Tag Archive for: public speaking

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How to improve your slides with the rule of thirds

Designing attractive slide visuals does not need to be a painful task. You don’t need to hire a design firm. You don’t need loads of expensive software.

You can design attractive visuals by following simple guidelines. One of these simple guidelines is the Rule of Thirds — a composition technique borrowed from photography and other visual arts that works wonderfully in PowerPoint.

In this article, you will learn:

* What is the Rule of Thirds?

* How do photographers use the Rule of Thirds?

* How can you apply the Rule of Thirds to Your PowerPoint slides?

Read on ...

SpeakerRate lets speakers get honest feedback

The tech event season is beginning to heat up. If you're a speaker, you know that standing in front of a crowd isn't half as hard as getting critical feedback on your talks. People who disliked it will generally remain silent or opt for a snarky tweet or two. Those close to you will tell you "You did great!" no matter how poorly you performed. Getting the feedback you need to improve can be the most difficult part of the whole process. Until now. Meet SpeakerRate.

SpeakerRate is designed to help you promote the talks you're giving - and get that critical feedback you're seeking.

Preparing for your presentation

 

There are so many ways a room and its set-up can affect yur presentation. It is so important to make sure it works for you - your position, the audience's position, the equipment, the sound, the heating ... Graham Jones used this great example in his tip : Check the room layout for presentations
I was at a meeting the other day when a woman was invited to speak. She stayed where she was in the room to deliver her five minute talk. However, this meant that some people in the room couldn't see her; others couldn't hear her. As a result, about half her audience had five minutes of their time wasted. She also wasted much of her time because she didn't get her message across to half the room.

Where you sit, where you look and how the audience feels is dependent upon room layout. You need to seriously consider all the options before you talk. Get the room layout right and your presentation will be much better. What this means is you should never accept the room as it is - unless it is perfect for you and your audience. Almost every room needs changing in some way so that the audience gains the best from you.

Quotation for the day

The most precious things in speech are the pauses.
Sir Ralph Richardson

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Public speaking: A cheap, effective marketing tool

Are you looking for a marketing tool that is both effective and inexpensive? Then pull out your microphone and do some speaking! Why should you consider 'public speaking' as a way to obtain new customers? Because it doesn't cost anything, except your time, and it is effective.

http://adjix.com/4q58

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Creating effective backgrounds in PowerPoint

To create effective backgrounds in PowerPoint is one of the most challenging tasks for a presenter, as balancing visual impact, layout balance, properly matching colors while keeping great legibility is nothing that I would consider easy. Article continues

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Opening your presentations

Bert Decker has a great post he has called "Six Do's to Open Your Presentations".  Very useful tips and his message is to "take advantage of your opening." Well worth reading

http://adjix.com/4bx3

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So time is the reason for death by powerpoint?

When it comes to bad PowerPoint presentations, most people love to blame the tool or software. However, it’s interesting that many other people can use the same tool and achieve completely different results.

You might be able to rack up the different outcomes to a person’s experience and expertise, but I believe all ‘PowerPoint evil’ can be traced back to the simple issue of time - and how we manage it or choose to spend it.

http://adjix.com/7rsp