Presentations

Everything has a story, including Seafoam Green

- Joel Heffner

If you are a speaker, do whatever you can to include meaningful stories in your talks. Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper to find the right story. What story could you possibly come up with for a color of all things? Well, you can…if you look.

Doing a Google search of the color Seafoam Green I came up with a reference to Canva. Surprisingly, it gave me plenty of info about Seafoam Green. Did you know, for example, that it was a popular clothing color during the 1950s or that Crayola came out with a crayon with that name in 2001?

What is Seafoam Green? This is it…

Seafoam Green

For more Seafoam Green info you can go to Canva. They also have information about other colors to explore. Incidentally, the Hex code for Seafoam Green is #93E98E.

The Ideal Presentation, Speech, or whatever you call it…in 4 easy steps.

- Joel Heffner

It’s easy to create an ideal presentation. Here are the essential 4 steps.

1. Tell a story that illustrates your key point. [Stories make things memorable.]
2. Explain your key point. [They may not get the point of the story, so tell them.]
3. Answer questions. [Give them a chance to ask questions.]
4. Sit down. [This is a very important element. Nobody ever complained about a speaker who spoke for less time than possible. Everybody complains if you speak for more time than they give you.

The most important part of your next presentation…

- Joel Heffner

When you make a presentation planning is extremely important. So is practice. Many would say that slide creation is also critical. Few ever mention the really important part of any presentation…the handout.

Regardless of how good a speaker you are, the audience is forgetting what you are saying as you are saying it. Most of what you say is lost by the time the audience has left the room.

The best way to help the members of the audience remember what you have said is the handout you provide. If they really want to remember what your important points were they can consult with your handout.

Your handout can be on paper, a booklet, or something that they can get online later. Providing a handout is the best way to be remembered later on. Handouts help them remember you.

Incidentally, PowerPoint and Keynote are excellent tools in making handouts. They are MUCH easier to use than Microsoft Word if your handout contains photos, charts, etc.

Sometimes, your best presentation can be your worst…

- Joel Heffner

It was a very hot day.

The room was not air conditioned.

The audience was made up of very important people.

My team consisted of four speakers. Each of us was given about 20 minutes to speak. I deliberately went last. As the other speakers were speaking I was looking at the audience. Some were on the verge of failing off their chairs because they were dozing off. Some were looking at their watches. None were paying much attention to the speakers. And then it was my turn to speak.

A colleague was switching PowerPoint files when I told him to shut the projector off.

I started by telling them that I was going to summarize what I was going to say in two minutes or less and provide a handout with the details. Everyone perked up. I spoke. I stopped. I gave out the handout.

Several people told me that mine was the best presentation of the day.

Sometimes, you have to adjust your presentation to the day. Sometimes, your worst presentation (according to the speaking gods) can turn out to be your best presentation.

PowerPoint can help you overcome your fear of Public Speaking…

- Joel Heffner

One way, probably the easiest way, to overcome your fear of public speaking is to use PowerPoint.

Important Note: First you must really know how to use PowerPoint and be comfortable with it.
 

A key element that causes fear of public speaking is that the speaker is afraid of forgetting to say something. If you use notes, you may not want to look down or forget your place. If you read your speech, the audience will probably not pay attention carefully. Here’s where PowerPoint comes in.
You can use PowerPoint to remind you of what to say. I don’t mean reading off your slides! Your images or keywords on the screen should be enough to remind you of what you wanted to say. As you go from slide to slide all you have to do is glance up at the screen and be reminded of what you need to say.

Using PowerPoint is simple and can be very effective.

Remember

  1. You must be comfortable using PowerPoint.
  2. You don’t want to read from the screen.
  3. You should practice your speech enough to know what you want to say…without memorizing it. 
  4. Let the slides remind you of what you want to say.

10 Tips for Your First (or Next) Presentation

- Joel Heffner

It’s not easy to get up and speak in public. Here are 10 basic tips that may help overcome the fear of speaking in public:

1. Be nervous. The trick is to use your nerves in a positive way. Everybody gets nervous…even actors and politicians who speak for a living.

2. As the Boy Scouts say, “Be Prepared.”

3. Arrive early.

4. Speak to some people in the audience. When you get up to speak, you should think about talking to them.

5. Use props instead of notes…if possible. Looking down at notes is distracting. It is also a problem if you loose your place. Having props lined up in the order you need them will remind you of what you want to say.

6. If you need to use PowerPoint, make sure you are familiar with it and the equipment that will be used when you speak. Practice.

7. If you use PowerPoint, don’t read what is on the slide. However, you can use it to remind you of what you want to say.

8. If you forget to say something, only you will know it.

9. Do not try to memorize your speech. Trying to memorize a speech and then forgetting it in the middle can be devistating.

10. The audience wants you to be successful. Nobody comes to listen to a speaker saying, “I hope he bombs.” If you have something worth saying, the audience will appreciate it.