Presentation Skills

P re s e n t i n g You r W a y t o S u c c e s s :
1
Before we start: 7
Team work credits: 8
Chapter 1: 9
The Purpose Filled Presentation: 9
A Key To Doing Business 9
Remain Focused… 11
A Rule of Thumb… 12
Customizing Your Approach… 13
The Benefits to Be Had… 13
Let’s Summarize… 14
Chapter 2: 15
Back to the Basics: The 5 W’s 15
(…and One H) 15
Who? 16
What? 16
When? 17
Where? 18
Why? 19
How? 20
Curiosity Killed The Cat… 21
Chapter 2 In a Nutshell… 22
Chapter 3: 23
Research the Right Way: Conducting 23
Effective Research on Your 23
Topic & Audience 23
Creating Research Goals and Objectives… 24
Diversify Your Resources… 25
Anticipating Your Audience’s Goals… 26
Predicting Your Audience’s Questions… 26
Dealing With Deadlines… 27
NOTE: 29
Do You Catch My Drift? 30
Chapter 4: 32
Organization: The Key to Getting 32
Your Point Across 32
Preliminary Organization… 33
Outlines… 33
Using Note-Cards… 36
The Really Rough Draft… 37
Composing For the Ear… 37
2
With Help… 38
Going Solo… 39
The Dangers of Information Overload… 40
Arranging Your Content With Purpose and Power… 42
Determine Your Audience’s Aptitude… 44
Keep It Consistent… 44
Coming Up Next… 45
Chapter 5: 46
The Many Faces of Stage Fright, 46
And How to Face Them All 46
The Many Names and Faces of Stage Fright… 47
Let’s Make it Personal… 47
Looking At Symptoms and Triggers… 49
As you can see, there are multiple versions of stage fright, each with their own symptoms and their
own causes. In our next section, we’ll provide you with specific tips and tricks for managing and/or
eliminating your own stage fright. 51
Seven Simple Solutions… 51
Chapter 6: 54
Captivate Them: How to 54
Create Compelling 54
Content with Stories and Statistics 54
What To Look For… 55
Where To Turn… 56
Quotations… 57
Anecdotes… 58
Facts & Statistics… 58
Which Comes First? 59
Chapter 7: 61
Think Before You Speak: 61
Keys to Choosing 61
Your Words Wisely 61
The Nuances of the Spoken Word… 62
The Logic of Your Order and Reasoning… 64
Good, Better, Best… 65
Take It Easy… 67
Profanity: 67
Vulgarity: 67
Gender Specifics: 67
Religion and Politics: 68
International Audiences: 68
Chapter 8: 69
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It’s Not a Joke – 69

But You Can Tell Some… 69
How to Effectively Use Humor 69
In Your Presentation 69
The Dangers of Overkill… 70
Like, As & Is: The Beauty of Similes and Metaphors… 71
Chapter 9: 75
Piecing It All Together: 75
The Proper Use of 75
Introductions, Transitions, 75
And Conclusions 75
Why It’s Important… 76
Introductions… 77
Transitions… 78
Conclusions… 78
“In Conclusion…” 79
Chapter 10: 80
No Eye Has Seen, 80
Or Ear Has Heard: 80
Using Audio/Visual Aids 80
To Your Advantage 80
Strong Visual Aids… 81
Excellent Audio… 82
PowerPoint Dos and Don’ts… 83
Chapter 11: 86
More Than Words: 86
The Ins and Outs of 86
Body Language 86
What State Are You In? 87
Changing States… 88
Fake It?! 89
You Can Do It… 91
Chapter 12: 92
Context Clues: 92
Keys to Reading Your 92
Audience’s Interest and Involvement 92
Getting Through… 93
Evaluating Boredom… 94
Frustration, Impatience and Apathy… 95
Chapter 13: 98
“To Ask or Not to Ask…?” 98
4
Pointers on When to 98
Field or Answer Questions 98
The Purpose of Questions and Answers… 99
Make It Unnecessary… 101
Chapter 14: 103
Dynamic Design Ideas 103
For Your Presentation 103
Your Color Scheme… 104
Font Selection… 105
Audio/Visual Aids… 105
Formatting Your Slides or PowerPoint Screens… 106
Chapter 15: 108
Look Like A Pro 108
& Don’t Feel Like An 108
Idiot: Simple Ways 108
To Avoid Common 108
Mistakes 108
Failing to Plan or Prepare: 109
Speaking Too Quickly or Too Slowly: 110
Speaking in a Monotone: 110
Straying From the Subject: 110
Choosing a Topic that Bores You… 111
Not Properly Citing Sources… 112
Outdated or Just Plain Wrong Facts or Statistics… 112
Failing to Meet the Audience’s Expectations… 113
Coming Across as Arrogant… 113
Chapter 16: 115
Wrapping Things Up… 115
Bibliography & Additional Resources 120
5
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Over 100 pages of step-by-step instructions and full example of a
Business Plan that led to a start-up raising $300,000
This book is worth $29.95 or you can get it free by:
1. Going to http://eplixo.com and register on Eplixo.

2. Send me your registration username and email address
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I am interested in your feedback and comments
Copyright © 2010 Gerard Brandon

Every effort has been made to ensure this manual is free from error or problems. Though I have worked hard and
long to provide accurate information I can’t take any responsibility for loss or action to any individual or
corporation, or not acting, as a result of the material provided here. Some links may change.
All Rights Reserved

Reproduction or translation of any part of this work by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including
photocopying, beyond that permitted by copyright law, without permission of the publisher is unlawful.
6
Manuscript Notes:
This copy is revision 2.0 completed June 2010
Before we start:
This booklet is the second in a series about a journey…. An
Entrepreneurs Journey to show you how you too can reach substantial
goals in devising, creating and building a business. As Founder and CEO
of a two start-up companies that raised more than $23 million in debt and
equity; much more for many other enterprises, I can personally say to you
that what is contained here is pure common business sense.
This Presentation Instructional manual is not the be-all and end-all of

being a successful Presenter. But the methods have worked tremendously
well for me over the last 20 years or so presenting to Board member,
investors, potential shareholders, clients, customers and debt collectors!!!
My own system is not infallible either. But if you are reading this to get
more information on the subject of what it means to be a good presenter
and cannot spend all the time needed, to collect all the information – then
this is the answer.
Gerard Brandon
7
Team work credits:
This presentation, entrepreneur and business plan manuals in the “I think

I’m an Entrepreneur – get me ‘outta here” series is very much a team
effort. It reflects the team work of those who helped research, formulate,
contribute and edit the manuals and provided them in the manner worthy
of publication.
The Team includes the many people I have had the pleasure and privilege
of working with as an Entrepreneur from around the world.
Taking every opportunity to work with experts who are number one at
their chosen profession you quickly realize that everyone is a member of
your team. Each one has played a significant role in the approach on how
to go about creating a successful business, from Business Plan to IPO and
ultimately a Profitable Exit.
“I” is for information and “We” is an accumulation of knowledge.
Special mention and thanks must go to an extraordinary researcher,

contributor and editor, Jennifer Gibbs
These books are a European, United States and Asian project and the
spelling has been localized for the United States and Canada. We do not
expect too many to be offended as the intention is for the content to have
value the world over.
8
Chapter 1:
The Purpose Filled Presentation:
A Key To Doing Business
How many times have you had to suffer through a speech or presentation that
left you more confused at the end than you were at the beginning?
Unfortunately, the answer is often, “Far too many!” This is even more
unfortunate when you consider the fact that with a little training and effort,
scenarios like the one just mentioned could be completely avoided.
There are many components of a successful presentation, but one that MUST
be shared between them all. And that certain something is purpose.
Bookstores have been flooded with titles telling us how to live a life of
purpose. The point of this book is to help you communicate and present with
purpose.
But, in order to present with purpose, you must first decide what your purpose
actually is. Generally, the easiest way to do this is to work from a broad down
to a narrow perspective. The first of these is to identify the overall, ultimate
goal of your presentation.
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Is the goal of your presentation to secure an investor?
Is the goal to generate community interest or support?
If you know
Are you aiming to seek support from people attending a
you want it,
fundraising event?
have it.
Is the purpose of your presentation employee training?
-Gita Bellin
As you may well imagine, each of these diverse goals will
make for a very different presentation, even if all were employed by the self-
same business. That’s why it’s so very vital to quickly determine the goals and
purpose of your presentation, and then begin composition from there.
Take a moment to examine the motives behind your presentation. Ask yourself
why you’re going through the trouble. And, once you identify those ulterior
motives, be sure to build the rest of your presentation around those ultimate
goals. This creates a presentation that motivates others and allows you to show
them where you want to go without being pushy or overbearing.
Regardless of what you deem your presentation’s ultimate goal(s) to be, the tips
and tricks we’ll share in this chapter – and indeed, in this entire book – will
leave you a better communicator – period.
What you need to be able to do is tailor the guidelines, suggestions and

exercises that we’ll explore to your own particular presentation needs.
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Answer any questions honestly and remember that most of the time, your
answers will be very unique to you and you alone.
Follow these customized guidelines and you’ll soon find yourself signing more
contracts, more checks and more thank you letters than ever before…
Remain Focused…
While focus and purpose are closely related to one another, they aren’t the
same thing. Purpose is your overall objective. Focus is how you accomplish
your purpose in the most direct, straightforward manner – one that eliminates
tangents and other extraneous information that weaken the strength of your
presentation.
Staying focused upon your purpose is something you’ll do from start to finish
in your creative process. Focus is also imperative when it comes to delivery.
Some people have no trouble staying focused in the composition phase, but
when it comes time to actually give their presentation, something goes awry.
Instead of remaining on track in their material, they suddenly just start running
off at the mouth, getting lost in tangled tangents and way off the mark of their
purpose and goals.
Integrating focus into your total presentation (topic brainstorming session,

research, composition, revisions and your rehearsals and delivery) is a sure-fire
way to improve your confidence, your non-verbal communication and the
attitude you have going into your presentation.
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And that same focus will leave your audience motivated, informed, empowered
and enthusiastic – great qualities to find in any group.
Now that we’ve looked a bit further into the similarities and differences
between your purpose and focus, we’re now going to move on to our next
section, where we address a foundational concept in the world of giving
presentations. Here, we’ll call it the Rule of Thumb.
A Rule of Thumb…
In the world of communicating ideas and information, there’s a little rule of
thumb to keep in mind:
“Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em,

Tell ‘em,
Tell ‘em what you told ‘em”
We’ll discuss the particulars of this rule later on, when we discuss transitions
and flow, but for now, file this little saying away and be prepared to come back
to it again later. It’s at the very heart of every speech or presentation.
Don’t, however, make the mistake of tossing it out or dismissing it as too

simple. Regardless of your intelligence (or the intelligence of your audience)
this rule helps keep the audience focused on the topic - and it allows you to
avoid going off on too many tangents. It can be as simple as three sentences
added to the beginning, middle and end of your presentation, or more
pronounced - where you refer back to your major speaking points throughout
your address.
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As simple as it may seem, this little 3-step approach can work wonders as you
aim to communicate the purpose behind your presentation.
Customizing Your Approach…

Unfortunately, the suggestions and the guidelines in this book aren’t a simple
plug and play solution. We aren’t able to offer you one-size fits all approaches.
However, we do offer guidelines that you can easily dissect and tailor to your
own unique presentation needs.
Whenever advice is offered, look at it through the lenses of your own unique
presentation requirements. Consider the topic you’ll cover, the audience you’ll
address, the sources you’ll refer to.
This book isn’t supposed to be the end destination of your journey to

presentation success. Instead, it’s intended to be an ongoing road-map to guide
you in practicing, improving and increasing your talents as a public speaker.
Look for ways to further question your topic ideas and your research goals.
Look for new and improved ways to view the supporting facts and evidence
that you will draw from. Use an open-minded approach and your own
creativity just might surprise you!
The Benefits to Be Had…

There are quite a few benefits that you can hope to glean as you diligent work
through this book. Here are just a few of the most promising ones…
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• You’ll gain a more sensitive and skilled communicating ability.

• You’ll learn to cater to your audience’s wants and needs.
• It allows you to learn to be an active learner.
• It’s a skill in high demand among employers and headhunters world-
wide.
• It provides you with an entryway into community involvement and
humanitarian opportunities.
• Mastering these skills can help you gain the ability to persuade others
and negotiates more effectively.
• Doing it well can aid you in establishing you as an expert or authority in
your field.
• By improving your presentation skills, you may be able to increase your
marketing lists.
• Providing a powerful presentation not only benefits you, it benefits every
single person attending, sponsoring growth, change and development.
And this list of benefits can only be added to!
Let’s Summarize…
In this chapter, we’ve covered a fair amount of territory. We’ve discussed
purpose, focus, the “Rule of Thumb”, customizing your approach, as well as
some of the benefits that you can look forward to as you grow and achieve
higher status and regard as a public speaker.
In our next chapter, we’re going to go back to the basics, and explore the
fundamental questions involved in research and general curiosity…
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Chapter 2:
Back to the Basics: The 5 W’s
(…and One H)
After you’ve wrestled with the challenge of identifying your purpose and goals
and learning to stay focused on those goals and purposes throughout your
presentation, it’s time to get started on the actual “skeleton” of your
presentation.
To do this, you must get to the very essence of your topic and presentation
goals. You must go back to the basics and answer the fundamental questions
that your audience will have. Now, these questions will vary with each and
every presentation you give. But the types of questions will remain the same.
And fortunately, these questions are ones you’re most likely quite familiar with
already:
• Who? • Where?
• What? • Why?
• When? • How?
For the remainder of this chapter, we’re going to cover in-depth and new ways
that you can ask (and answer) each of these questions – offering your audience
the information they’re after and making it easier for you to get the results and
responses that you’re after.
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By the time you’ve finished this chapter, you’ll have a clearer insight into your
presentation’s research goals, compositional approaches and much, much
more.
Who?
This simple one-word question should inspire a host of other, more
personalized questions that your presentation should address. Questions like:
• Who should care about this?
• Who am I going to be talking to?
• Who am I going to be talking about? Believe it!

• Who will I site as my resources? H igh
• Who will benefit from my presentation the most? expectations
• Who will benefit the least? are the key to
• Who else will be speaking at this engagement? everything.
• Who is likely to cause the most trouble at your
presentation? - Sam Walton
What?
"What?" is another simple question that should inspire numerous other
insightful inquiries. Inquiries such as:
• What did they say?

• What does it mean (literally)?
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• What does it mean (as a whole)?

