Posts Tagged ‘ Garr Reynolds ’

In the beginning

Screen shot 2009-12-04 at 오후 10.10.55

The beginning of a presentation can be a make or break moment in any presentation. So to get the beginning right is very important.

Like “chat up” lines the more complicated, the bigger the chances it will not work. I would always recommend that you use a simple beginning.

For example:

“Good morning, everyone and thank you for coming”

You could then continue and introduce yourself.

“my name is Carl Pullein and I am the Academic Director at the Songpa BCM Language Institute in Seoul”

Garr Reynolds of Presentation Zen has a fantastic beginning to his presentations.

Above is a video of Garr at the Synergy Conference earlier this year. Garr uses images from his life, his environment and it tells his audience much more about himself than just standing up with a list of bullet points on the screen behind him.

I also love the way that he uses a little animation to say “thank you” (you will catch all this in the first 5 minutes of the video, but to be honest, you can learn an awful lot by taking 45 minutes out to watch the whole video.

The next stage of the presentation is to tell your audience what you are going to talk about, and how long your presentation will last. For example:

“I’m going to divide my talk into 3 parts – First I will …… then I will …. finally I will …. I expect to be talking for about 45 minutes”

A quick tip: Dividing your talk in to three things is a great number. It is not always possible to do this, but the human mind works much better when it has to organise in threes.

So, getting the beginning right, will set up the rest of your presentation. So when you are planning your presentation, think about how you will begin your presentation, how long the beginning will last, and how can you capture your audience’s attention.

2009
12/04
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Great Icebreaking Technique

Here’s a trick I have used a lot on my presentations. I teach my audience a new language.

Screen shot 2009-11-24 at 오후 12.20.47

I live and work in South Korea, and so I have picked up quite a lot of the language during my seven years living here. Many of my presentations involve introducing new teachers to Korea, and giving them their ‘basic training’. In order to make my presentations more interesting and interactive I often teach the teachers how to introduce themselves in Korean. This is a simple exercise, and usually lasts around three or four minutes.

I have seen this trick used by Garr Reynolds in his superb presentation at the Synergy Conference in Las Vegas and it really is effective.

Screen shot 2009-11-24 at 오후 12.21.10

This technique is a great way to break the ice with your audience and it is a great way to give you a little confidence before you get in to the main part of your presentation.

All you do is read out the language to your audience, get them to repeat it with you and then ask them to introduce themselves to their neighbour. (Of course you can make a joke about them repeating the words “your name”)

This is a great way to build rapport with your audience because if they are your customers, next time they visit you in your country they can introduce themselves in your language, and you can have a laugh and joke with them. It really does help you build a much better relationship.

So why not give it a try the next time you do a pressentation in front of an English audience. Teach them how to introduce themselves in your language. You will have a lot of fun doing it, and your audience will appreciate this new feature of your presentation.

2009
11/26
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