond Bullet Points " If you hate bad PowerPoint, don't be a perpetrator.

Determine the objective of each slide and use one sentence and a striking visual to make the point. The visuals are only meant to enhance the words coming from the speaker's mouth. Add visuals for impact. I was watching a video the other day, a video of a live presentation given by some well-known marketing gurus. The video was all about how to make a bazillion dollars by following the gurus' tips.

My third client also had a small email error, so I took under a minute to "show and tell" the problem and explain the fix. Visual Voicemail. think of these three little Jings as visual voicemails. Yesterday, I downloaded TechSmith's Jing Project -- just to give it a test. I was a little