• What does it require?
• What should it inspire?
• What evidence supports your opinion?
• What controversies are inherent?
• What questions does your presentation raise?
• What are some obstacles you’ll face?
• What makes you qualified to be viewed as an authority or expert?
• What are some interesting ways you can illustrate your main speaking points?
Take some time to look at your presentation and ask yourself as many “What?”
questions as you can come up with. Though you may not answer all of these
questions during the course of your presentation, having already pondered
them, you can prepare yourself for potential questions at the end of your
presentation.
When?
As a general rule, people are very interested in the timeliness of a topic or
event. They want to know that the information they receive is still relevant
today, or why it will still be relevant in the future.
Because of this, you should be prepared to address a wide range of “When?”

related questions. Questions like:
• When was it said?

• When does it go into effect?
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• When is a response required?

• When do results appear?
• When will this information “expire”?
• When can they learn more?
• When did it happen?
• When was the discovery made?
Some of these may seem irrelevant to you, but they’re certainly a concern the
members of your audience will share. Whenever possible, rely on sources that
are current and up-to-date, hopefully within a span of the last two or three
years. Then, once you’ve made a majority of your material current, begin to
look back in the past, and ahead, into the future, to support this timely
information you’ve already covered.
Where?
As any real estate professional can assure you, location is everything. People
want to know where things happen, where to look for something, all variety of
“Where?” questions. Curiosities such as,
• Where can I use this?

• Where did it happen?
• Where will it get me?
• Where did the person live?
• Where did they work?
• Where did they go to school?
• Where can more information be found?
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• Where do you plan to relocate?

• Where can the destination be found?
• Where’s the nearest café? (Especially if it’s been a long presentation and you’ll break
for lunch or coffee…)
Where is all about the setting. And just like setting plays an important role in
movies, books and more, it’s just as important to address in your presentation –
despite your purpose, audience or familiarity with the answers.
Why?
Audiences, much like five year old children, are absolutely absorbed with the
question “Why?” But, then again, aren’t we all?
“Why?” questions are frequently tied in with the focus and purpose of your
presentation. Because of this contemplating, a wide variety of “Why?” related
questions can help strengthen and unify your ulterior message and motives.
Consider questions like:
• Why should I care?

• Why are you telling me this?
• Why does it matter?
• Why does it work?
• Why are you doing this?
• Why am I doing this?
• Why isn’t it getting done?
• Why did you reach this conclusion?
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• Why might someone disagree with your point of view?

• Why might this motivate change?
• Why is this solution superior to others?
• Why do you need additional funds?
Remember that every “Why?” question also has an equal opposite. If you ask,
“Why should I care?” you should also be prepared to answer the question,
“Why shouldn’t I care?” Both sides of the fence should be explored…
How?
The answer to “How?” questions provide guidance and direction for your
audience. It infers that where they are in life shouldn’t be where they stay, and
that by following your advice, they can get closer to their true potential.
It’s the DIY generation, and everyone is brimming over with a variety of
“How?” questions (and a multitude of self help titles to answer them):
• How do I apply this to my life?

• How do I follow up?
• How do I learn more?
• How will this make my life better?
• How will I know if it’s working?
• How can I accomplish this?
• How does it work?
• How do I make the necessary changes?
• How do I handle this situation?
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• How did it happen?

• How did you know?
• How can I avoid that?
If the who, what, where and when questions are the meat and potatoes of your
presentation, then the how questions are the dessert. Answering and addressing
them leave your audience more completely satisfied and allows them to leave
your presentation with a pleasant taste in their mouths…
Curiosity Killed The Cat…

…and too much of it can kill your presentation too. If you don’t satisfy enough
of your audience’s curiosity during the course of your presentation, they’re
going to get bored. They’re also likely to never sign up for another one of your
classes again.
If you’ve run into situations in the past where several audience members have
brought it to your attention that you’ve been leaving them with several
unanswered questions, it’s time to set out to reward their natural curiosity.
Why should curiosity be rewarded? Here are just a few good reasons…
• It maintains and flames interest.

• It can kindle authentic passion.
• It provides you with a unique opportunity to satisfy your
audience’s curiosity.
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• Because, if you’re able to satisfy their curiosity, you increase

the likelihood that you’ll share a continued professional
interaction.
• Because if you can satisfy the curiosity of the majority of
your audience on a consistent basis, you’ll soon be
recognized as an expert or authority in your own niche.
• Curiosity is a great catalyst for overall learning and
education, and
• Because if you and your audience don’t exhibit signs or
symptoms of curiosity, chances are that your purpose is
doomed from the get-go.
Chapter 2 In a Nutshell…
In a nutshell, this chapter has broken a great deal of ground when it comes to
curiosity and your investigative instincts. In Chapter 3, we’re going to dive right
into the essentials of effective researching.
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Chapter 3:
Research the Right Way: Conducting
Effective Research on Your
Topic & Audience
When it comes time to begin searching for facts, statistics, quotes and
resources for your presentation, it’s absolutely essential that you first devise a
pointed and relatively specific game plan. Without one, you run the risk of
loosing yourself in and on one tangent after another.
It’s far too easy to immerse yourself in “research”, when in fact all you’re really
doing is procrastinating with style. Reading articles and books too obscure or
irrelevant to your presentation; finding yourself playing yet another hand of
Solitaire; searching for quotes you know you’ll never use…
If any of these situations sounds uncomfortably familiar to you, please resist

the urge to run from the information we’ll provide for you in this chapter. We’ll
cover several very important aspects of conducting your research, including:
• Creating clear and concise research goals and objectives.

• Using many different resources
• Anticipating your audience’s goals
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• Anticipating your audience’s questions

• Creating (and following) research deadlines and
• Insuring that your audience will “catch your drift”
Creating Research Goals and Objectives…

The research goals you establish should be both clear
and concise. And the easiest way to go about this is to
I think I
create two different lists.
can break
The first list should be broken into two columns. the odds.
You’ll carefully brainstorm your topic and decide
“What You Already Know” (Column 1) and “What
You Need to Find Out” (Column 2).
- Jose
Fernandez
Some people might be tempted to stop there, but you
shouldn’t. There’s still another list to make. The second list will also be broken
into two columns. The first column will be labeled “What Your Audience
Already Knows” (Column 1); the second will be labeled “What Your Audience
Wants to Find Out.”
Items that appear in Column 1 on both lists can safely be assumed to be facts
and “common knowledge”, which won’t require very many supporting
resources. Items in Column 1 on your list, but not on Column 1 in the
audience’s list deserve supporting resources, citations and documentations.
Things in Column B on either list will require additional research, though those
on your list are more imperative to answer. You can use a bit more discretion
24
as to which of the things your audience will be curious about. Remember to

keep things focused on your purpose.
By the time you’ve completed this exercise, you should have a much clearer
idea of what your research goals and objectives will be.
The next step is heading to bookstores, libraries, online resources, etc. that will
both support and strengthen the impact and information contained within your
presentation.
In the next portion of this chapter, we’ll cover the importance of using a wide
variety of resources during your research.
Diversify Your Resources…

Just as your financial advisor recommends that you diversify your investment
portfolio, we recommend that you diversify the variety of resources you choose
to use for the composition of your presentation materials.
Probably one of the most prevalent risks is the decision to rely too heavily
upon websites and Internet resources. While it is a whole lot easier to be able to
conduct your research sipping coffee, cozy in your pajamas at your home
desktop, it’s more thorough (and professional) to include additional sources
such as books, magazines, videos, movies, first-hand interviews, etc.
By balancing the variety of sources used, you help protect your credibility and
partisanship. You’ll make fewer mistakes, and the additional, more traditional
25
sources will help jazz up your content (especially any time you can land an
actual quote or anecdote from interviews and on-the-record conversations.)
Of course, if you must, you can have it both ways. Thanks to E-Bay and
Amazon.com, you can search for, find, order and receive the books and
materials you need – without having to leave the comfort of your home. So,
regardless of how you go about doing it, insure that you’ll use several different
types of sources and materials during the research phase.
Anticipating Your Audience’s Goals…

One of the reasons we compiled two lists in the beginning was to help you
remember that the audience’s needs are equally (if not more so) important to
take account of as you start crafting your presentation.
Right now it’s a good time to re-examine the list that contains the information
your audience is hoping to obtain. Of course, as you do so, you should give a
greater priority to those needs which fall in line with the specific topic and
purpose of your presentation. The remaining concerns should be scrutinized
for ways that you can tie them into the scope of your topic. You can also tap
into this list to come up with advertising and marketing angles. Similar to your
audience’s goals are your audience’s questions, which we’ll address in the next
segment of this chapter.
Predicting Your Audience’s Questions…

This chapter’s first exercise already gave you an opportunity to view your
presentation from the eyes of your audience. During that time, you identified
areas that the audience was unfamiliar with. Generally, when you plan to
26
provide your audience with new information, you should expect and anticipate
what questions they’ll have and what concerns they’ll want you to address.
By tackling this challenge early on in the development of your presentation,

you’ll gain two benefits:
1. You can use these questions to make sure that you thoroughly
answer them in the content of your presentation.
2. You’ll be catering to your audience’s needs and desires – qualities
just about any attendee covets in a public speaker.
These are hardly the only benefits though. You can expect more thorough
preparation, ease in any question and answer sessions and a better scope of
what aspects to highlight in any brochures or additional promotional materials.
Our next section will deal with a subject that’s a bit more difficult (especially on
the follow through) – creating and sticking to research deadlines.
Dealing With Deadlines…

No one is crazy about deadlines, but that’s no excuse to disregard them. As
much as they seem to be a hassle, in all actuality, deadlines are actually very
useful tools. They help prevent extensive procrastination, they help you
dedicate enough time and attention to details and they give you an excuse to be
a little crabby (“Hold all my calls, I’ve got a deadline!”)
The hardest part about deadlines (besides sticking to them) is creating

reasonable ones. Did you notice the plural there? That’s because throughout
27
the various stages of development, you will actually be working under several
smaller, self-imposed deadlines as opposed to one loomingly large one.
So, how do you do it?
Begin with the date of your presentation delivery. For the sake of example, let’s
act as though you have thirty days to get from start to finish. One month…
Depending upon your comfort level with the topic and/or your audience at
hand, a month might seem like a long time. Long enough to spend the first half
wastefully procrastinating…
With our deadline method, that’s much less likely to occur. Every day will be
devoted to specific tasks and functions. You’ll have several hills to cross,
instead of a massive mountain to conquer.
Here’s an example of how you might manage those thirty days…
Task At Hand Number of Days % of Total Time

Brainstorming Topics 3 Days 10%
Research 7 Days 23%
Composition/Drafting 10 Days 33%
Revision/Final Draft 2 Days 7%
Rehearsal 3 Days 10%
Memorization 4 Days 13%
Final Rehearsal 1 Day 3%
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According to this breakdown, you’d have seven days allotted for research. You
might further break this down, day by day, something like this:
Day Task
1 Do an Amazon.com search for relevant titles to check out from the library
2 Go to the library for titles found.
3 Reading/Notes
4 Reading/Notes
5 Reading/Notes
6 Outline Resources/Notes
7 Create Bibliography
NOTE: Even if your presentation doesn’t require that you offer or submit a
bibliography, you shouldn’t neglect this opportunity. It’s likely that you’ll
eventually speak or write about the topic again in the future. Having the
bibliography on hand (or on file) will save you a great deal of research time in
the future. It also stands to reason that your audience members may be
interested in sources and materials that offer additional information. They
might just appreciate a “Suggested Reading” handout.
You may also stumble across (or purposefully coordinate) potential interview
subjects that can offer inside information, humorous quotes and relevant
anecdotes. Whether you decide to perform the interview in person, on the
phone or simply a written email questionnaire, be sure to schedule these
activities into your research time.
29
Now that you’ve got the research ball rolling, it’s time to move on to the final
segment of this chapter, where we explore ways to ensure that you either bring
down or elevate the information to your audience’s level of understanding.
Essentially, it means making those necessary translations that will guarantee
that your listeners “get it.”
Do You Catch My Drift?

While you’re conducting your research, it’s a good idea to keep your target
audience in mind. One of the most effective ways to do this is to create a
conglomeration of similarities and characteristics your overall audience will
share and then consolidating them all down into one, nearly stereotyped
person.
As you conduct your research, observe it through the eyes of your imaginary
audience member. Is that passage a little complex? Put it into layman’s terms
and eliminate any jargon. Is this fact important, but written below the reading
level of your target audience? Fine, revise it accordingly.
By taking the time to handle this task in the research phase, it will take a lot of
the anxiety and effort out of the up-and-coming composition phase.
Additionally, your audience will appreciate that you took the guesswork out of
their listening time. On the flip side, more advanced audiences will be grateful
that you aren’t talking down to them, or seemingly patronizing their
intelligence.
As you might have already guessed, familiarity with your audience can be a
deciding factor in the overall success or failure of your presentation. Before we
30
move on to other chapters, you may wish to create a short profile of your ideal
audience member to refer to now and in the composition phase.
This draws Chapter 3 to a close. In Chapter 4, we’re going to immerse you in

the power and practice of organization – the next step in the creation
(beginning the composition) phase. So, say good-bye to rambling and hello to
logical, clear and decisively flowing prose.
31
Chapter 4:
Organization: The Key to Getting
Your Point Across
It won’t matter how brilliant your resources are, or how poignant your quotes
may be if you fail to organize your information in a clear and logical fashion,
you’ll only weaken your presentation’s effectiveness.
No one likes a rambler – especially not people who’ve paid to see your (or if
you’ll be expecting them to write you a check before they leave.) Rambling
leads to confusion, boredom, distraction and “loss of face” – all of which are
the enemies of effective communication and favorable responses.
In this chapter, we’re going to outline some simple yet powerful ways that you
can structure and organize your presentation for the greatest, most desirable
effect. This includes:
• Preliminary organizational methods

• Composing for the ear
• Being careful not to overload your audience with too much new
information
32
• Popular composition approaches such as the pyramid or inverse pyramid

or chronological order.
• To compose with consistency in mind, and
• Clearly specifying the level of your audience – from novice on up to
expert.
Preliminary Organization… We know

Before we move on to the actual compositional
what we are,
organization, we’re going to take a quick look at your
preliminary organization. At this point, you’re
but know not
probably anticipating a discourse on using outlines. what we may
You’re going to get it, though perhaps not like you’d be.
imagine.
We’re not here to tell you that you absolutely must - William
have an outline, but we do recommend one, or Shakespeare
another similar tool like note-cards, categorized note-
taking, etc. But, for now, we’ll begin by discussing the quite familiar outline
format.
Outlines…
Outlines can be simple or quite detailed, briefly summarized or thoroughly
explored. The purpose of an outline is to help you organize the content and
details of your presentation.
An outline opens with a title or topic heading. Below that, and slightly to the
right will be your first major section or point. Generally, it’s your introduction.
33
If these main headings will be explored in depth, you’ll drop down again (and
again, over to the right) for sub topics and headings. You may go into further
details for these subheadings in the same fashion.
Here are a few outline examples (the meat of which was gleaned from the
website
http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/insectam/ambassador/expresentationoutlin
e.html
(The Bare Bones Approach)

