Have you ever given a presentation where you just felt like it stunk? Maybe everything went okay, but when you walked away from the room, you just felt like it wasn’t your best.
That happened to me recently. I did all the research, created the slide presentation, and delivered the talk without any issues. But at the end, I didn’t feel that I had inspired and motivated the room the way I wanted to and I was concerned my audience may have felt it.
Since I like learning, I decided to look for some resources that would help me improve my presentation skills and give me the thinking I need to put people on the edge of their seats. Here are a few of the resources, in case you need help with your presentation skills too.
I searched Audible and found a good audio book called “How To Wow” by Frances Cole Jones. She talks all about how to present ourselves in all situations. The audio is a little over 6 hours long, but so far I am 2 hours in and I can tell you it is worth the time.
I also remembered a podcast that I used to listen to called The Public Speaker, which is hosted Lisa B Marshall. If you are pressed for time and want the summarized version of how to be a better public speaker, then you’ll enjoy this podcast. Each lesson is around 10 minutes long and is full of good advice and practical tips.
Lastly, I put a call out on Twitter for suggestions and I got back the names of some good resources. One in particular was Slide:ology by Nancy Duarte which talks about how to create a presentation that connects with your audience rather than becoming a set of bullet points for you to remember what to say.
In looking for an audio version of this book, I came across this short YouTube video that gives you an overview of Slide:ology, what it is, and how it can improve your presentation skills.
The important thing for you and I to remember in all of this though, is that we should always seek to improve, while not being afraid to practice. If you’re not where you want to be with your presenting skills, then seek out good information, but continue to practice. Most things don’t start out the way they end up and even the best speakers in the world have had bad days.
If you would like to suggest a resource or you have tips you’d like to share, leave them in the comments.
Charles McKeever
OpenSourceMarketer.com
P.S. If you have an iPhone, you can stream The Public Speaker podcast directly to your phone instead of fussing with RSS and podcast feeds.
Great post and I really enjoyed the clip of Nancy Duarte as I had not seen that.
Practice is certainly the key and not just for the presentation that you are sweating over right now. Continuing to accept speaking opportunities wherever and whenever they arise makes you a better presenter – at work, at church, at family/community gatherings, or even when your son/daughter ask you to come to their school’s Career Day and tell their classmates what you do.
Each time you get up there and speak, it gets easier. And once you get past the “nerves”, you can really start to hone your presenting skills and take the suggestions of the Nancy Duarte’s and Garr Reynolds’s to heart.
One other suggested resource I have, is Edward Tufte. He offers much more than just “presentation skills”. Rather he is the renown expert in the study of Presenting Information, Data, and Ideas. Each of his books are a work of art and an incredible source of knowledge. If you ever have the chance to attend one of his one-day seminars, I highly recommend making the effort to see him!
Hey Bruce! Thanks for the comment. I completely agree that continued practice makes all the difference. When I was in my early twenties, public speaking was cause for physical illness. But now I don’t even flinch when thinking about speaking in front of a crowd. Refining the end product is now my focus and I think it is probably the big next phase for most people.
By the way, congratulations on your MacBook purchase. Life will never be the same again :)
Chip & Dan Heath have adapted some of the points from their book “Made to Stick” and developed a short PDF called “Making Your Presentation Stick.” You can download it and some of their other resources at http://madetostick.com/bookresources/
Hey Scott. Thanks for the tip. I have Made To Stick on audio and it is a very good book. It’s one of those books that has to be listened to more than once though, because there’s just so much information in it. I totally forgot to apply their story telling recommendations. Good catch!