Powerful Presentations : Selling Your Story on Stage or In The Boardroom

Unlock your potential and understand how you can have an audience hanging on to your every word. Entrepreneurs and business professionals often have to pitch their products and projects to an audience - whether at a conference stage, meetup group, to VC firms or even at the office to their peers and leaders. Through this book, you will learn how to plan, rehearse, and deliver the perfect presentation for your needs. You'll review different presentation styles, how to craft and structure a talk and how to make it engaging for the audience. If you've ever wondered how you can be chosen to speak at a conference, this book will show you how and go in depth on how to craft a winning talk synopsis and proposal to stand out over the competition. You'll also examine many other details that go into giving a presentation such as face and hand gesturing, pre-performance rituals like visualization techniques, time management , addressing technical difficulties, preparing for question-and-answer sessions, gathering feedback, the differences between in person events and online talks/webinars and how to mold your presentation to the medium. Powerful Presentations will show you how to perfect your public speaking and presentation skills. What You'll Learn Explore the design and structure of presentations that retain an audience’s attention Prepare for a talk, including rehearsal, but also failure contingency planning for things like projectors, Wi-Fi, demo failure, etc. Review all of the useful tools and services available to help you develop and deliver a great presentation Who This Book Is For Professionals who want to design and deliver talks in their chosen fields of expertise, whether that be a software developer or an entrepreneur. Contents About the Author Chapter 1: Why Public Speaking Is an Important Skill My Story The Benefits of Public Speaking Critical Thinking Personal Satisfaction Increased Self-Confidence Improving Communication Skills Networking and New Connections Travel Persuasion Skills and Driving Change Performance Skills Being Respected As an Authority in Your Field Summary Workshop Questions Chapter 2: Writing Engaging Presentations Centered on a Relevant Problem It Should Engage the Audience It Should Be Well Organized The Presentation Creation Process Prepare Your Script and Slides Way Before the Conference Establishing the Presentation Subject or Problem Creating the Goal of Your Presentation Information Gathering and Research Presenting Data in the Most Engaging Way Choosing a Presentation Style Highly Visual Presentation The Data-Rich Presentation Style The Information Should Be Easy to Understand The Information Must Follow a Particular Order Avoid Overloading Your Presentation with Data The Free-Flowing Presentation Style Motivational Presentation Style Instructional Presentations Establishing Yourself As an Authority on the Topic Use an Organizational Tool That You Are Comfortable With Research The Outline Scripting Cue Cards and Prompts Creating Effective Slides Reduce the Amount of Text Use a Slide Template Images, Diagrams, and Reducing Clutter Be Careful with Animation Think of the People Sitting at the Back of the Room Summarizing Information Creating a Call to Action Summary Workshop Questions Chapter 3: Writing a Synopsis to Draw in Your Audience The Importance of a Synopsis Catchy Talk Title Initial Hook More Detail Closing Statement Talk 1: Fighting Back Against a Distracted World: Increasing Your Focus and Self-Motivation Talk 2: Dot NET Core Data Security: Hope Is Not a Strategy Talk 3: Protecting Encryption Keys with Azure Key Vault Talk 4: Hacking Humans: Social Engineering Techniques and How to Protect Against Them Summary Workshop Questions Chapter 4: Preparing to Give a Talk Getting Started Physical Delivery: Gestures and Facial Expressions Creating Preperformance Rituals Be Aware of the Time You Have for Presenting Know Your Timings Get Your Practice Audience to Ask Questions Memorize the Introduction to Each Section of Your Presentation Gathering Feedback and Improving Your Performance Internet/Wi-Fi Contingency Planning Make All Slide Resources Local Guarding Against Demo Failure Keep Multiple Copies of Your Files Summary Workshop Questions Chapter 5: Delivering the Talk Be Prepared Visualize Your Success People Want to See You Succeed in Giving Your Talk In the Case of Technical Difficulties, Apologize and Move On If You Can, Rehearse in the Event Venue at Least Once On Stage Project Your Voice to the Back of the Room Make Eye Contact with the Audience Accept That Some People Are Just Not Attentive Reaffirm to Yourself the Importance of Your Message Create a Great First Impression in the First Few Minutes of the Talk Managing Anxiety Use Anxiety as a Motivator Lessening Anxiety on the Day of the Talk Use Square Breathing to Manage Anxiety Gain Small Victories to Create Self-Confidence Keeping Yourself Focused on the Presentation Adapting to Changes in the Presentation Handling Questions Inform the Audience When You Want Questions Think Before Answering Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Questions to Be Repeated Repeat the Question so Everyone Can Hear Remain Positive Be Truthful and Never Lie Online Talks and Webinars Webinar vs. Online Talk The Rise of Online Presenting in a COVID-19 World Tips to Get the Most Out of Speaking Online Stand If You Can Visualize Your Audience Be Aware of Your Background Focus on Lighting Dress Appropriately Be Careful of Where You’re Looking Don’t Overcomplicate Your Speaking Setup Summary Workshop Questions Appendix A: Frequently Asked Questions Can public speaking benefit my career? What is more important: the content or my delivery of the content? How can I best deal with stage fright? I am not an expert in my field. Is it acceptable for me to be a public speaker? Should I pack as much information into my talk as possible for maximum impact? Should you memorize the entire presentation? Is it acceptable to call out people during a talk if they are chatting while you are presenting? What should I do with my hands during a presentation? How can I find out if my presentation is effective? How many slides are appropriate for a presentation? How can I make my voice not sound monotone or robotic? Where can I find good examples of public speakers to learn from? What should I do if my mind goes blank in the middle of a presentation? I want to speak at professional conferences, but I’m not sure how to get started I perform demos that require an internet connection. What should I do if the internet fails? What should I do if the projector fails? How should I deal with people interrupting my talk with questions? I am speaking at a large event. What should I do if only a few people show up for the talk? I have been approached by an event to speak, but I must pay a speaker fee. Is that normal? Should you be paid for public speaking? What was the most challenging talk you have delivered, when it seemed as though everything was going wrong? Appendix B: Presentation Creation Resources Slide Creation Tools Microsoft PowerPoint Apple Keynote Google Docs Research Tools Microsoft OneNote Apple Notes Evernote Google Keep Online Video Platforms Zoom Microsoft Teams Google Meet Cisco Webex Free Stock Photo Libraries Paid Stock Photo Libraries Audience Participation Tools Screen Recording for Demos Camtasia ScreenFlow Screenflick QuickTime Index