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs…
I. What is an insect?
II. Where do you find insects?
III. Insect Locomotion…
(Slightly Fleshed Out)

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs…
a. Three body segments
b. Usually winged
c. Six legs
d. Exoskeleton
II. Where do you find insects?
a. Trees, shrubs, plants
b. Under tree bark
c. Underground
d. Streams/lakes
34
e. Everywhere but the ocean
(Thorough)
Bugs, Bugs, Bugs…
a. Three body segments
i. Head
ii. Thorax
iii. Abdomen
b. Usually winged
c. Six legs
i. Which are segmented
d. Exoskeleton
As you can see from the examples provided there is a world of possibilities
available when it comes to outlining. Just remember that an outline is designed
as an organizational tool, not a Biblical tenant. Your outline won’t be turned
into a handout (unless you want it to be…) it’s just for your own personal use.
And multitudes of people rely on outlining to help organize their research and
composition phases.
However, if you simply can’t abide outlining, there are other methods that you
can employ as you strive to arrange your research and content in a logical,
powerful way.
35
Using Note-Cards…
If outlining just isn’t your style, you might prefer to use the Note-Card method.
It’s essentially the same tool, just in a different medium.
To use the note-card method, you’ll need to pick up a package of index cards in
whatever size and style you prefer. Once you’ve got them, it’s time to browse
through the information you gathered in the research phase. Every fact,
statistic, quote or idea you come across that you plan to include in your
presentation should be transferred to your note-cards, with one point per card.
When you’ve finished, you’ll have the meat and potatoes of your presentation
in a pile of note-cards.
Now, you’ll go through the cards, grouping them into piles – one pile for each
main idea of your presentation. You can then further break these piles down
into smaller piles for sub-topics and ideas.
Unlike the outlining method, this gives you a little more freedom and room for
creativity. You can try different groupings until you find just the right
organizational format for your presentation. And once you’ve settled on the
perfect arrangement, simply use paperclips to keep the cards properly grouped.
Of course, if neither of these methods tickles your fancy, you can simply do it
the hard way…
36
The Really Rough Draft…

Some people have a natural aversion to order. If you’re one of those people,
you might want to take the rough road of the really rough draft.
To do this, you refer to your research notes alone and spin them into content.
You might be organized about this, working from introduction to conclusion,
or you may prefer working in random chunks, which you later piece together
with the literary glue of transitions.
The only major drawback of this approach is the amount of work it will
involve. Instead of simply shuffling an outline or some note-cards around to
make changes this way means you’ll do a lot of writing, revisions, cutting chunk
of content and facing a lot of frustration as you do so. On the other hand, if
you do opt for this method, you’ll likely gain a greater familiarity and
confidence in the material your presentation will be constructed from.
Regardless of which of these three organizational approaches you use, the goal
is still the same: arranging your content to optimize logic, flow, rhythm,
purpose and impact.
Composing For the Ear…

Writing to read out loud is significantly different than just writing to be read.
Presentations and other public speaking engagements require a certain rhythm
and flow that aren’t necessary for other writing assignments.
37
This means that you need to have a certain comfort and aptitude for
composing for the ear. It means that as you draft your content, you should
constantly give it the ear test…
The ear test is simple: Read your copy out loud and see how it sounds. Did you
stumble over a word? Make a notation. Are you using a word or phrase too
many times? Pull out the Thesaurus and find a different word to opt for. Does
a phrase ring of a tongue-twister? Play with it to eliminate excessive alliteration.
This is a trick that will take time to master, but with each time you do it, it will
get a little bit easier. Eventually, composing for the ear will become quite
natural – something you do without thinking. One way to excel at this a bit
quicker is to use feedback.
This works best if you have a guinea pig audience to practice on, but if you
must go solo, we can offer help for you too.
With Help…
If you’ve got a handful of friends or relatives available (and hopefully willing)
gather them together and read aloud some of your content. Of course, this
means you’ll have to actually have some content for them to read. If you
haven’t reached this point yet, grab a Post-It note and mark this page (or
bookmark it on your P.C.) and come back and do this exercise as soon as
practically possible.
Read all or a portion of your content out loud, and ask your volunteers to listen
carefully – paying close attention to anything confusing, hard to understand, or
38
that just sounds “wrong”. Have them give you feedback – as specific as
possible. If you’d like to insure honesty, request that everyone submit their
feedback as an anonymous written response (you can further protect their
identities by asking that everyone write in all printed caps.)
Do this as many times as you feel is necessary or incorporate then next solo
exercise in with it for a little variety…
Going Solo…
If it’s just not practical or even possible to find a volunteer audience, you can
still go it alone. All you’ll need is your speech content and a miniature voice
recorder, computer mike or any other voice recording device. Get close enough
to the microphone that you’ll be able to clearly hear yourself on the play-back
and get talking.
It’s like the difference between proofing a document on the computer screen
versus on real, printed paper. For some reason, errors just seem to jump off of
the printed page. Listening to your own recorded voice will also allow you to be
a little more objective. That’s because, to most people, their recorded voice
sounds distinctly different from the one that they’re used to hearing.
While these simple exercises may seem like a bit of trouble to follow through
on, they’re certainly worth the time and effort involved. So remember
throughout the rest of this chapter on organization and composition, that you
must put every sentence, every phrase, through the ear test…
How does it sound?
39
How’s your rhythm?
Are there any places where a different word or expression would sound better?
In the next portion of this chapter, we’ll examine the importance of not
overwhelming your audience with too much new information.
The Dangers of Information Overload…

While nobody wants to sit through a presentation that only deals with the
known and obvious, and fails to offer anything new and original, it’s equally
dangerous to overwhelm your audience with too much new (or radical)
information. This is especially true when you’re dealing with a group of people
that are, for the most part, set in their ways or resistant to change.
It’s also true when you’re dealing with predominantly antagonistic audiences or
you’re dealing with a highly controversial subject.
This is yet another reason why understanding your audience is so important in

every phase of your presentation preparation. If you already have a fairly
accurate idea of the demographics of who you’ll be addressing, it’s much easier
to balance yourself on the tight rope that is threaded between too much and
not enough useful and unique information.
However, while each and every presentation is wholly unique in content and
length, there is a simple formula you can employ to keep the balance
maintained. And that formula is:
40
P=.75x + .25y:
P= your presentation’s content
X = old/widely known information
Y = new, unique, ground-breaking information
Or, if you don’t particularly care for mathematic formulas, it’s a simple 75/25
split, where 75% is accepted, widely believed information and 25% is new,
unique facts, statistics and findings.
Ideally, this means that with three quarters of your presentation, you’ll be
establishing yourself as a credible authority whose knowledge and insight can
be trusted. The remaining 25% of your presentation will capitalize on this
earned trust and seize the opportunity to provide new answers, solutions or
facts that improve life, work or play for your audience.
Doing this successfully and consistently will lead you to new heights in your
career and marketing efforts, and gives you a much greater chance of repeat
customers, investors and long standing professional relationships.
Keep this in mind as you begin piecing together the various parts of your first
draft. If you’ll be speaking for an hour, 45 minutes should be spent on familiar
territory, even if you offer your own unique twist on the info. The remaining 15
minutes can be spent wowing them with your brilliance, creativity, wit and
practical, unique applications.
41
On the other hand, if you’re measuring in a word limit versus a time limit, you
can apply the same rule. If you’re restricted to 2500 words, 1875 would focus
on established, known facts and the remaining 625 words could be devoted to
breaking new findings, technologies, treatments, plans, etc.
This doesn’t mean that the 25% of new information must be given at the end
of your presentation. With a little finesse, you can incorporate it just about
anywhere – beginning, middle or end.
In the next section, we’ll focus on some of the different ways that you can
arrange your points to get the most out of the words and time you’ll have with
your audience. This includes methods like chronological order, step-by-step
fashion, in descending order of importance, etc.
Arranging Your Content With Purpose and Power…

There are a great deal of choices to make when it comes to arranging the
content and composition of your presentation. While each possibility offers its
own strengths and weaknesses, you should never make the mistake of assuming
that you can use a “one size fits all” approach. In this section, we’ll provide you
with some questions and guidelines to consider as you choose how to arrange
your words and thoughts.
There are several different composition methods that you can choose from,
including:
42
• Chronological: With this approach, you arrange your content by

time, whether from the past to present to future or the reverse. Step-
by-step procedures are also included in this method.
• Spatial: Here, you work from smallest to largest or vice versa. For
instance, if you’re working on a presentation on designing your
landscaping, you might start by listing low lying border plants and
work your way up to popular trees.
• Causal: Causal organization shows the cause and effect relationships
involved. Usually, for the most impact, the presentation is opened
with the effects, and then goes to illuminate upon potential causes.
• Comparative: Here you’ll compare and contrast two or more
different products, proposals, solutions, etc. Remember that even if
you’re planning to recommend one above another to take a fair and
balanced investigative approach.
• Topical: When dealing with a topical approach, you’ll split main
topics into sub-topics. For instance, if you’re dealing with the topic of
Becoming a Published Author, you might divide your topic into sub-
headings such as 1) Self-publishing, 2) Small publishing houses 3)
Major publishing houses.
• The Problem/Solution Approach: Here you begin by introducing
and focusing on the severity of a particular problem and then going
on to offer a solution (or solutions.)
Which of these is going to work the best for your particular presentation? Once
you’ve settled upon one, our next section will deal with composing your
content with an eye towards your audience’s initial aptitude.
43
Determine Your Audience’s Aptitude…

To avoid speaking down to (or speaking way too far over their heads) your
audience, you’ve got to walk into the compositional phase of your presentation
with a fairly solid idea of the aptitude of the audience you’ll be addressing.
Are they more likely to be novices? Is this a new topic for them? Something
ground breaking?
Or, are they intermediate in your topic? Do they come to your presentation
with at least a fundamental understanding of the basics of the topic at hand?
Will they recognize the names, places and words you plan to use?
Perhaps they’re experts…In that case, you can include jargon, intricate
solutions, more complex procedures as well as many other options that simply
aren’t available for the everyday audience.
Once you’ve figured this out (or at least can be fairly certain that you have a
grasp on the situation), you’ll be much more prepared to create a riveting
presentation that doesn’t confound or patronize your listeners.
Keep It Consistent…
Whichever of these multiple options you choose to incorporate into your
presentation, the most important guideline that you should keep in mind is
consistency. If you ask a question during the course of your presentation, be
sure to answer it. If you claim that you’ll offer six specific solutions to a
particular problem, don’t call it quits after number four.
44
Presentations aren’t just about learning. They’re about building relationships

with other professionals, offering insider information to improve other
people’s lives. A great deal of this responsibility can be rooted to trust. When
your listeners hear you make a promise, they expect you to fulfill it. If you do,
you’ll keep them happy and earn their trust. If you don’t, you risk loosing their
interest and their respect. You can avoid these dangerous territories by simply
remaining consistent throughout your presentation.
Coming Up Next…
In this chapter, we’ve covered preliminary organization, composing for the ear,
different compositional approaches, the importance of consistency and the
importance of heading into your presentation with a clear understanding of
your audience’s aptitude. In our next chapter, Chapter 5, we’ll be moving on to
the specter of stage fright and how to deal with it.
45
Chapter 5:
The Many Faces of Stage Fright,
And How to Face Them All
Were you aware that in the US and the UK, the fear of public speaking
outranks the fear of the Grim Reaper? It’s true! Unfortunately for those that
carry this fear, effective public speaking that gets results is one of the most
desired qualities among many corporate headhunters. Additionally, thanks to
the new advent of information and an insatiable desire to learn, more and more
“ordinary” folks will find themselves in the role of public speaker.
Therefore, it’s essential that people learn to come to terms with (and actually
address) their personal public speaking fears.
The goals of this chapter include:
• Helping you identify your own comfort (or perhaps dis-comfort) level,
ranging from total terror to complete confidence.
• Discussing various triggers and symptoms of “stage fright”
• We’ll also cover methods for managing and eliminating your fears and
discomfort both before and during your speaking engagement.
46
By the end of this chapter, you’ll find yourself well-armed in the battle against
your public speaking fears.
The Many Names and Faces of Stage Fright…

It’s funny, but you can often gage a person’s feelings
From small
about public speaking fears by looking at the words
they use to describe the malady. And there are quite a
beginnings
few monikers for the pesky problem that is more come great
terrifying to many than the fear of death itself! things.
A few synonyms for “stage fright” include:

-Proverb
• Fear of public speaking
• Stage Fright
• Stress
• First night nerves
• Panic Attack
• Butterflies in the stomach
• Terror
• Nervousness
• Performance anxiety
• Anxiety
• Glossophobia
What do you call the fear of public speaking? In the next portion of this lesson,
we’ll take a few minutes so that you can gage your own level of comfort with
the task…
Let’s Make it Personal…

Talking about the fear of public speaking in broad generalities and in terms of
how it affects others is great if you’re just looking for facts and statistics.
47
However, if you’re trying to manage or eliminate your own fear, it’s relatively
useless.
Instead, in order for you to bring about personal change in regards to stage
fright, it helps to be a bit more specific. While it may make you feel a bit better
about yourself to learn that someone else suffers from a more severe fear of
public speaking, it will hardly be enough to aid you in eradicating your own.
Therefore, the purpose of this section isn’t to help you feel a sense of
fellowship (or, God forbid, superiority) with other sufferers, but to help you
come to terms with your own personal fears. Only then, when you’ve been
honest with yourself, can you begin to conquer that fear.
To do this, you should take a few moments and devote them to introspection.
This will be a bit easier if you’ve already been in the spotlight and faced those
fears before. But, even if you’ve never had to address a crowd, you have
probably been in somewhat similar situations, whether at home, work, school,
church or possibly even drunk and singing Karaoke at the bar…
Think about any mental anxiety you experienced…
When did it start?

