The Power of Positive Reinforcement

Friendly Assassins

Last year at the ISSM, I gave a presentation called “Friendly Assassins and Enemy Plants.” This refers to fact that many presenters often face their biggest hurdle when they are rehearsing in front of a critical leader/boss/coach. There to help and encourage, the presenter’s team often winds up breaking their spirit by nit-picking too much and failing to mention what was done well. Most people couch the feedback with, “Great (insert positive qualifier), but…” and then a list of mistakes.
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Interaction Throughout the Presentation

Moving from Monologue to Dialogue to encourage audience interaction and involvement.

A couple of weeks ago I was preparing a sales team for a two-day presentation session. The prospect is outsourcing a $1 billion IT project and scheduled 14 different sessions, 30-90 minutes each with 25 presenters and contributors in total.

In a sales situation like this, the more the prospect talks the better. So as the presenter, how do you encourage participation, control the debate and build on the relationship? Continue reading →

No Presentations: Is the Pen Mightier than the Slide?

In case you missed the post on Monday, I recently had the opportunity to speak without the aid of a presentation. A bit uncomfortable for me, but I wanted to prove that there is no reason to hide behind slides and design to effectively (memorably) present information.

How did I do? I’ll let you be the judge. Below is a link to the whole presentation; it’s about 45 mins long and the team are working on cutting it up a bit to produce two short segments.
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No Presentations!

Is the pen mightier than the slide?

Ok, I’m nervous.

I am frequently asked if I get nervous before a presentation and my stock response is, “If somebody says they’re not anxious before a presentation, they’re either lying or dead.”
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The Pursuit of Happiness

Not for the first time, I’m wondering about the insanity that is the global procurement process. One of my clients is bidding on a £1 billion IT outsourcing project – alongside 10 competitors – a process that has collectively cost these companies upward of £10 million. Eleven teams, eleven solutions developed over the past year and only one that will see the light of day.

Of course, I believe the team we are supporting is the clear leader –  not just because their presentations are going to be Killer – I think they are going to win because they’re happy! Continue reading →