Jim Harvey and I are two of the three founders of Presentation Guru. Given the current state of affairs in the world, we have decided to experiment with webinars. We have a series of four webinars for anyone interested in delivering better speeches and presentations.
The first webinar covered some of the secrets of storytelling. We discussed what stories are, why they are effective, the elements of a good story and how to find your own stories. You can find the replay of the first webinar here.
The second webinar covered rhetorical devices. We discussed nine rhetorical devices that have existed for centuries that you can still use today. You can find the replay of the second webinar here.
In the third webinar, we covered visual aids that support your presentations. We looked at common problems with slide presentations and then offered six simple, but effective, tips to help you design and use your slides better.
Importantly, you do not have to be technically sophisticated or a design expert to have effective visual aids. Instead, it is all about applying some common-sense techniques that reduce clutter and help the audience focus on what is important.
You can watch the replay of the webinar below.
Our final webinar will be about charisma and how you can be more charismatic with your audience before, during and after your speaking event.
Great points! I loved how you split the talk into 2 main sections with just 3 points in each. Very easy to digest.
Good point too about the key for a black screen depending on the language. “B for black” is certainly nice and mnemonic, so it’s what I say myself. But I’ve heard PowerPoint MVP Dave Paradi (who’s Canadian) suggests pressing “.” for a black screen (or comma for white). After all, I imagine things must get very complicated in bilingual countries like Canada!
Thanks, Craig. Glad you enjoyed the webinar.
On the keys for black and white, Dave’s advice is interesting. I just tried it out on my MacBook Pro and here’s what happened: In PowerPoint, it worked exactly as you said. However, in Keynote (which is my preferred software), the the “.” quit the presentation and put me back in edit mode; the “,” did nothing at all.
I know nothing about Macs, but in PPT if you press F1 during your slideshow (on a PC at least), you’ll see a Help box with gestures and keyboard shortcuts. So if Keynote has an equivalent Help function, perhaps that’ll tell you more.
Thanks for the additional information, Craig. Just tried it on the Mac. Didn’t work.
I just listened to the recorded webinar and I would like to thank you both for the insights and the tips.
It made me remember a 1988 presentation, produced by BBC, on visual aids called “See What I mean ?”. Old, but incredibly updated.
Grazie per il messagio, Fabio. I am glad that you enjoyed the webinar. I will look for that BBC presentation. Thanks for mentioning it.