How long did it last?
Did it get worse or better with time?
How hard do you work to avoid public speaking?
What kind of physical symptoms pop up?
48
Once you’ve really thought about it, with a no-holds barred approach, you
should have an honest idea of how comfortable (or uncomfortable) the
prospect of public speaking makes you feel.
Now, try to rate your own degree of speaking anxiety on a -10 to a +10 scale,
where -10 is complete, total, debilitating terror and +10 is complete, total
confidence and mastery.
Once you’ve done that, decide what (if any) changes you’d like to see made.
Unless you’re sitting at about a +8, it’s probably going to be unrealistic to try
and attain a +10 between now and your presentation. But, you should be able
to make some positive changes between now and then.
In the rest of this chapter, we’re going to help you do just that. Of course, if
you’ve honestly rated yourself at a +10, you can skip this chapter altogether.
But, if you’re actually taking the time to read this book, hoping to improve your
presentation performance, chances are that you fell a little short of the mark.
Don’t be ashamed or embarrassed about this; instead congratulate yourself for
making the effort to change.
Looking At Symptoms and Triggers…

As you can see from your response, there is virtually a world of possibilities
when it comes to evaluating and grading your individual response to panic
attacks and stage fright. And these various degrees have different symptoms
and triggers.
49
Below, you’ll find a helpful table to help you distinguish the differences
between the many faces of stage fright…
Shyness Social Panic

Phobia Disorder
Primary Inhibition Intense Fear Unfounded
Symptoms feelings of
faintness,
stroke, heart
attack or
impending death
The No Can Happen Yes
Occurrence
of Panic
Situations Contact with Contact with Doesn’t depend
Where It people. people. Also on the situation.
Happens possibly the
anticipation of
contact with
people.
Attitude Tolerance, An urgent need Trying to avoid
Towards expectation of to leave. fainting, stroke,
Symptoms recovery or heart attack or
improvement. death.
Includes a No Yes No
Desire to
Run?
Happens in Yes Yes Doesn’t depend
one or more upon
Situations? circumstances or
situations.
Duration of While contact While contact Roughly half an
Suffering… lasts lasts, perhaps hour.
also in
anticipation of
upcoming
50
contact.
Incidence in Over 40% Roughly 8% Less than 2%
Population
Probable Psychological Psychological Chemical
Origin and/or
Chemical
Adaptive Insist on Reduce contact A tendency to
Behaviors maintaining to a minimum avoid places
contact where crises have
happened before.
As you can see, there are multiple versions of stage fright, each with their own
symptoms and their own causes. In our next section, we’ll provide you with
specific tips and tricks for managing and/or eliminating your own stage fright.
Seven Simple Solutions…

You’d be surprised at how a few simple solutions can make a big difference
when it comes to handling stage fright stress. Here are seven that are sure to
help you manage your own personal fears:
1. Make sure that you’re familiar with your material,

inside and out. The more you understand your material,
and know the facts, statistics, supporting opinions, etc. the
more likely it is that you’ll feel a greater level of confidence
going into your presentation.
2. Don’t spend time worrying about your entire
presentation. Instead, focus on making it through the first
five minutes. This is usually the most traumatic time period
51
in your entire performance. Once you make it through that,

your anxiety will steadily diminish.
3. Don’t forget to breathe! Your respiration rate has a very
real impact on your physical and mental state. Take deep,
full breaths. Inhale and exhale slowly and regularly. See what
a difference it can make…
4. Play the “What’s the Worst That Could Happen?”
game. The name of the game is imagining several highly
unlikely worst-case scenarios of what could go wrong
during your presentation. For each one, envision it from
start to finish. Some of them might make you laugh.
Regardless, if you can find a little hilarity in the bad
possibilities, it’ll make it easier for you in the real, much
more tame scenario.
5. Keep in mind that, in all reality, you’ll always be your
own worst enemy. No one else will criticize what you did
or didn’t remember to say in the second portion of the
presentation, because they don’t KNOW what you’d
planned to say in the first place. Make them smile. Make
them laugh.
6. Remember that if your roles were reversed, the people
in the audience would likely be terrified too. And some
of them might walk in their considering that very fact. But
they WANT you to do a good job. They’re rooting for you -
their very attendance is proof of that fact!
52
7. Give ‘em a good laugh. Laughter is a natural tension

reliever. As you’ll soon learn, humor has monstrous benefits
to offer for both you and your presentation.
Now that we’ve handled the specter of stage fright, in our next chapter, we’ll
move on to how you can learn to captivate your audience with amusing stories,
quotes, anecdotes and statistics.
53
Chapter 6:
Captivate Them: How to
Create Compelling
Content with Stories and Statistics
The goal of just about any presentation is to captivate your audience. By

definition, captivate means to attract and hold by charm, beauty, and/or
excellence (www.dictionary.com). This translates into creating a presentation
that’s charming (fascinating, tempting, graceful…), beautiful (offer appealing
graphics, visual aids and audio files) and excellent. And perhaps of each of
these three characteristics, excellence is probably the most essential.
Excellence is:
“…top performance, distinction, superiority; feature of an
organizational entity that manifests how incomparably excellent
it is when assessed adhering to success criteria; excellence refers
always to excellent performance concerning something, for
example, in relation to one’s own goals, competitor’s
performance, or the best in the world.”
(Source: Excellence Quotes)
54
The ultimate goal is to captivate your audience by the very excellence of your
speech and presentation. This means speaking excellence, personal excellence
and, nearly, a lifestyle of excellence. If you can aim
for top performance, pursue distinction and aim to
The
be viewed as a success when it comes to public beginning is
presentations, a great way to do this is by always today.
incorporating relevant, interesting and compelling
stories, anecdotes and statistics into your content.
-Mary
What To Look For…

Wollstonecraft
Now that we’ve expounded upon the meaning and applications of the word
“captivate”, it’s time to pull out the dictionary once again. The second focus of
this chapter’s title is creating compelling content. But, what do we mean by
compelling?
One of the best definitions of the word is as follows:
“…having a powerful and irresistible effect; requiring

acute admiration, attention or respect.”
Thus, in order to achieve the objective of captivating your audience, you must
first brainstorm, draft and revise your presentation’s content until it fits the bill.
Grade your message against questions such as:
• Is this content powerful? Are the facts and evidence supporting and strengthening my
claims?
55
• Does my content pass the irresistible test? If I was suddenly called of the podium in
the midst of my presentation for a family emergency, would the audience be
disappointed? Will the words prompt the audience to seek you out for additional help
and resources?
• Will your words inspire admiration in your audience members’ eyes? Will they view
you as an authority of the topic at hand? Will your message be powerful and
believable enough to prompt them to apply the information in their own lives?
• Will your content hold your audience’s attention? Will they remain focused on you
and your message, instead of day-dreaming, worrying about work or constantly
looking at their watch in anticipation of whatever comes next?
• At the end of your presentation, will your audience respect you, even if they don’t
necessarily agree with you? Are your facts accurate? Are your opinions logical and
supported? Is your delivery friendly and welcoming or cold and confrontational?
Just one little word, compelling, encompasses all of these questions and
guidelines. The more of them you meet and address, the more likely it is that
you’ll have a spell-bound audience. An audience that is more likely to benefit
from or act upon the message you have to share.
These two simple words, captivating and compelling, should be in the forefront
of your mind as you search for the perfect quotes, facts, statistics and stories
that will really drive your point home.
Where To Turn…
As you may have guessed by the depth at which we’ve explored two simple
words, that to create captivating and compelling content, you can’t rely on tired
facts, dated applications or unsupported opinions. To really get the most out of
56
your content, you’re going to have to put a great deal of effort into finding
useful, relevant, entertaining and timely information.
And in order to do this completely and consistently, you’re going to have to

know where to turn to find just the right quote, just the right story, to achieve
your desired results.
Fortunately, in the remainder of this section of this chapter, we’re going to

provide you with a few online resources to aid you in your quest.
Quotations…
Sometimes, one of the best ways to illustrate a point or opinion is to offer a
quote from a famous person, a respected authority or perhaps an old proverb
or maxim.
Here are a few online resources where you can search for quotes…
• www.quoteworld.org
• www.quotedb.com
• www.quotationspage.com
• www.freefind.com
• www.thinkexist.com
• www.quotesandsayings.com
• www.imdb.com
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Anecdotes…
An anecdote is a short tale that is told about an interesting, amusing or
biographical incident. There are almost always based upon factual people,
places and things, though some have been repeated so often and so widely that
they’ve taken on fictional proportions.
You can browse through hundreds and thousands of anecdotes by checking

out a few of the following websites:
• www.anecdotage.com
• www.anecdota.org
• www.idea-bank.com
• www.anecdote.com.au
• www.nonstopenglish.com/reading/quotations/k_Anecdotes.asp
Facts & Statistics…

If you’re on the look-out for specific, authoritative facts and statistics to include
in your presentation, don’t despair. There are several sources out there that you
can turn to for help…
• http://www.nationmaster.com/index.php
• www.2facts.com
• http://www.interestingfacts.org/
Of course, any time you’re in need of specially targeted quotes, anecdotes, facts
and statistics, Google may be your most useful tool. To get the most out of it,
58
brainstorm several relevant keyword search phrases related to what you’re

looking for.
For instance, if you’re looking for quotes related to school uniforms, some
ideal search terms might include:
• school uniform quotes

• quotes about school uniforms
• uniform quotes
• school uniform quotations
• quotations about school uniforms
• uniform quotations
• school uniform opinions
• school uniform arguments
…just to name a few.
Which Comes First?

There are two main schools of thought when it comes to when you should
begin your hunt for quotes, anecdotes and statistics. The first usually chooses
to seek out this additional supporting content in the preliminary research phase.
The other waits until the skeleton of their speech or presentation is formed,
and uses these extras to “flesh it out.”
Neither of these approaches is right or wrong. You can get it done at any point
in the creation of your content. The important thing isn’t when you do it, but
that you do actually do it.
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As you might have guessed, it’s the little things like this that make the decided
difference between a presentation that’s merely “okay,” and a presentation that
knocks your audience’s socks off.
In the next chapter, we’ll progress on to some keys for choosing your words
wisely.
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Chapter 7:
Think Before You Speak:
Keys to Choosing
Your Words Wisely
Anyone who’s ever been guilty of spouting out the wrong thing at the wrong
time knows how dangerous it can be to speak without first thinking of what
you’ll say. You risk looking foolish, suffering embarrassment, loosing credibility
and engaging yourself in long, drawn out hours of “What ifs” and self-
depreciation. Fortunately, you can avoid this discomfort by simply allotting
plenty of time to preparation. Preparation of your overall presentation, the
particulars of your words, visual aids, audio aids, handouts, slides, etc. and
careful attention to the composition phase of your speech creation.
In this chapter, we’re going to focus on the composition aspect of your

presentation content.
• We’ll go over some of the nuances of the spoken, versus the written
word.
• We’ll cover the logic of order and reasoning as you compile your content
into a logical sequence.
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• We’ll also review some guidelines and suggestions to get the most out of
the words you choose.
• Finally, you’ll gain a clearer understanding of how to evaluate your
content to make sure that none of your quips can be seen as offensive to
your audience, as well as assuring that your information is accurate and
appropriate.
The Nuances of the Spoken Word…

Unlike the written word, which can be referred back to easily and often, most
of the time, when dealing with the spoken word, you only get
one shot. Go and
wake up
Sure, you can pass out hand-outs and use slides to help
your
people follow along. You might even decide to mail out
follow-up transcripts to your audience members. But despite luck.
that extra effort, you’ve got to accept the fact that not
everyone will read or save those materials. Some will wind up
- Persian
in the trash. Others lost in a pile on a desk. So, when you’re
giving an oral presentation, you’ve got to assume that this is
Proverb
your one and only chance to get your message across.
Because of this, you should pay very careful attention to your wording, choices
of phrases and how those will sound (not look) to your audience. Preparing for
this in advance will help you avoid confusion and possibly even prevent you
from unintentionally offending those who’ve gathered to hear you speak.
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Equally as important as choosing what you say is how you choose to say it.
Tone, speed and inflection also play a big part in oral communications.
Here are a few more famous (and funny) examples of sentences and phrases
that might look just fine on paper, but once they escape your lips, it’s a whole
other story…
"If I listened to Michael Dukakis long enough I would be convinced that

we're in an economic downturn and people are homeless and going without
food and medical attention and that we've got to do something about the
unemployed."
--Ronald Reagan
"Now we are trying to get unemployment to go up and I think we're going to

succeed."
--Ronald Reagan
"I'm not against the blacks and a lot of the good blacks will attest to that."
--Evan Mecham, then governor of Arizona
"Nixon has been sitting in the White House while George McGovern has
been exposing himself to the people of the United States."
--Frank Licht, then governor of Rhode Island, campaigning for
McGovern in 1972
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"I want you to take your balls in your hand and bounce them on the floor and
then throw them as high as you can. Now, have you all got your balls in your
hands?"
--Announcer of children's radio show "Life With Mother", to her
audience
”They X-Rayed my head and found nothing.”

--Jerome "Dizzy" Dean
(Quotes courtesy of:

http://www.antion.com/humor/speakerhumor/bloopers.htm)
The Logic of Your Order and Reasoning…

In an earlier chapter, we waded through a fairly broad selection of ways that
you can organize the compositional aspect of your presentation. At this point,
we just want to persuade you to evaluate your chosen method one last time…
Are you positive that this is absolutely the best, most powerful way that you
can organize your material?
Are you confident that your audience will agree? If not, look for people similar
to those who’ll be attending and solicit their opinions and suggestions.
How do you plan to wrap up your presentation? What do you envision for your
closing remarks? Is this the most powerful ending? Is your conclusion in line
with your purpose? Does it motive and inspire? If not, what can you do to
achieve these ends?
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Only after you’re at least 90% confident that you’ve chosen the best possible
compositional method should you commit any serious drafting attempts to
paper or word processor.
In the next segment, we’ll provide you with a few pointers and resources to
help you get the most out of the words you choose to use.
Good, Better, Best…

This section will help you do some preliminary revisions well before you’ve
finished your rough draft. Here, we’ll provide you with several different tips
and resources that can aid you in choosing the best, most powerful words and
phrases the first time around.
There’s a little rhyme that applies well to this situation…
“Good, better, best

Never let it rest
Until your good is better
And your better is best.”
While it applies to just about anything you can or might do, it specifically
applies to choosing the perfect phrasing for your presentation.
If you’re looking for the best possible words, you should definitely make it a
point to get your hands on the best possible thesaurus you can find. It’s a great
tool if you’re looking for a more descriptive, powerful and appropriate word.
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It’s also vital in situations where a certain word or phrase is repeated too often
throughout the length of your text.
Are you way too descriptive? Try this simple exercise…
Go through the text of your entire presentation and, with a

pencil, mark out (lightly) every single adjective you come
across. Now, set a quota of no more than four or five
adjectives per page.
You’ll find that by eliminating this extra baggage, the text of your presentation
will flow both more smoothly and naturally.
Additionally, some writers have a tendency to use the word “this” a little too
indiscriminately. Take your pencil and circle every instance of the word “this”
in your copy. Every time it occurs, ask yourself what the word “this” is
referring to. If you don’t know the answer you need to reword the sentence or
your word choice.
When you’re writing your presentation, be sure that you avoid the passive voice
at all costs. It drains a great deal of the energy and impact of your message. As
an example, it’s “Murphy’s Law”, not “the law created by Murphy.”
If you’re looking for a source for some seriously powerful words to include in
your presentation, we’ve got one for you. Originally intended for advertising
copywriters, if your aim is to motivate or inspire, this little web page has a lot to
offer: http://www.nmoa.org/sponsors/jsart/schult4.htm.
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In our final segment, we’ll deal with insuring that your speech material won’t be
found offensive by your audience members.
Take It Easy…
Fair or unfair, the rules of common decency must be applied when it comes to
creating your presentation. Understanding this from the get-go can help save
you from seriously uncomfortable situations in the future.
Profanity:
It is very rarely appropriate to use profanity in your presentation,
especially if your audience contains children or conservatively-minded
adults. And even if your venue doesn’t frown upon profanity, you
should probably aim to omit it entirely, minus important and relevant
quotes.
Vulgarity:
The same rule applies when it comes to sexually explicit content. Unless
your presentation is dealing with a sexual topic, product, discovery, etc.
keep it clean. It’s not polite and it’s not politically correct either.
Gender Specifics:
Since we mentioned political correctness, it’s only natural to remind you
that it’s “postal worker” not “postman”; “on-site child care specialist”
not “Nanny”. If you’re addressing a mixed gender audience, this is
doubly important.
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Religion and Politics:

Unless you’re speaking to a religious or political audience, it’s a good
idea to avoid political or religious content. There’s a long-standing social
wisdom that suggests that you shouldn’t discuss religion or politics in
polite company in order to avoid giving offense or instigating an
argument.
International Audiences:
If you know that you’ll be addressing an international audience, you
should do a little research. Do you know the predominant ethnic
background or their country of origin?
There are many words and gestures that are perfectly polite in American
culture, but may be grossly offensive to a foreign-born national.
This can include subtle things like:
• Making eye contact

• Shaking hands
• The way you sit
• Hand gestures, etc.
Do some research on your foreign niche audience members to make

sure that you’ve taken cultural differences into consideration.
In Chapter 8 we’ll deal with the proper use of humor in your up-coming
presentation.
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Chapter 8:
It’s Not a Joke –
But You Can Tell Some…
How to Effectively Use Humor
In Your Presentation
It’s a fact: laughter is good medicine. You might not be aware of some of the
proven benefits of a good laugh. According to www.holisticonline.com offers
some resources regarding “humor therapy” and here are just a few of their
findings:
• Laughter results in an increased level of disease fighting T-cells.

