Manner of Speaking Logo

Tag: PowerPoint

Alain de Botton on Dieter Rams and Good Design

Dieter Rams

A while back, I wrote a post about Dieter Rams, the German industrial designer who is recognized as one of the most influential industrial designers of the 20th century. Rams worked for 40 years at the German consumer products company, Braun. Today, he works at Vitsœ, a British furniture company. In the early 1980’s, as he became […]

Nine photo composition tips for your slides

Steve McCurry

If a picture is worth a thousand words, the photographs of Steve McCurry speak volumes. With a career that has spanned more than 30 years, McCurry is widely considered a legend in contemporary photography. His photo of the Afhan Girl is iconic and the galleries on his website are well worth a visit. The Cooperative […]

Is PowerPoint good or a bad?

Is PowerPoint good or bad?

Is PowerPoint good or bad? The question invokes strong feelings on both sides. But the correct answer is: It depends. I am proud to be part of a team that gets to spend one week a year with the dynamic, clever students in the IESE Executive MBA Programme. We help them hone their public speaking […]

The Ten Commandments of Good Design

Dieter Rams

Good design not necessarily easy, but it is possible. Dieter Rams is a German industrial designer who has been recognized as one of the most influential industrial designers of the 20th century. He worked for 40 years at the German consumer products company, Braun. Today, he works at Vitsœ, a British furniture company that manufactures […]

2012 U.S. "Prezi"dential Election Recap

Presidential Election on Prezi

I came across this presentation on Prezi that provides a recap of the 2012 Presidential election in the United States. If you are not familiar with Prezi, have a look. Click the image below and you will find the presentation on the Prezi home page. You can navigate the presentation back and forth via the two […]

Go to Black

Black Slide

When you are in the middle of a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation, you can make the screen go black at any time by pressing the letter “B” (as in “Black”).  You can also make the screen go black with most remote controls. There are a few instances when I recommend using this feature. When to go to black […]

When Things Go Wrong: Ten Presentation Lessons from Apollo 13

Apollo 13 Movie

Every public speaker can learn a lesson from Apollo 13. The day of the big presentation has arrived. You’ve prepared, you know your material and you’ve arrived at the venue early to get set up. You check the room and everything looks fine. The stage is ready, the sound system works and the lighting is […]

Analysis of a (Very Short) Speech by Hans Rosling

Hans Rosling

Hans Rosling is a Swedish doctor, statistician, public speaker and Professor of International Health at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. He is also one of the best known presenters at TED. Rosling has a passion and a gift for making complicated data interesting and understandable for his audiences. As Rosling modestly says, “Having the data […]

Every Presentation Ever?

Here’s a clever video that rings true on many levels when it comes to boring presentations. And, as is so often the case with humour, there are lessons to be learned.

Slide Transitions: Everybody's Changing

Keane and slide transitions

I remember the first time I saw the features on PowerPoint that allowed you to animate text and slide transitions. I played around with it for awhile and soon had things zooming in and bouncing around and what not. My initial thought was, “This is neat.” After playing around a little more, I had another […]

Tagged
Manner of Speaking Logo

Testimonials

John delivered a keynote address about the importance of public speaking to 80 senior members of Gore’s Medical Device Europe team at an important sales event. He was informative, engaging and inspirational. Everyone was motivated to improve their public speaking skills. Following his keynote, John has led public speaking workshops for Gore in Barcelona and Munich. He is an outstanding speaker who thinks carefully about the needs of his audience well before he steps on stage.

Karsta Goetze

TA Leader, Gore and Associates

I first got in touch with John while preparing to speak at TED Global about my work on ProtonMail. John helped me to sharpen the presentation and get on point faster, making the talk more focused and impactful. My speech was very well received, has since reached almost 1.8 million people and was successful in explaining a complex subject (email encryption) to a general audience.

