I made some banana and blueberry muffins the other day. I forgot the blueberries! They were in the recipe. I’d got them out ready and they were on the worktop. But I’ve made these a thousand times before and just didn’t bother to check the recipe or even consciously think ( my mind was on […]
Archive | Structure
How do you structure a presentation?
What a kerfuffle. Mum’s having her bathroom replaced and yesterday the skip arrived for all the waste materials. Well, it was like a game of Tetris In order for the skip to get in the drive, mum’s car had to be moved out. In order for mum’s car to move out, I had to move […]
Personality and purpose
Do you want to know what I love about my job? Seeing patterns and stories and helping others shape and craft their message so that yes, it has impact and influence but more importantly than that, that their personality shines through. I’ve just finished a session this morning with an absolute inspiration of a business […]
Written English is different to Spoken English
I’ve been reminded this week that written English is different from Spoken English. Why am I stating the bleeding obvious? Because when we write scripts or go to the laptop or notebook first when preparing our presentations, we run a very real risk that we’ll write our talk. And we write differently to how we […]
When to use slides in a presentation
In an earlier blog, I wrote about how the slides were not the presentation and that the design of the slides needed to be almost the last thing you did when preparing for a presentation. Not the first thing that you do and not because they are a great way of having your script visible […]
How do I design PowerPoint slides?
How do I design PowerPoint Slides? First of all – don’t design them, first of all. It’s a misleading title I am afraid. PowerPoint (or other packages) is great. There are many books on slide design and the well-designed slide can make a presentation stand out from all others. I’m all for using slides. But. […]
How to write a presentation – don’t!
The answer to how do I write a presentation is… you don’t! Let me qualify. If you are a speechwriter, if your presentation needs to be word perfect or you’re speaking in Parliament or the world stage for example, then your speech needs to be written. You may want to write down prompts, links, important […]
Number one step in preparing for a presentation…
It’s all about the message right? It’s not just the words we choose to say or even the sequence and structure we employ to express those words. It’s the meaning behind all that, it’s what the audience will take away and remember, it’s how the listeners will be influenced by what you say and the […]
Creating a new ‘look’ for your presentation – a lesson from my wardrobe!
I saw a great blog the other day about the importance of having a capsule wardrobe. This has long been an ideal of mine: I say ideal because anyone who knows me knows that I am like most other people with a wardrobe full of favourite items, items too small/large, fashion items woefully out of […]
Eavesdropping around Botticelli!
On a recent visit to the Florence Art Gallery to see some of the great works of art from the Renaissance I got to see two famous painting by Botticelli. The birth of Venus and springtime. Whilst I am the first to admit that I am not a great art critic, even I had to […]