• Laughing is aerobic!
• Laughter results in muscle relaxation.
• Laughter can result in pain reduction.
• Laughter is a proven stress reliever.
Additionally, www.helpguide.org also offers a few additional benefits of a good

chuckle now and then…
• It helps lower blood pressure.

• It elevates your mood.
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• It improves your brains functioning.

• It also offers a common connection with others.
I’m willing to bet the both you and your audience could stand a few more of
any of these benefits. And by incorporating a little humor into the content and
delivery of your speech, all of you can begin to reap
those benefits. I’ve found that
luck is quite
The Dangers of Overkill…
However, as beneficial as humor can be for your predictable. If
presentation, there is such a thing as too much of a you want more
good thing. Unless you’ll be premiering at a local
luck, take more
comedy hour competition, leave the stand-up act at
home. While humorous speeches and presentations chances. Be
should have quips, jokes and puns seamlessly more active.
woven throughout, the moment the purpose of Show up more
your presentation becomes obstructed by the levity,
often.
you’ve strayed into dangerous territory.
Why? Because, although your audience may leave - Brian Tracy

still laughing and recommend your seminars to all
of their buddies, there’s an alarmingly high chance that they’ll leave never really
knowing what they learned or how to go about experiencing any improvements
or change.
This means that, no matter how much they “liked” you, or how many attended,
you’ve still failed at your primary objective. It’s the equivalent of winning all the
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battles and yet still losing the war. And, as history can show you, that’s a very
real possibility.
To avoid experiencing this potentially dangerous habit, you must look for – and
find – clever ways to connect your humor to your purpose or particular call to
action, whichever way works best for you.
However, if your creative muse has abandoned you of late, we’ll share a little
trick in the following section that should help get the ball rolling…
Like, As & Is: The Beauty of Similes and Metaphors…

If you’re striving to create a presentation where liberal doses of humor are
balanced by purpose, then this little exercise may be just what the doctor
ordered. And, even better, it’s an incredibly easy (and quite naturally amusing)
approach to take.
It begins by building upon the foundation of a specific, interesting topic or

subject. As long as you have this fundamental building-block, it doesn’t really
matter at what point you graft in the humorous charms of similes and
metaphors from beginning to end.
Once you’ve established a firm topic idea, begin coming up with similes and
metaphors related to the subjects (or topics) at hand.
For instance, if you’ll be addressing a Parent/Teachers Association on the

importance of more parents offering their time or money (or, even better,
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both) in order to raise money for a new gymnasium, there are many similes and
metaphors that you might choose from.
Now, just in case high-school or college English are a few more years behind
you than you’d like to admit, we’d like to take just a moment to do a little
refresher…
A simile is a literary device where you compare two different things using the
phrases “like” or “as”…Examples that easily come to mind include…
“…she’s as blind as a bat.”

“…he eats like a horse.”
Of course, you’d avoid these particular similes because they might be (okay,
definitely would be if “he” or “she” is in the audience) considered offensive.
We’ll cover the dangers of offensive humor a bit later.
Examples that are more appropriate, and hopefully a bit more relevant, include:
“5 minutes before air-time, the news room is like a war zone.”
Or, for the P.T.A. meeting,
“Stumbling upon rich, humanitarian donors without actively looking for

contributions is about as likely (and lucky) as running into a genie lamp,
a patch of four-leaf clovers and an unattended pot of gold while hiking
through the woods.”
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A metaphor, on the other hand, states the relationship between the two objects
as if there were on in the same.
“Billy is a bear.”
“That man is a monster.”
“The tree is a sentinel.”
Once you’ve been able to settle upon one highly appropriate and potentially
interesting simile or metaphor, it’s time to dig deeper. Examine your
comparison for further ways to illustrate your point.
In the instance of the P.T.A. presentation, you’d look for anecdotes that show
some of the trials included looking for funding or volunteers. Look for
amusing quotes or proverbs, and other potential links from the mundane to the
fantastical.
Not only will this approach help you add a liberal dose of humor to your
presentation, it will also lend a “theme” to your entire speech. It will create
unity and focus that will help insure that you get your point made.
If you’re interested in additional ways to incorporate humor into your

upcoming presentation, here are a few links and resources that might help…
• http://www.humorpower.com/tips.html
• http://www.public-speaking.org/public-speaking-articles.htm
• http://www.humorproject.com/
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• http://www.peaceteambook.org/Business/Presentation/104732;;Find-
Your-Funny-Eight-Tips-for-Adding-Humor-to-Presentations.html
• http://www.womans-connection.com/al_speaking_funny.htm
Whatever you decide to do when it comes to humor and your presentation, go

for a natural, subtle approach, and nothing that’s overly contrived. The more
natural the humor appears, the more likely it is to be received in the desired
context.
Try not to get egg on your face. Be nonchalant if a punch-line goes unnoticed.
The last thing you want to do is draw attention to the fact that you “messed
up.” It’s also a good idea to restrain yourself from getting too adventurous. If
the audience is wearing three-piece suits, whipping out a whoopee cushion
might be going a little overboard.
Now that you’re better prepared to successfully and seamlessly integrate humor
into your presentation, in Chapter 9 we’ll discuss the how and why of using
introductions, transitions and conclusions properly.
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Chapter 9:
Piecing It All Together:
The Proper Use of
Introductions, Transitions,
And Conclusions
Have you ever had a conversation with someone where you just couldn’t seem
to follow along? The kind where you’re lost most of the time, and trying to
figure out what happened when, and then wind up missing the “point”, if there
was one. Unfortunately, the person you were talking with probably was very
aware of the point they were trying to make and completely unaware that you
weren’t “getting it.”
Conversations and exchanges like this can’t really be considered

“communication.” Because in order to have true communication, it must be
reciprocated by not only speech, but understanding on the intended audience’s
part. It’s a two way road, and failure to acknowledge that fact can lead to some
pretty serious head on collisions. Namely: a presentation that’s seen as useless,
a failure, causes you to lose credibility and robs you of the opportunity to build
rapport with your audience.
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If you’re reading this book, it’s most likely because you have a personal
commitment to excellence. And part of that commitment likely includes
powerful, intelligent communication.
In this chapter, we’re going to focus our attention on the importance of simple
composition tools that will make a huge difference upon the impact and
comprehension of your message. These tools include introductions, transitions
and conclusions.
Why It’s Important…

If your presentation is a map to get your audience from Point A to Point B,
then tools like introductions, transitions and conclusions are your compass
rose. Referring to them allows your audience to establish
where they’ve been, where they are and where they’ll be
Decide that
going. Without them, you and your audience risk getting
lost. you want it
more than
Therefore, it’s essential that you don’t neglect using them
you are
and using them well. They’re the glue that will hold your
presentation together.
afraid of it.
Introductions are the point where you first introduce the - Bill Cosby
topic and important sub-topics that you’ll explore.
Transitions are little words and phrases that provide an
intermediary step between where you are now and where you’re getting ready
to go. Conclusions allow you to summarize and highlight the main points and
the underlying purpose of your presentation.
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All three of them tie in critically with our “rule of thumb”…
“Tell em’ what you’re gonna tell ‘em,

Tell ‘em,
Tell ‘em what you told ‘em.”
This little maxim should be at the forefront of your mind as you graft intros,
transitions and conclusions into the composition of your presentation.
We’ll delve into the three of these tools a bit more very shortly.
Introductions…
As mentioned, introductions are when you first bring up a topic or subject.
You “introduce” it to your audience. It’s where you’ll offer your goals and
objectives, your slant or stand, etc.
It includes phrases such as:
“Today we’re going to take a look at…”

“In this seminar, we’re going to explore…”
“By the time you leave this room, you’ll have learned…”
This will enable them to know what’s coming up and help them to prepare
themselves accordingly.
In essence, “Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em.”
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Transitions…
Transitions let your audience know when you’re finished talking about a
particular point and are moving on to the next. When you offer a transition,
make sure that you make it a clear, logical and easy jump from one thing to the
next.
Transitional phrases include:
“First, we’ll discuss…”

“Now that we’ve covered _________, we’ll move next to __________.”
“However, despite evidence to the contrary…”
“In addition to…”
Essentially, transitions take the guesswork off of your listeners load by giving
them frequent landmarks as to where they are and where they’re headed next.
Transitions are at the root of “Telling ‘em.”
Conclusions…
Conclusions are the way you wrap things up. They summarize what you’ve said
and why it’s important. Conclusions are also an opportunity to offer your
listeners a specific call to action. Therefore, using them well can make a big
difference on your presentation’s bottom line.
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Examples of conclusions include:
“In conclusion…” (boring, but better than none…)

“By now, you should have a clear…”
“We’ve covered a great deal of information…”
“If you don’t remember anything else…”
As anyone in sales can tell you, it’s no good to spend all of your time “selling” a
customer if you don’t ever “go for the close.” The same is true of your
presentation’s conclusion. In addition to “telling ‘em what you told ‘em” this is
also your chance to tell and inspire them to doing what you want them to do
next.
By using these three tools, you’ll have a finished, polished presentation that is
able to stand alone, complete and self-explanatory. Not a mixed jumble of
semi-lucid jokes, facts and expressions.
“In Conclusion…”
See, doesn’t that look a little corny? Perhaps we should have said, “Now that
we’re finished with Chapter 9…
We’ve covered some important ground in this chapter. You now understand
how integral proper introductions, transitions and conclusions are to an
effective, successful presentation. In our next chapter, we’ll delve into the
benefits of audio and visual aids.
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Chapter 10:
No Eye Has Seen,
Or Ear Has Heard:
Using Audio/Visual Aids
To Your Advantage
Just about everyone has heard the “old” proverb, “A picture is worth a
thousand words.” Many people attribute this phrase to the Chinese thinker,
Confucius. However, according to a 1948 book by author Burton Stevenson
(The Home Book of Proverbs, Maxims, and Familiar Phrases), the real originator was
the advertiser, Fred R. Bernard. He coined the phrase first in a trade
publication, though he was later reported to claim that he attributed the
proverb to the Chinese so that “people would take it seriously."
But regardless of whether this proverb was truly ancient or not, it doesn’t make
it any more or less accurate. While words can be incredibly powerful, being able
to find a relevant picture that epitomizes the point or illustration you’re trying
to make can result in the difference between a good and a great presentation.
Especially when you’re pressed for time, relieving the pressure to convey those
concepts in words by offering them in visual form can assure that you have the
confidence and composure to deliver a riveting presentation.
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Additionally, relevant and compelling use of audio files, music, recordings, etc.
can offer you even further power in the minds of your audience. If you’re
presenting on a new radio advertising campaign, playing a recording of the
proposed ad can be a great way to further involve your audience. If you’re
striving to convey emotions or passion, you might want to play a few bars of
music that invokes thoughts or images you want to reside inside your
audience’s minds.
Strong Visual Aids…

Visual aids encompass much more than simple snap-shots and photos. Indeed,
there is a wide variety available to choose from. Just a few potential visual aids
include:
• Charts
• Graphs
• Photographs
• Logos
• Trademarks
• Computerized graphics
• Models, and
• Actual, live demonstrations.
Finding potential visual aids isn’t nearly as important as being able to choose
the right one. A visual aid should never be added “just because”, but should be
carefully weighed and considered to make sure that it’s appropriate for both
your message and audience.
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Once a visual aid has passed the relevancy test, you must now ask yourself wht
must be done in order to make it possible for your whole audience to view.
This might mean heading over to a printer’s for a larger version, creating hand-
outs or considering renting an overhead projector.
You may additionally opt to include video clips as a part of your presentation.
In the event that you do, remember to make it practical and easy for your
audience to view the footage. This may mean offering multiple screens, larger
screens or other strategic ideas.
Of course, most videos are more than mere images. They also include sound
clips. Therefore, in addition to following practical visual tips, you’ll also need to
consider some solid audio advice.
Excellent Audio…
One of the most annoying mishaps that can occur during your presentation is
screeching feedback. Because of that possibility, it’s a great idea to try to
arrange to familiarize yourself with the PA equipment you’ll be using. Ideally,
it’s best to test out the equipment in the 24048 hours leading up to your debut.
Indeed, you should make it a priority to test out every single piece of
equipment or technology you’ll be using. If you won’t have the opportunity to
do so, we strongly advise that you have a back-up plan in the event that the
equipment should fail or malfunction.
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Some possible audio aids you might consider adding to your presentation
include:
• Video sound bytes

• Commercials
• Songs or jingles
• Reviews
• Interviews
• Radio advertising
These can be especially effective if your presentation will focus upon a new
marketing, advertising or branding campaign.
However, in the next and final segment of this chapter, we’ll explore one of the
other mediums that functionally marry sight and sound: PowerPoint
presentations.
PowerPoint Dos and Don’ts…

