XPLANE is a hot information design consultancy that works with some of the best organizations on the planet to help them create better understanding. And the XPLANE head quarters is located in one of America's most creative, most livable cities: Portland, Oregon. Do you know XPLANE? If you don't, you should.

Felix uses note cards and paper clips to capture and organize his ideas. • Remember: "it's about removing, not adding, content" in this phase. • "Just because your slides are in sequence, it doesn't mean they have to be linear." (2) Slide design tips • Use large images (he gives links to his favorite image websites) . • Use as little text as possible. • "The slide should be an addition to, not a summary of, your ideas and concepts." • "No more than four images per slide." • Have a consistent look across the slides. (3) Practicing • "Pecha Kucha isn't the same as

believe the smart conference organizers will learn to tap into this. One thing conference organizers can do is make known the #hashtag beforehand so everyone uses the same one. If presentations are live streamed and attendees pointed to SlideShares to follow along and interested others “outside the room” can engage via Twitter, how might that impact conference organizers thinking, planning, and overall conference flow and attendance. Pistachio Micro sharing. Macro results.

Toastmasters is a world wide organization which has helped many people become better presenters. took my badge off and the conference organizer forced me to wear it :-/ Bruce Carney Comment left on 03/17/09 Reply to this comment Your comments like your photos are right on the button! Based in Portland, Oregon, he happily accepts interesting assignments anywhere in the world. Photos ( Zenfolio | Flickr ) Archives About Contact Dear Speakers By James Duncan Davidson on March 8, 2009 12:22 AM | 71 Comments Tagged: advice, speaking Last week, while shooting eComm 2009 in Burlingame, I started posting a set of thoughts on Twitter, all starting out Dear Speaker .

Second lesson: It’s not about your organization, it’s about the graduates. Merisotis , President, Lumina Foundation for Education, shows a better way to mention your organization but keep the focus clearly on the graduates. Third lesson: Passion counts. Paul Hawken is an environmental activist and author who gave the commencement address at the University of Portland. Commencement season has largely come and gone at universities and colleges around the nation. And, once again, we’re left with the remains of speeches that ran the gamut from wonderful (thank you, Tom Brokaw.)

Even more important, the organizers of many speaking opportunities and conferences are looking for great storytellers when they book speakers. You also can participate in many spinoff conferences, called TEDx , that take place all over, organized by people in your region or community. Other participating cities include Portland , Paris and Washington, DC .) Can you tell a great personal story? It's one of the most effective ways to get--and hold--your audience's attention.