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To use or not to use PowerPoint?
Do you live or die by PowerPoint? If your PowerPoint presentation fails, what are you going to do?
PowerPoint is a tool, and should be used as a means to enhance your presentation. Too often PowerPoint is the presentation.
At ease with humour
Are you one of those people who is afraid to use humour “because I'm not funny?” Bah! Humbug! Who said you had to be funny in order to use humour?
Humour is one of those apparently mysterious beasts, whose behaviour does not entirely depend on you; it also depends on your audience.
Dealing with objections
Does the thought of someone objecting to some parts of your presentation make you feel uneasy?
Do you dread the question and answer (Q&A) session, because you are not sure you will always have the answer?
Many speakers share these fears, so don't feel bad if you are one of them.
How to easily create a speech from scratch
Have you ever had to prepare a speech, but had no idea what to say?
When preparing a speech, do you have trouble putting your ideas together?
Do you ever have writer's block?
The cultural trap
At a recent dinner with friends the conversation turned to TV ads. Every time they mentioned an ad, they would talk about the funny elements and laugh about them. My wife and I are not big TV watchers; we felt out of sync.
Observations about humour
This week I went to many parties where I had the opportunity to make some observations about humour. Although these observations occurred during a party, they can also be applied to your next speech.
Humour is something that is difficult to succeed at every time. However, if you apply the following tips, you have a better chance of making people laugh.
Effective use of a projector
One of the things your audience will greatly appreciate is your level of familiarity with your equipment, when you do your presentations. By "equipment" I mean projector, microphone, computer, etc.
This week, I will talk a bit about using a projector. Here are some tricks that will help you to improve the quality of your projections during your next presentation.
Embedded stories
It was a hot June afternoon, the sun was shining, and the crickets were singing. My wife Johanne, and my three children decided to take a dip in the pool. At that time, my daughter Manu was four years old. My eldest, Aléko was six years old and Vivi, the baby, was less than two years old.
Where were you?
You may have noticed my prolonged absence this summer. Well, I hope you did! Was it because of summer vacation? Was it because I had nothing more to say about public speaking? No on both counts.
How to reduce your anxiety
In response to my survey, 50% among you indicated that you felt a lot of anxiety at the thought of delivering a speech.
How can this be improved upon? A good place to start is by asking yourself the following question: "Why am I so anxious?" The answer can often be summarized as follows: you're expecting a disaster!