When used well, PowerPoint can help you create a powerful multimedia
presentation that incorporates your speech, recorded audio, imported images
and displays them upon a large overhead projector screen or computer
monitor.
PowerPoint isn’t a difficult software program to use. However, it does take

time and effort in order to learn how to use it well. Just because the program
makes all sorts of new bells and whistles available to you, you must resist the
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urge to deck your presentation out too indiscriminately. There is such a thing as
too much of a good thing, as we’ve already illustrated before.
Therefore, you must make it a constant endeavor to carefully screen your

PowerPoint presentation to avoid overwhelming your audience with lights,
sounds or other options. If it’s tacky, toss it out. If there are too many words
on the screen, winnow them down. If the song you uploaded skips, fix it or
scrap it.
Here are just a handful of useful tips and tricks, dos and don’ts for creating
your own PowerPoint presentation…
DO make sure that your slides are creative, visually appealing and
worth the distraction from your voice.
DON’T create too many slides. The idea is to use your

PowerPoint presentation to complement and highlight the points
of your presentation, not to replace them.
DO keep each screen simple. Don’t clutter it up with crowded

text, too many graphics and/or animated fonts or wing-dings.
DON’T limit yourself to “standard” clipart. Import graphics and

images from more creative sources to offer visually captivating
illustrations that your audience will remember.
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DO edit your formatting strenuously before the actual premier of

your presentation. Better to capture a problem before, rather than
during, your performance.
DON’T get too Spartan with it. While overdoing your

presentation is tacky and distracting, under-doing your format and
design can be just as disastrous. Avoid feedback like “boring”,
“dull”, “Spartan”, and “simple” by using subtle yet clearly present
design and formatting guidelines as your create your PowerPoint
presentation.
In our next chapter, we’ll shift our focus away from the words and pictures we
use, and instead to the secrets of understanding and mastering body language.
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Chapter 11:
More Than Words:
The Ins and Outs of
Body Language
The message you give to your audience comes through in more than simply the
words you say. It’s also tied into the motions you make, the gestures you chose,
the eye contact you do (or don’t) make, and the facial expressions you wear.
As a public speaker, it’s important that you’re aware of those extraneous

motions, gestures and expressions and that you insure that they’re appropriate
within the context of your message. Your body language can exude confidence,
or conversely, insecurity. It can shout hostility or assure agreement. It can
inspire interest or feed boredom.
Learning the subtle lingo of body language will empower you to be able to
change your actions and responses and to therefore change your state. Slight
alterations can make big differences when it comes to influencing your mood,
building confidence, inspiring feelings of success and stimulating interest in the
minds and imaginations of your audience members.
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Throughout the rest of this chapter, we’re going to deal with the many subtle
nuances of body language, from how to read it, how to “write” it, how to
change it, and – most importantly – how to do all of these things naturally. Too
many changes that are too wide in their scope will take too much effort,
distraction and concentration to pull it all – all maladies that will detract from
the overall power of your message.
What State Are You In?

And we don’t mean the lower 48. When we inquire about your state, what
we’re talking about is your state of mind, your mental state.
If you’ve been around the self-improvement or motivational circuit before,

you’ve probably heard “state” referred too relatively often. It has come up in
Eastern meditation, NLP and many other self-help resources and speakers. It
ties in quite closely with the additional study known as physiology. For those of
you less familiar with these terms, here are a few definitions to assist you:
State: In quite simple terms, a state is a particular condition of mind or

feeling. For instance, you can be in a state of harmony, a state of
depression, or a state of fear.
Physiology: The study of the physical and chemical processes involved in

the functioning of the human body.
You see, careful research and study has done much to confirm what many had
already expected to be true – the state of mind that you’re in at any given
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moment can be swiftly and directly influenced by seemingly subtle changes in

the way you carry or present your body.
That’s because, believe it or not, slight physical changes, such as facial

expressions or posture, create a complex biochemical change that directly
affects your mental and emotional states.
A skilled presenter or speaker knows that this is true and learns to capitalize on
this knowledge early on. We know that it is your ultimate goal to become a
skilled and respected speaker. Therefore, we’re going to provide you with the
tools you need to ace this aspect of your presentation skills.
Changing States…
You can change your state in an instant, if only you know how. Many of us do
this daily, without even thinking about it.
Remember how we talked about physical changes being able to change your
state? Let’s test that theory…
If you’re in a good mood today, confident, cool and collected, try this:
Spend the next ten or fifteen minutes frowning. Slump your shoulders, hang
your head, shuffle your feet when you walk and punctuate your hushed
dialogue with long, drawn out sighs…
How are you feeling now? More than likely, the answer falls in line with
depressed, gloomy, sad or disappointed.
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However, it took fifteen minutes of work to get that way. Some people have
been doing that to themselves for days, weeks, months or even years!
Now, straighten your posture, hold your head up, put on a big grin, strut your
stuff and take deep, confident breaths…
Now what state are you in?
See how big of a difference a few small changes can make?
Of course, if you started this exercise already a bit under the weather, then you
should do this exercise in reverse…
The point of the exercise is to discover just how large of an impact your body
language has upon both your mood and your performance. In the next section,
we’ll discuss how “faking it” is actually a great way to make it real.
Fake It?!
There are very few times in life when faking something is the right answer.
Fortunately, giving your public presentation is one of them. Actually, faking it
is appropriate just about any time you want to change your state.
Remember the exercise from the last section, where you used posture and
breathing and facial expressions to change your emotional state? That trick
doesn’t just work for depression or happiness. You can learn to induce just
about any state that you want merely by “faking it.”
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The reason that this works boils down to the fact that there are nerves, sensors
and glands networked to our muscles, organs and skin in such a way that
certain physical movements deliver a certain impulse or chemical reaction that
can elevate or deflate your current state. And the effects can be noticed almost
instantaneously.
So, how do you go about effectively faking it?
First, you must identify what your current state is, both by mood and intensity.
For instance, if you’re incredibly agitated, you might decide that your state is
“Agitated” with an intensity of +7.
Next, you have to figure out what state you’d like to be in. And don’t limit your
possibilities. You’ve already seen how easy it is to move from a state of
happiness to one of depression, and vice versa. What state to you honestly
desire? Confidence? Friendliness? Creativity? Productivity?
Think back to a time in the past when you experienced the desired state.
Remember it in slow, steady detail. Remember the sights, sounds, smells, tastes
and sensations that surrounded you at that time. What expression did you wear
on your face? How did you carry your shoulders? How did you breathe? How
did you talk? Where were you looking, to the ceiling or to the floor?
Now, mimic those memories in the most detail possible, until you begin to
remember those emotions and sensations so clearly that you’re literally reliving
them…
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You Can Do It…

Have you reached the desired state? If not, are you closer to it than you were
before? Keep practicing this in detail until all you have to do is talk a quick
walk down memory lane in order to manipulate yourself into any state you
could benefit from being in.
You’re now armed with a powerful, life-changing tool – if only you choose to
wield it! Take some time to keep up the work, dedicate yourself to practicing
the methods required to improve or completely change your state.
Then, learn to apply those state changes, and the physical manifestations of
those changes, in such a way that it improves the unspoken message that you’re
broadcasting to your audience.
Now that we’ve covered the basics of your body language, in the next chapter
we’ll explore how to go about reading signs, symptoms and context clues from
your audience, to gauge your performance and impact.
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Chapter 12:
Context Clues:
Keys to Reading Your
Audience’s Interest and Involvement
In much the same way that school teachers would enable us to learn the
meanings of new words and phrases by gathering clues and contextual
information from the rest of the phrase, sentence or paragraph, throughout
your presentation, your audience will also be giving you subtle clues about their
interest and involvement.
Unfortunately, far too few speakers understand these faint messages that
audiences offer up throughout presentations.
Because this is a struggle for many public speakers, we’ve decided to devote an
entire chapter to helping you master the art of “reading” your audience, seeking
out hidden clues as to how interested they are, whether or not they’re able to
follow the presentation, if they’re confused or not, as well as many other useful
mannerisms that will allow you to make immediate changes to your delivery in
order to maximize the power of your message.
By the end of the lesson, you’ll be able to answer many important questions,
namely:
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• Does the audience understand what I’m saying?

• Are they getting bored with my content or delivery?
• Are they frustrated? Impatient? Eager to leave?
• Are they “buying it?” Are they on the defensive? Do they feel like you’re
out to “get” them?
• Has your viewpoint or choice of content given them reason to be
resentful? Are they angry?
• Do they “get it”?
• Are they interested and excited? Involved in the presentation?
Getting Through…
One of the most pressing concerns when it comes to actually giving your
presentation is trying to figure out if your message is actually getting through to
your audience. But it can be hard to figure out if you’ve actually managed to
penetrate all the barriers to clear communication.
Fortunately, there are some fairly standard clues that you can look for in your
audience to gather your bearings and modify your presentation accordingly.
The first thing to look into would be the facial expressions of your audience
members…
Take a look at their eyes. Do the majority of them look focused? Are they
paying more attention to you than they are to their surroundings? Do their eyes
register a gaze of puzzlement or confusion?
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Look at their mouths and the set of their jaws? Are they frowning or smiling?
Do they look frustrated, or do their faces exhibit understanding?
The more positive the clues, the more likely it is that your audience is catching
your points, meanings and opinions. And the greater your audience’s
comprehension, the greater the chance you’ll accomplish your purpose and
goals.
Evaluating Boredom…
A bored audience can equal disaster for your presentation. This is why it is so
important to carefully evaluate the audience you’ll be addressing. You must
have a fairly accurate idea of their education, aptitude and knowledge regarding
the subject at hand.
If you overestimate their familiarity with your presentation’s subject matter, you
risk “losing” your audience, or leaving them confounded or confused.
On the other hand, if you underestimate their aptitude, you risk patronizing
them, leaving them bored or even worse, allowing them to come to the
conclusion that their time, money and trust were wasted.
So, let’s assume you’ve done your homework. You have a general picture of
your audience’s demographics and you’ve structured your material accordingly.
Then what?
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Once you’ve begun your presentation, there are a few signs that you can look
for to make sure that you’ve captivated your audience’s interest and attention.
Are their eyes glazed over?
How often do they look at the clock or to their watches?
When you ask the audience questions, how many people raise their hands?
When you give directions, how often are they followed?
Do audience members spend more time listening to you, or talking amongst themselves?
Listen to them talking during bathroom breaks or other intercessions. Are the
conversations focused on relevant material, things that apply to your
presentation, or are they discussing headlines from People magazine or the
Wall Street Journal?
The ideal audience will be interested, involved, curious and eager. This
audience raises their hands, follows directions, is oblivious of the time and they
engage one another in relevant chit-chat and conversations.
Frustration, Impatience and Apathy…

A restless audience can also be an indication that your presentation could stand
a little fine-tuning. They can get frustrated, impatient or apathetic if you aren’t
doing your job right. See if you can determine what mistake you’ve made…
Why they’re in a hurry to leave… Here is a simple chart that can help you
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determine the symptoms and diagnoses to be found in your audience’s body

language.
Symptoms Diagnosis
Fidgeting, squirming, Confusion, misunderstanding
restlessness
Asymmetry, tilted head, Confusion, misunderstanding
crooked set of the mouth
Slumping or turning away Boredom
Closed eyes or vacant Boredom
expressions
Reading papers, looking to Frustration or impatience
watches, playing games on
cell-phones
Shuffling feet, crossing and Frustration or impatience
then quickly uncrossing the
legs or ankles
Crossed arms, mouths shut in Defensive or controversial
a thin, tight line
Furrowed brows, squinty eyes, Suspicious or untrusting
shaking the head
Slow, deep breathing, leaning Interest, comprehension
forward, “bounciness” and/or excitement
As with many of the other tools and techniques we’ve provided you with in this
book, this is another that will take time to master. The ideal scenario will have
you capable of reading the audience without being distracted by trying to
interpret their motives and intents. Eventually, it will become nearly second-
nature for you to notice a potential problem in the audience and then
seamlessly modify either your content or your delivery accordingly.
At the beginning, don’t spend too much time trying to read your audience too
closely. If you don’t notice any signs or symptoms, don’t sit around looking for
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them. Get into your presentation. Start sharing those visuals. Play that
commercial jingle your marketing team came up with. Then, a few moments
later, look again, and gauge your first impression. If things are still on track,
great, if not, don’t start stressing; just try harder to do better.
In the next chapter, Chapter 13, we’re going to explore the difficult decision as
to whether or not you’ll offer an open question and answer session during the
course of your presentation.
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Chapter 13:
“To Ask or Not to Ask…?”
Pointers on When to
Field or Answer Questions
Depending upon the scope and nature of your presentation, questions can
serve as a double-edged sword. At the best case, questions tie up loose ends,
help clarify any ambiguity and can also help instigate additional concern or
personal involvement. However, if you find yourself addressing a hostile (or
even merely hyperactive) audience, questions can be negative, misleading, time
consuming, distracting or even detract from the overall goals of your
presentation.
In this chapter, we’re going to focus on some criteria you can use to decide
whether or not a Question and Answer session is appropriate for your topic or
audience. If you decide that it is appropriate, we’ll also give you some
guidelines on how to incorporate the Q&A into your schedule, as well as
additional ways that you can solicit feedback and interaction in your audience
members. On the other hand, if you decide not to answer questions, we’ll focus
a little more on making sure that you’ve already answered most potential
questions during the space of your presentation itself.
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Finally, we’ll also clue you in on a few tips and techniques to successfully field
undesirable questions during a Question and Answer session to “throw the
baby out with the bathwater.”
The Purpose of Questions and Answers…

