Part 1: The Seven Deadly Sins.  . During the last month I have seen some seriously challenged PowerPoint Slide decks. For a while there things were looking up in Silicon Valley; people were using more pictures, less text, more color, and congruent graphs. feel for their audiences who are craning their brains to stay tuned and awake.  . Why?  . MORE >>

Jonathan McCoy is eleven years old.  11 years old!  Watch the video again – 11 years old!  He is obviously an extremely gifted young man, an excellent speaker, and a future leader. . So what can we learn about public speaking from an eleven year old? If the eleven year old is Jonathan McCoy, the answer is plenty. Excellent. 10-11. MORE >>

We’ve seen these people. They’re all over the place. In some organizations, it’s institutionalized. What I’m concerned about is the laser pointer. Not everyone uses them, but I don’t see anyone standing up and pleading for these people with frickin’ lasers in their hands to stop. It’s not malicious.  MORE >>

There’s this popular format for public speaking called Ignite - It’s an evening of short talks with some special rules.  Similar to, but simpler than, Pecha Kucha , and more involved than lightening talks , in ignite each speakers gets 5 minutes - but must have 20 slides and each slide must automatically progress in 15 seconds. Do this. MORE >>

Most people do not really think about design and designers, let alone think of themselves as designers. But what, if anything, can regular people — teachers, students, business people of all types — learn from designers and from thinking like a designer? And what of more specialized professions? believe there is. 1) Embrace constraints. MORE >>