Taggad|Entries Tagged 'In media' ↓

Today I showed up at IHM.se (IHM Business School) As an unexpected letter in the mail, my good friend and colleague, Michael Darmell has become a guest writer at IHM and wrote a few days ago an article on “Death By PowerPoint”. Thanks Micke! Let us combat “Death By PowerPoint” together!!!

Link: http://www.ihm.se/blogg/mickedarmell/2011/death-powerpoint

Today my name appeared in DN! It was an interview with one of my previous participant in the open course “Modern presentation techniques, step 1″. Thanks Sandra for the kind words : )

Link: http://www.dn.se/ekonomi/det-gor-inget-om-det-blir-tyst

David Phillips interviewed by Robert L Svensson for Fokus Väst, www.fokusvast.se.

Presentation matters- the right presentation skill gets your message out

Whether it’s a client meeting or colleagues in a working meeting your presentation is critical to how your message reaches them. David Phillips is a much sought-after lecturer and trainer in presentation skills. Here, he gives some tips on how you succeed.

For David Phillips, presentation skills equal passion:
-I love the topic for the simple reason that you with simple sources can improve communication between the transmitter and the receiver in such a way that it may be absolutely crucial to the deal, the solution, the job, the relationship, the hearing, or whatever it may be that you are presenting within.

Practice your presentation

Begin by determining your goals and your message .Bring out the three most important things that you want recipients to bring back home from your presentation.
–In particular, I want the recipient to get a feeling, because we as humans make many decisions on going by our feelings, says David Phillips.

David recommends that you first enter your presentation as a script in a word processor. Once you have all of the content clearly documented, you decide which technology tools that best fit. Computer, projector, PowerPoint, whiteboard, flipchart, post-it notes, notebook, or something else?

– It is always good to practice practical before-hand , so that you know how long your presentation takes. It is important to keep time, so you can tie up the bag, and total everything before you are done with your presentation. My experience is that many presenters are underestimating the time. We think it’ll go faster than what it actually does. Delete points about pure facts, if you need to shorten the material. Practice again and check the time. Practice your body language and tone of voice. Body language is extremely important, as it makes up 50% of the presentation. Stretch yourself, practice not having crossed arms or fisted hands. Also practice how you should stand and how to move around. To practice practical also means mental preparation.

The beginning is crucial
The beginning of a presentation is critical to how the receiver will absorb information.
– Learn the beginning by heart, like running water – then you will create a good flow for when you continue. It also means a lot of self-confidence to get a good start, says David.

When David Phillips is holding lectures he usually talks about 15 important steps in a presentation. 7 of these steps lie in the introduction. It is good to create a getter, which triggers the audience. Getters should simultaneously be relevant for the rest of the presentation. For example, you can ask a question which would be a little provocative. Or tell an anecdote.

— Also be clear in your target definition for the audience. Let’s say you want them to get this knowledge out of the presentation. Otherwise, expectations can easily drag in different directions. Also note to end the presentation with feedback to your pre-specified goals. If the audience is not satisfied, think about what you can improve for the next time.

Common mistakes among presenters
According to David, it is common that presenters underestimate body language. Practice therefore, facial expressions, gestures and voice mode in order to increase credibility and enthusiasm. Another common mistake is to build the presentation for himself and not to the public. Get in tune with the audience, all content should be relevant in the presentation. It is also good to have a dialogue with the audience, but keep in mind the time.

Finish so that the audience leaves with a lasting impression
Just as the beginning is very important, so is the end.
– A good conclusion gives the audience a lasting impression. Avoid asking questions, it is you that is to control the situation and how it ends. In order to avoid un-clarities and unanswered questions, you can say: “Before I summarize my presentation, I can answer a few questions, if you have any?\”

David Phillips underlines the importance of a good final word, which ties back to the beginning.
— You may like to use something that catches their interest at the end, as well. If it is a sales presentation, come up with a concrete finish, book a meeting or determine how you move on from here with the customer.

A college-student at Södertörn called me up and wanted to do an interview. The student, Tove Rumar and I met a week later at a coffee shop and here are the results of her interview. I thought that there are a few things interesting in it that you as the reader may find useful in your own quest for better presentations bättre presentationer.

Thanks for the interview, Tove! Well explained, much better than most journalists I have encountered over the years!!

David Phillips has started and operates a company called thepresentationskills.com, where he mainly focuses on how to best make use of PowerPoint at work and in other more daily context. He hold courses and lectures in which companies and individuals from around the world will learn the importance of not having dispersed natured slides or unnecessary side quests in their presentations.

David is very busy and travel extensively in his work, but we managed to meet up for an interview. We met as agreed in a cafe in Vasastan, Stockholm. He comes directly from training and is dressed in both the shirt and the west. He exudes calm and authority and is not afraid to make eye contact.

I start by asking him why he is working with what he does and at what age he began to hold presentations. He replies that he has lectured for about 2-3 years but has been holding speeches since he was 20 years old, which would be about 14 years.

As a 20-year-old David began to have interest in neurology, psychology, and how the brain works. He has studied the defeat methods and differs much from other lecturers as he works with human behavior and cognition. He knows that body language controls the brain and the words more than the reverse. It is therefore important that you, as a speaker, work with your gestures and your attitude to make a big difference to how you are perceived and how well your message is presented.