The use of a questions and answers session is purely discretionary, and should
never simply be including because you think you have to. In fact, there may be
several different times when offering one of these sessions will actually weaken
the power of your presentation.
If the majority of your presentation is spent teaching a new technique or school

of thought, a question and answer session may be necessary. If a great deal of
your source material is highly technical or academic, your audience may have
several questions. If you’re soliciting funding, answering pointed questions is
expected.
There are several ways that you can go about initiating a question and answer
session. One option, that allows you to exert a greater level of control over
what you do and don’t answer, is the question box. Provide papers and pens
and a box with a slot and present several opportunities for members to submit
their questions. Then, about fifteen minutes before your presentation comes to
an end, quickly browse through the questions, deciding which of them you’ll
choose to ignore, or perhaps reword, any more hostile questions. This is a great
middle ground approach, which allows you to cheery pick your questions, and
still meets the needs of legitimate curiosity.
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An additional benefit of this approach is that

you can throw in any of your own “questions”
into the mix, so you can address any other
concerns you felt lacked supporting facts or
evidence.
The second option is to have an open question and answer session where the
audience members voice their questions and you provide a somewhat on-the-
spot response. It’s a potentially risky situation: you may encounter hostility,
questions you can’t answer, or any number of other sticky situations.
On the other hand, an open question and answer session is a great litmus test
for measuring the level of engagement and rapport you’ve managed to build
with your audience.
When you take this route, it’s a good idea to use a restricted total time
allotment, as well as a rough time limit for each question. It’s also advisable to
create a generic answer to avoid answering a question or when you’ve simply
not got an answer at that time. We’ll give you some extra pointers towards the
end of this chapter.
The third option is to completely avoid a question and answer session by

planning and creating feedback forms that members can turn in at the end of
the presentation, or take home and mail to you at their convenience. You might
also consider adding a feedback form to your website or as part of your email
campaign to make it easier for the respondent to reply.
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This eliminates uncomfortable questions, long drawn-out explanations,

misleading questions and has another benefit as well – it allows you to grow
your “list”, an awesomely powerful and profitable marketing tool. Here’s a link
where you can learn more about the benefits of your list:
www.ezinearticles.com/?Home-Business-Success:-The-Importance-of-
Building-Your-Marketing-List&id=263829
Make It Unnecessary…
Perhaps the best way to approach the potential of needing a question and
answer session is by anticipating both the common and not so common
questions in your research session, and then making sure that you answer all of
those questions in the course of your presentation.
Don’t let this option intimidate you. With a little practice, and a little creativity,
you’d be surprised at the number of possible questions that could arise. You
just need to get your brainstorming hat on.
There are so many ways that you can brainstorm, both creative and mundane.
The trick is having a palette of choices to pick from, designed to cover multiple
angles and bases covered. In just a moment, we’ll explore a few of those
options in detail, but first it’s time to share another helpful resource to add to
your briefcase…
If you’re tired of the same old linear approaches to brainstorming, creativity

and problem-solving, then you and your team could use a healthy dose of
Doug Hall’s peculiar genius. His book, Jump Start Your Brain! is overflowing
with fun, creative and team-friendly approaches to innovative thinking and
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ingenious problem solving that are sure to help you learn how to anticipate and
plan for just about any eventuality.
Once you’ve got a wide array of possible questions, both probable and
improbable, look for interesting and creative ways to answer those questions in
the presentation, as part of your visual or audio portfolio or as a side bar or
highlighted statistic in your hand out materials.
If you feel that you’ll be able to effectively and efficiently answer all potential
and probable questions during the course of your material, then don’t sweat the
fact that you aren’t offering a Q&A session. If, on the other hand, you aren’t so
sure, consider handing out a feedback form instead.
Now that we’ve addressed the touchy subject of question and answer sessions,
in Chapter 14, we’ll delve into the exciting possibilities out there when it comes
to designing your overall presentation.
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Chapter 14:
Dynamic Design Ideas
For Your Presentation
In your presentation, presentation is everything. Delivery is as, or at least nearly

as, important as the actual content in your presentation. Even if you decide to
design your presentation according to very under-stated, Spartan rules, simply
having a design theme can greatly improve the overall impact and reception of
your presentation’s message.
When it comes to your presentation, design is any number of little details. It

includes:
• Your color scheme

• Your choice of fonts
• Audio and visual aids
• The formatting of your slides or PowerPoint program
For the most powerful impact, your ideal goal should be to tie common threads
of design throughout as many of these different areas as possible. Much like
transition, introductions and conclusions added to your content, tying your
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design ideas together offers a flow and unity that makes your presentation seem
natural and focused.
Your Color Scheme…

When you’re choosing your color scheme, you’ve got to take much more into
account than just personal taste. Look for complimentary colors (if you need
help with this, take a look at this color wheel) that will be easy to read.
To make it easy on the eyes, try to limit yourself to darker words and graphics
on top of a lighter background. Doing the reverse can make the text appear
wavy or fuzzy. If you’d like to test this theory out, try creating (and then
reading) a document with white text written on top of a black background and
see if it doesn’t make your eyes or head hurt…
Keep the contrast between colors relatively high. The alternative is too difficult
to discern. If you’re going to distract the audience’s attention away towards
visuals, make sure that you don’t make it too hard for them to see. No one
wants to squint or strain their eyes only to feel like, after all of that effort,
they’ve missed something important. This can lead to agitation, confusion
and/or frustration. All of these symptoms make for a thwarted purpose and
obstructed goals.
When you do finally decide upon a color scheme, be sure to stick to it

throughout your presentation. Tailor your other props to fit within your
scheme. The overall effect will be more appealing and professional.
The next section will be devoted to choosing the right fonts.
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Font Selection…
There are a few rules to keep in mind when it comes to choosing fonts. First
off, while script writing may be fine for your logos or stationery, script fonts
have no place in the design of your presentation. They’re difficult to read and
are often a bit too fine to offer necessary contrast.
Secondly, make sure that your font choice is large enough to be read. Pick one
without extra frills or wing-dings. Common choices include Arial, Veranda,
Courier and Times New Roman.
Third, pay careful attention to your spacing and margins. Slides and posters
need to have bountiful white space. This means large fonts, a minimum of
double spacing (though often 3 or more looks even better) and wide margins
(1.5” on either side, top and bottom.)
Finally, when deciding upon the font, keep your color scheme in mind. Test it
out by way of your color themes to make sure that’s its still easily discernable.
Next we’ll discuss your audio and visual aids.
Audio/Visual Aids…
We’ll begin by emphasizing the importance of making sure that ALL audio and
visual aids are consistent with your overall color and design schemes as much
as humanly possible.
When you produce charts or graphs, make them large, clear and easy to read.
Then customize the accent colors accordingly.
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When incorporating photos try to choose those that feature at least one of your
design colors. If this simply isn’t possible, try to add a photo border in those
colors you’ve chosen.
If your overall theme or topic is overshadowed by a particular mood or

emotion, play this up in both your audio and visual display choices. For
instance, if your presentation is up-beat, exciting and motivating, incorporate
those moods into your props and extras. Choose music that’s lively and
invigorating. Choose colors that are bright or bold. Choose photos that show
action and movement.
To aid you in this endeavor, consider creating a design board that you can
easily refer to. Simply take a large sheet of poster board and begin decorating it
according to your design idea. Affix your color schemes, your fonts, a few of
your graphics, prop models, etc. When you come across a potential audio or
visual aid, weigh it against the design board. Does it blend well with the rest of
your design? If not, could you modify it so that it does?
This can help you avoid subtle inconsistencies that detract from your overall
presentation.
Formatting Your Slides or PowerPoint Screens…

When customizing your slides or PowerPoint screens, as with anything else,
keep your design theme in mind.
Aside from that, there’s just one major piece of advice that we’d like to cover.
DON’T go overboard with it! When you’re bored or inadvertently
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procrastinating, it can be very tempting to integrate graphics that can cartwheel

across the screen, sparkly word art, music and sounds…any number of
possibilities. Even more dangerous is the ability to tailor these extras to fit your
design, but still having them detract from your purpose and the overall
effectiveness of your presentation.
If you can restrain yourself, you can still utilize some of the bells and whistles
without weighing your presentation down with too much fluff!
For extra pointers on the finer dos and don’ts of creating your PowerPoint
presentation, head back on over to Chapter 10 for more help.
Now that you know the basics on the fundamental tasks of designing and
decorating your presentation, add a little creativity and innovation and see what
happens as a result. There’s a very strong chance that your audience will thank
you for it, without even realizing it!
In our next chapter, we’re going to tackle some of the most common problems
and obstacles to giving a powerful, purposeful, successful presentation.
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Chapter 15:
Look Like A Pro
& Don’t Feel Like An
Idiot: Simple Ways
To Avoid Common
Mistakes
There’s a reason that more people in the United States and the United
Kingdom are afraid of public speaking even more than they are of dying. And
that reason stems from the fact that communication is easy to mess up.
Communicating with anyone - especially a crowd of people - is like a fine,

choreographed dance. In order for the dance to look graceful, the dance
partners have to be “in-step” with one another. And in order for your
presentation to be defined by grace and success, you and your audience are
going to have to be tuned in to each other. And that leaves an awful lot of
room for human error.
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There are an endless number of potential saboteurs when it comes to the

delivery of your presentation. Just a few of the most likely ones include:
• Failure to prepare
• Choosing a topic that bores you
• Failure to properly cite sources
• Providing outdated (or just plain wrong) facts and statistics
• Speaking too quickly or too slowly
…the list could go on forever.
In this chapter, we’re going to provide you with a few simple ways that you can
avoid some of the most common mistakes of a presentation, as well as a more
thorough sampling of mistakes you may have to contend with in your
presentation.
Failing to Plan or Prepare:

Fortunately, this mistake is wholly preventable. All you need to do is plan for a
realistic time table. We illustrated a realistic guideline for creating and
incorporating deadlines back in Chapter 3, when we outlined the importance of
research deadlines.
Your best bet is to take this approach early on, ideally within the first 24-48
hours after receiving the assignment or request.
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Speaking Too Quickly or Too Slowly:

No matter how brilliant your content or premise may be, pacing yourself too
slowly or too quickly can detract from your impact or effectiveness. If this is a
problem that plagues you, then consider pulling out that tape recorder we used
in previous chapters.
Rehearse all or portions of, your presentation and record it on tape. Play it
back, listening intently for rushed phrases, uncomfortably long pauses or
undecipherable passages. Mark those places on your speech outline, your note-
cards, etc. so that you can refer back often and improve your rate of speech.
Speaking in a Monotone:
Ben Stein epitomized the monotone in the 80’s film, Ferris Beuler’s Day Off. No
wonder so many kids were skipping his classes so creatively! No one wants to
listen to someone droning on and on. It’s an even bigger waste if your
presentation’s topic or content is actually authentically interesting!
Pitch, inflection and emotion are the keys. Varying each of these appropriately
will unlock a world of possibilities for the chronic monotone sufferer.
To help learn these techniques, find video or audio clips of speakers you enjoy
or admire. Listen to them and practice mimicking their voice mannerisms. With
time and practice, you’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly.
Straying From the Subject:

As a general rule, people want the distance between point a and point b in your
presentation to be the clearest and most direct. Your audience is looking for
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answers and specific information. They’re not interested in your wanderings,

ramblings or tangents.
Do you often find yourself straying from the topic at hand? Are you overly
wordy or descriptive?
Make a printed copy of your presentation dialogue. Read over it, one paragraph
at a time. Determine the main idea of each paragraph and eliminate any fluff
that doesn’t directly support that main point.
Once you’ve done that, go back and read your presentation over sentence by
remaining sentence. Scrutinize each word of that sentence. Have you found a
string of more than one adjective in a row? Select the best one and eliminate
the rest. Have you used empty, useless filler words or redundant phrases?
Eliminate and simplify.
Aim to whittle away about 10% of your overall content in this process.
Choosing a Topic that Bores You…

THE biggest mistake that you can make in your presentation is settling upon a
topic that bores you out of your mind. If you have the freedom to choose your
own topic, you have no excuse! Deciding on a topic that doesn’t capture or
hold your interest is, quite simply, self-sabotage.
If, however, your topic was assigned, all hope is not lost. There are two
options. First, you can brainstorm some related but more titillating topic ideas
and speak with the event coordinator and ask if you can address that topic
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instead. Or, you can buckle down, do some serious research and track down
something about that topic that interests you and then run with it.
So, instead of allowing yourself to waste time making excuses, invest that time
into creating solutions.
Not Properly Citing Sources…

If you think you can get away with plagiarism or claiming a clever quote or idea
is your own, you’d better think again. With the advent of the information
super-highway, more and more people are knowledgeable about obsolete or
obscure topics. If Funk & Wagner said it, then say so.
Nothing is as embarrassing, or potentially dangerous to your credibility, as

plagiarism or failing to properly cite sources. That’s why it’s always a good idea
to keep a running, accurate bibliography listing your presentation resources,
from books down to websites.
Outdated or Just Plain Wrong Facts or Statistics…

Limit your sources to sources released in the last decade or so, unless you’re
dealing with a historical topic. This will prevent you from blindly offering
outdated or disproved information to your listeners.
Also, if you come across a fact or statistic that looks a little bit unrealistic,
double check it. Look for at least two more sources that back it up before you
decide to include it in your content.
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This certainly applies to those whose presentations will be dealing with

controversial or highly debated topics.
Failing to Meet the Audience’s Expectations…

If you make a promise, you’d better keep it. If you’ve advertised a guaranteed
salary increase of 5% after attending your seminars, you’d better be able to back
that up and make it happen. If you say you’re going to show them
incontrovertible proof that such and such is the only way to go, then you’d
better do just that.
Don’t lure your audience through the doors with promises and ideas you have
no intent of satisfying. That’s called false advertisement. It’s also called bad
business.
Don’t let yourself be guilty of leaving your audience unfulfilled.
Coming Across as Arrogant…

Nobody likes arrogance, even if you’ve earned the right to feel that way. If
you’re an established expert, authority or celebrity, don’t let that fact go to your
head. The chances are, at some point in your life, you weren’t the biggest one
on campus. Remember that and behave accordingly.
There’s nothing wrong with claiming to be the best, the most experienced, the
wisest or the fastest. The problem comes when you begin to suspect that
everyone is beneath you in every aspect of life.
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Treat your audience members with respect. Remember that they’re experts at
something too. Recognize this, and you both may learn to grow together!
That’s it, that’s all! This closes Chapter 15, and, essentially, this book. Chapters
16 and the Bibliography are more of a reference tool than reading.
It’s been a long journey, and you’ve come far. You’re infinitely closer to giving
a successful, purpose-filled presentation now than you were before
downloading this book.
If you’ve found this book to be helpful in the design and creation of your
presentation, we’d love for you to let us know! Who knows? You might just see
one of your tips or tricks highlighted in future editions!
Until next time – thank you for investing your time and attention in this
manual. Good luck on your presentation delivery!
Gerard Brandon
Eplixo
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Chapter 16:
Wrapping Things Up…
Well, this is it! It’s now fifteen chapters later, and by this point you should have
a much more accurate and successful view of how to give a compelling,
effective and riveting presentation that meets your (and your audience’s) goals
and objectives.
This final chapter is dedicated to a simple review of the information we’ve

covered in the previous chapters. We’re going to offer a chapter by chapter list
of objectives, as well as a summary of what the overall purpose of that chapter
ways. We’ll look back at the journey that you began where you were (less
experienced, less confident) and lead you to where you are now (more
experienced, more confident, more knowledgeable, and more professional).
We hope that you found this book helpful in the process of creating and
delivering your presentation. We’d love to hear your own personal success
stories. Who knows, maybe you might find some of your tips and ideas in one
of our future publications?
115
Below you’ll find a much more in-depth version of the Table of Contents we
provided at the beginning of this manual. You can use it as a reference or index
to help you locate particular topics, sections, questions or concerns.
Chapter 1: .............................................................................................................................................. 6
The Purpose Filled Presentation: ....................................................................................................... 9
A Key To Doing Business .................................................................................................................. 9
Remain Focused… ........................................................................................................................ 11
A Rule of Thumb… ...................................................................................................................... 12
Customizing Your Approach… .................................................................................................. 13
The Benefits to Be Had… ........................................................................................................... 13
Let’s Summarize… ........................................................................................................................ 14
Chapter 2: ............................................................................................................................................ 15
Back to the Basics: The 5 W’s .......................................................................................................... 15
(…and One H) ................................................................................................................................... 15
Who?................................................................................................................................................ 16
What? ............................................................................................................................................... 16
When?.............................................................................................................................................. 17
Where?............................................................................................................................................. 18
Why? ................................................................................................................................................ 19
How? ............................................................................................................................................... 20
Curiosity Killed The Cat… .......................................................................................................... 21
Chapter 2 In a Nutshell… ............................................................................................................ 22
Chapter 3: ............................................................................................................................................ 23
Research the Right Way: Conducting.............................................................................................. 23
Effective Research on Your ............................................................................................................. 23
Topic & Audience .............................................................................................................................. 23
Creating Research Goals and Objectives…............................................................................... 24
Diversify Your Resources… ........................................................................................................ 25
Anticipating Your Audience’s Goals… ...................................................................................... 26
Predicting Your Audience’s Questions… .................................................................................. 26
Dealing With Deadlines… ........................................................................................................... 27
NOTE:........................................................................................................................................ 29
Do You Catch My Drift?.............................................................................................................. 30
Chapter 4: ............................................................................................................................................ 32
Organization: The Key to Getting................................................................................................... 32
Your Point Across ............................................................................................................................. 32
116
Preliminary Organization… ......................................................................................................... 33