Andy Yen

CEO, Proton Technologies

John gave the opening keynote on the second day of our unit’s recent offsite in Geneva, addressing an audience of 100+ attendees with a wealth of tips and techniques to deliver powerful, memorable presentations. I applied some of these techniques the very next week in an internal presentation, and I’ve been asked to give that presentation again to senior management, which has NEVER happened before. John is one of the greatest speakers I know and I can recommend his services without reservation.

David Lindelöf

Senior Data Scientist, Expedia Group

After a morning of team building activities using improvisation as the conduit, John came on stage to close the staff event which was organised in Chamonix, France. His energy and presence were immediately felt by all the members of staff. The work put into the preparation of his speech was evident and by sharing some his own stories, he was able to conduct a closing inspirational speech which was relevant, powerful and impactful for all at IRU. The whole team left feeling engaged and motivated to tackle the 2019 objectives ahead. Thank you, John.

Umberto de Pretto

Secretary General, World Road Transport Organization

I was expecting a few speaking tips and tricks and a few fun exercises, but you went above and beyond – and sideways. You taught me to stand tall. You taught me to anchor myself. You taught me to breathe. You taught me to open up. You taught me to look people in the eye. You taught me to tell the truth. You taught me to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. I got more than I bargained for in the best possible way.

Thuy Khoc-Bilon

World Cancer Day Campaign Manager, Union for International Cancer Control

John gave a brilliant presentation on public speaking during the UN EMERGE programme in Geneva (a two days workshop on leadership development for a group of female staff members working in the UN organizations in Geneva). His talk was inspirational and practical, thanks to the many techniques and tips he shared with the audience. His teaching can dramatically change our public speaking performance and enable us as presenters to have a real and powerful impact. Thank you, John, for your great contribution!

Sara Canna

HR Specialist, World Health Organization

John is a genuine communication innovator. His seminars on gamification of public speaking learning and his interactive Rhetoric game at our conference set the tone for change and improvement in our organisation. The quality of his input, the impact he made with his audience and his effortlessly engaging style made it easy to get on board with his core messages and won over some delegates who were extremely skeptical as to the efficacy of games for learning. I simply cannot recommend him highly enough.

Thomas Scott

National Education Director, Association of Speakers Clubs UK

John joined our Global Sales Meeting in Segovia, Spain and we all participated in his "Improv(e) your Work!" session. I say “all” because it really was all interactive, participatory, learning and enjoyable. The session surprised everybody and was a fresh-air activity that brought a lot of self-reflection and insights to improve trust and confidence in each other inside our team. It´s all about communication and a good manner of speaking!"

Jon Lopez

General Manager Europe, Hayward Industries

Thank you very much for the excellent presentation skills session. The feedback I received was very positive. Everyone enjoyed the good mix of listening to your speech, co-developing a concrete take-away and the personal learning experience. We all feel more devoted to the task ahead, more able to succeed and an elevated team spirit. Delivering this in a short time, both in session and in preparation, is outstanding!

Henning Dehler

CFO European Dairy Supply Chain & Operations, Danone

Thanks to John’s excellent workshop, I have learned many important tips and techniques to become an effective public speaker. John is a fantastic speaker and teacher, with extensive knowledge of the field. His workshop was a great experience and has proven extremely useful for me in my professional and personal life.

Eric Thuillard

Senior Sales Manager, Sunrise Communications

John’s presentation skills training was a terrific investment of my time. I increased my skills in this important area and feel more comfortable when speaking to an audience. John provided the right mix between theory and practice.

Diego Brait

Director of the Jura Region, BKW Energie AG

Be BOLD. Those two words got stuck in my head and in the heads of all those ADP leaders and associates that had the privilege to see John on stage. He was our keynote speaker at our annual convention in Barcelona, and his message still remains! John puts his heart in every word. Few speakers are so credible, humble and yet super strong with large audiences!

Guadalupe Garcia

Senior Director and Talent Partner, ADP International