I asked what three things that he thinks is the greatest with his job and he replied that the absolute coolest is the high, the sence of power that arises somewhere in the middle of the lecture. Everyone is totally aware of him. That he can create a big change in a person’s life is another part of the work that he loves. “You can save your marriage, your job or land a business deal by learning to communicate better\”, he said, and seems to be extra proud of this particular part of his job. He also finds it interesting with the intercultural meetings and differences he sees in his work. It has happened that up to 15 nationalities simultaneously has been at his lectures.

What David, like many speakers with him, use the most of when he gathers ideas to a speech is mind mapping, but he also uses the internet to find inspiring lectures by other speakers. When he later arranges the speech he frequently uses templates and different outline rules, but not always. “One of the best speeches I’ve seen was totally missing an ordinary rhetorical structure or building”. The speech is that of an American football coach, that coaches his team before a game, and is wholly independent of templates”. The speech consists of one single long escalation to climax.

I am telling David that I find it difficult to properly screen the material, and he tells me that “it is important to remember the goal you set for the speech, that it is clear and precise. Then you question each argument, quotation, and image and ask; Does this lead to the objective? If it doesn’t, then delete it”. This strategy makes his speech very pungent, with simple and clear messages.

Because he thinks that notes do not belong in a speech, he totally memorizes his speeches. When I wonder if he never ever has key notes for his lectures, he confesses that he sometimes exhibits key points at eye level with the audience. This is to be able to sweep his eyes over the audience and see the next theme without having to turn his eyes from the audience.

How long time and how many repetitions is needed to totally memorize a 10-minute speech in the best way, I wonder? “A total memorization of a shorter speech should be practiced for three or four days about ten times, and it is important that there is space between the briefings, since it is easier for the brain to take in the information if it gets a chance to rest between rehearsals”. A technique he uses extensively for memorizing both speech and lectures is to play a movie in his head. “The favorite is a road I see myself go along. The route has as many curves as there are points in the speech or lecture. At each curve there is an object that is associated with what must be said at any point. And to remember optimally, it is good if the objects are as extreme as possible. For example; a Greek statue which is grotesque and worm eaten with one hand cut off…This provides the best memory results.\”

When asked if he still gets nervous before he goes up on stage, he says firmly, “the day he no longer is more or less nervous, he will stop lecturing and speaking”. It is good to be nervous; it increases the performance, as long as you are not too worried. Music is good to listen to before but not something for calm so that it becomes unfocused and relaxed. “A favorite is the soundtrack to the movie” Gladiator “, it makes me in the right mindset”, he said

During the lectures, he uses what he calls the “interest-based structure”, which means that he can change and customize his speech after the listener reactions. To win them over and bring them with him, he uses a high-status body language, which he says that you in principle always should use in similar occasions. “Movements and gestures should be smooth and alive, and have a meaning. If they instead are jerky or seemingly unmotivated you will be perceived as unpredictable, and it will immediately reveal a lower ethos”. How we behave and are moving around will in turn affect how the brain is thinking. If you are acting “high status” the brain feels that you are calm and in the lead role

Another tip he gave me was to try, like before the speech or lecture, to try to find the “informal leader” in the group. “During the performance, one can then carefully reflect his body language a bit subtle and perhaps quote or use expressions that person uses. This often gives a good ethos and doing audiences sympathetic to you\”.

What do you do if you lose the thread in the middle of a speech or lecture, I wonder. “It’s best to take a small pause, maybe drink a little water. Usually, I am catching on to the thread again. And if I unlikely don’t remember it, then is better to be honest and tell the audience”.

When I ask if he ever made a fool of himself during a lecture he first said that he actually never has, but at closer thought he remembers one time when he was holding his lecture “Death by PowerPoint” for the company Ericsson. “I was completely prepared and was about to get on the stage within two minutes, when I hear someone speak German. I then ask whether it was intended that I should keep the presentation in English. It was, so in a blink of an eye, I had to translate my 140 slides in my PowerPoint, which has, of course, has a central role in that particular lecture. Fortunately, it contains not much text. However, I manage to do this and come up on stage and tells anecdote for my audience\”.

The last thing I ask is if he has any tips on how I shall pause properly in my speech since I think it is difficult to get my pauses long enough. He replied that “since your sense of time does not function normally when you are on the stage, you need to rely on a situation instead, to make them long enough. Your pauses should be long enough that you feel that you want to vomit. These vomit emotions will, after you become more and more familiar them, turn into a sense of power – which you manage to captivate your audience so that they are mindful, even when you fall silent. ”

After this much-needed, but a bit uncomfortable advice I thank David for the interview and step outside in the cold again.

The prestigious entertaining technology magazine NyTeknik recently did an article series about PowerPoint and at the same time launched a contest for the worst PowerPoint. The winner received a one page spread in the magazine where I got to be the “total make over “artist and redoing the winning disaster into a comprehensible and good PowerPoint. The result of the article can be found here:

LINK to NyTeknik

The crusade against better PowerPointar continues: ) Man and woman may soon experience a PowerPoint in its vicinity that satisfy us of creativity, desire and inspiration … The objective is probably still far away but small steps has been taken on the road. The latest in a series of articles where I find their place and provide tips is on the it24.se website. You can find the link here: Link to IT24

Continued pleasant summer! For the moment I am in my native village of Edsbyn enjoying in full features the “Hälsingska” nature and air.

David

Today I sat quietly and ate my lunch while I read the news on my favorite sites svd, idg and chef. Suddenly something unexpected pops up that made my whole day

Article from Chef.se

Article from IDG.se