Outlines… .................................................................................................................................. 33
Using Note-Cards… ................................................................................................................. 36
The Really Rough Draft… ...................................................................................................... 37
Composing For the Ear… ........................................................................................................... 37
With Help… .............................................................................................................................. 38
Going Solo…............................................................................................................................. 39
The Dangers of Information Overload… ................................................................................. 40
Arranging Your Content With Purpose and Power… ............................................................ 42
Determine Your Audience’s Aptitude… ................................................................................... 44
Keep It Consistent… .................................................................................................................... 44
Coming Up Next…....................................................................................................................... 45
Chapter 5: ............................................................................................................................................ 46
The Many Faces of Stage Fright, ..................................................................................................... 46
And How to Face Them All ............................................................................................................. 46
The Many Names and Faces of Stage Fright… ........................................................................ 47
Let’s Make it Personal… .............................................................................................................. 47
Looking At Symptoms and Triggers… ...................................................................................... 49
As you can see, there are multiple versions of stage fright, each with their own symptoms
and their own causes. In our next section, we’ll provide you with specific tips and tricks for
managing and/or eliminating your own stage fright..................................................................... 51
Seven Simple Solutions… ............................................................................................................ 51
Chapter 6: ............................................................................................................................................ 54
Captivate Them: How to .................................................................................................................. 54
Create Compelling.............................................................................................................................. 54
Content with Stories and Statistics .................................................................................................. 54
What To Look For….................................................................................................................... 55
Where To Turn… ......................................................................................................................... 56
Quotations… ............................................................................................................................. 57
Anecdotes… .............................................................................................................................. 58
Facts & Statistics… ................................................................................................................... 58
Which Comes First? ...................................................................................................................... 59
Chapter 7: ............................................................................................................................................ 61
Think Before You Speak:.................................................................................................................. 61
Keys to Choosing ............................................................................................................................... 61
Your Words Wisely ............................................................................................................................ 61
The Nuances of the Spoken Word… ......................................................................................... 62
The Logic of Your Order and Reasoning… ............................................................................. 64
Good, Better, Best… .................................................................................................................... 65
Take It Easy… ............................................................................................................................... 67
Profanity: .................................................................................................................................... 67
117
Vulgarity: .................................................................................................................................... 67
Gender Specifics: ...................................................................................................................... 67
Religion and Politics: ................................................................................................................ 68
International Audiences: .......................................................................................................... 68
Chapter 8: ............................................................................................................................................ 69
It’s Not a Joke – ................................................................................................................................. 69
But You Can Tell Some… ................................................................................................................ 69
How to Effectively Use Humor....................................................................................................... 69
In Your Presentation ......................................................................................................................... 69
The Dangers of Overkill… .......................................................................................................... 70
Like, As & Is: The Beauty of Similes and Metaphors….......................................................... 71
Chapter 9: ............................................................................................................................................ 75
Piecing It All Together: ..................................................................................................................... 75
The Proper Use of ............................................................................................................................. 75
Introductions, Transitions, ............................................................................................................... 75
And Conclusions ................................................................................................................................ 75
Why It’s Important… ................................................................................................................... 76
Introductions… ......................................................................................................................... 77
Transitions… ............................................................................................................................. 78
Conclusions… ........................................................................................................................... 78
“In Conclusion…” ........................................................................................................................ 79
Chapter 10: .......................................................................................................................................... 80
No Eye Has Seen, .............................................................................................................................. 80
Or Ear Has Heard: ............................................................................................................................. 80
Using Audio/Visual Aids .................................................................................................................. 80
To Your Advantage ........................................................................................................................... 80
Strong Visual Aids… .................................................................................................................... 81
Excellent Audio… ......................................................................................................................... 82
PowerPoint Dos and Don’ts… ................................................................................................... 83
Chapter 11: .......................................................................................................................................... 86
More Than Words:............................................................................................................................. 86
The Ins and Outs of .......................................................................................................................... 86
Body Language ................................................................................................................................... 86
What State Are You In?................................................................................................................ 87
Changing States… ......................................................................................................................... 88
Fake It?! ........................................................................................................................................... 89
You Can Do It…........................................................................................................................... 91
Chapter 12: .......................................................................................................................................... 92
Context Clues: .................................................................................................................................... 92
Keys to Reading Your ....................................................................................................................... 92
Audience’s Interest and Involvement ............................................................................................. 92
118
Getting Through… ....................................................................................................................... 93

Evaluating Boredom… ................................................................................................................. 94
Frustration, Impatience and Apathy… ...................................................................................... 95
Chapter 13: .......................................................................................................................................... 98
“To Ask or Not to Ask…?” ............................................................................................................. 98
Pointers on When to.......................................................................................................................... 98
Field or Answer Questions ............................................................................................................... 98
The Purpose of Questions and Answers… ............................................................................... 99
Make It Unnecessary… .............................................................................................................. 101
Chapter 14: ........................................................................................................................................ 103
Dynamic Design Ideas .................................................................................................................... 103
For Your Presentation ..................................................................................................................... 103
Your Color Scheme… ................................................................................................................ 104
Font Selection… .......................................................................................................................... 105
Audio/Visual Aids… .................................................................................................................. 105
Formatting Your Slides or PowerPoint Screens… ................................................................. 106
Chapter 15: ........................................................................................................................................ 108
Look Like A Pro............................................................................................................................... 108
& Don’t Feel Like An...................................................................................................................... 108
Idiot: Simple Ways ........................................................................................................................... 108
To Avoid Common ......................................................................................................................... 108
Mistakes ............................................................................................................................................. 108
Failing to Plan or Prepare: .......................................................................................................... 109
Speaking Too Quickly or Too Slowly:...................................................................................... 110
Speaking in a Monotone: ............................................................................................................ 110
Straying From the Subject: ......................................................................................................... 110
Choosing a Topic that Bores You… ........................................................................................ 111
Not Properly Citing Sources… ................................................................................................. 112
Outdated or Just Plain Wrong Facts or Statistics… ............................................................... 112
Failing to Meet the Audience’s Expectations… ..................................................................... 113
Coming Across as Arrogant… .................................................................................................. 113
Chapter 16: ........................................................................................................................................ 115
Wrapping Things Up… .................................................................................................................. 115
Bibliography & Additional Resources ........................................................................................... 120
Thanks for taking the time and effort to follow along with us in the quest for
the perfect presentation! The final portion of this book is dedicated to
providing you with useful, relevant web sources to help you learn even more…
119
Bibliography & Additional Resources

We thought that some of the resources and sites that we used for the writing of
this book might prove helpful to as you endeavor to gain insight and
experience in the world of public speaking and presentations.
Here’s a chapter by chapter breakdown of sources we used (or even considered

using) for the development of this manuscript:
Chapter 1:
• www.presentationhelper.co.uk
• www.ruf.rice.edu/~riceowl/oral_presentations.htm
• www.cs.wisc.edu/~markhill/conference-talk.html
Chapter 2:
• www.aresearchguide.com/3tips.html
• www.veen.com/jeff/archives/000483.html
Chapter 3:
• www.learnerassociates.net/dissthes/
• www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/success/sl3.htm
120
Chapter 4:
• www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=381918
• www.getorganizednow.com/po.html
• www.sce.carleton.ca/faculty/chinneck/thesis.html
• www.nws.noaa.gov/com/nwsfocus/presentation.htm
• www.strategiccomm.com/logictree.html
Chapter 5:
• www.cba.uni.edu/buscomm/Presentations/stagefright.html
• www.timsheppard.co.uk/story/articles/stagefright.html
• www.training-
classes.com/course_hierarchy/courses/7812_Presentation_Skills.php
• www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/id-2585.html
Chapter 6:
• www.cio.noaa.gov/Policy_Programs/info_quality.html
www.medialit.org/reading_room/article114.html
• www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2000/07/31/smallb4.html
Chapter 7:
• http://promo.marketwire.com/SEO/SEO_Enhanced.ppt
121
• www.webpronews.com/ebusiness/sitepromotion/wpn-3-
20020214LightingaFireUnderYourMarketingMaterials.html
• www.learnerassociates.net/dissthes/
• www.adnug.com/Files/Effective%20presentations%20slide%20show.p
ps (click cancel when asked for username/password to access the file)
• www.holtzbrinckpublishers.com/academic/Book/BookDisplay.asp?Boo
kKey=368395
Chapter 8:
• www.ljlseminars.com/elements.htm
• www.sideroad.com/Public_Speaking/effective_public_speaking.html
• www.presentationhelper.co.uk/presentation_humor.htm
Chapter 9:
• www.for.gov.bc.ca/code/training/fpc/overview.html
• www.completecampaigns.com/article.asp?articleid=10
Chapter 10:
• www.hawaii.edu/mauispeech/html/visual_aids.html
• www.osha.gov/doc/outreachtraining/htmlfiles/traintec.html
• www.chacocanyon.com/products/avaids.shtml
• www.etsu.edu/scitech/langskil/oral.htm
122
Chapter 11:
• www.tsuccess.dircon.co.uk/presentationtrainingchecklist.htm
• http://content.monster.co.uk/job_hunting/articles2/coping_with_inter
views/presentation/
• www.presentation-pointers.com/printarticle.asp?articleid=18
• www.presentationhelper.co.uk/Forum/showthread.php?t=175
• http://presentationcoach.typepad.com/presentation_coach/gestures_bo
dy_language/index.html
Chapter 12:
• www.microsoft.com/education/competencies/comp_presentationskills.
mspx
• http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2005/07/04.html
• www.atp.nist.gov/eao/gcr02-831/chapt2.htm
• www.newmangroup.com/presentation-skills.htm
• www.cbs.curtin.edu.au/files/HIGH_FLYER_10_05.doc
Chapter 13:
• www.lib.utexas.edu/services/instruction/tips/ic/ic_ask.html
• www.cs.swarthmore.edu/~newhall/presentation.html
• www.wilderpresentations.com/steps/8.html
123
• www.auditforum.org/speaker%20presentations/maiaf/maiaf062005/C
%20Buncher.pdf
• www.easternct.edu/smithlibrary/library1/presentations.htm
• www.presentation-pointers.com/
Chapter 14:
• http://ed.fnal.gov/lincon/f97/projects/whitney/Presentation.html
• http://academics.hamilton.edu/occ/maximize.pdf
• www.pixelmill.com/products/powerpoint-templates/powerpoint-
templates.aspx
Chapter 15:
• www.poweredtemplates.com/powerpoint-article1.html
• www.intelligententerprise.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=26100530
• www.squarewheels.com/biofile/mistakes.html
• www.bcc.ctc.edu/writinglab/errors.htm
• www.sideroad.com/Public_Speaking/great-presentation.html
124

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P re s e n t i n g You r W a y t o S u c c e s s :

It’s Not a Joke – 69

ALSO START-UP BUSINESS PLAN COURSE

1. Going to http://eplixo.com and register on Eplixo.

Contact Gerard Brandon at gjbrandon@eplixo.com

Copyright © 2010 Gerard Brandon

All Rights Reserved

This Presentation Instructional manual is not the be-all and end-all of

Team work credits:

This presentation, entrepreneur and business plan manuals in the “I think

“I” is for information and “We” is an accumulation of knowledge.

Special mention and thanks must go to an extraordinary researcher,

The Purpose Filled Presentation:

A Key To Doing Business

Is the goal of your presentation to secure an investor?

Is the goal to generate community interest or support?

What you need to be able to do is tailor the guidelines, suggestions and

Integrating focus into your total presentation (topic brainstorming session,

“Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em,

Don’t, however, make the mistake of tossing it out or dismissing it as too

Customizing Your Approach…

This book isn’t supposed to be the end destination of your journey to

The Benefits to Be Had…

• You’ll gain a more sensitive and skilled communicating ability.

And this list of benefits can only be added to!

Back to the Basics: The 5 W’s

• Who should care about this?

• Who am I going to be talking to?

• Who am I going to be talking about? Believe it!

• What did they say?

• What does it mean (as a whole)?

Because of this, you should be prepared to address a wide range of “When?”

• When was it said?

• When is a response required?

• Where can I use this?

• Where do you plan to relocate?

• Why should I care?

• Why might someone disagree with your point of view?

• How do I apply this to my life?

• How did it happen?

Curiosity Killed The Cat…

• It maintains and flames interest.

• Because, if you’re able to satisfy their curiosity, you increase

Research the Right Way: Conducting

Effective Research on Your

Topic & Audience

If any of these situations sounds uncomfortably familiar to you, please resist

• Creating clear and concise research goals and objectives.

• Anticipating your audience’s questions

Creating Research Goals and Objectives…

as to which of the things your audience will be curious about. Remember to

Diversify Your Resources…

Anticipating Your Audience’s Goals…

Predicting Your Audience’s Questions…

By tackling this challenge early on in the development of your presentation,

Dealing With Deadlines…

The hardest part about deadlines (besides sticking to them) is creating

So, how do you do it?

Here’s an example of how you might manage those thirty days…

Task At Hand Number of Days % of Total Time

Do You Catch My Drift?

This draws Chapter 3 to a close. In Chapter 4, we’re going to immerse you in

Organization: The Key to Getting