While we advocate for simple, image-first slides, there are times when complex slides–with graphs, charts, images, and analysis–are unavoidable. In these instances, you need to channel your internal tour guide and tell your audience 3 things:

Speaker SoundbitesKurt MacDonaldMarch 1, 2024Business presentations, PowerPoint, Death by PowerPoint, Business Communication, Bring the Focus

The Power of an Iterative Process

Here’s our 5-step, iterative process to develop and deliver a great presentation…

Speaker SoundbitesKurt MacDonaldNovember 1, 2023Speaker preparation, Speech development, Business presentations, Business Communication, The Professional Communicators

Avoid Toggling into 'Presentation Mode'

Business professionals tasked with important presentations can script a ‘perfect’ presentation, practice it flawlessly, but then stiffen up when presenting to the Board, an important client, or the company. They revert to recitation, their sentences are choppy, their tone is flat, and the presentation no longer feels like a conversation. We call this toggling into ‘presentation mode,’ and it can be a communication liability.

Here are five tips to help you avoid toggling into ‘presentation mode.’

Speaker SoundbitesKurt MacDonaldAugust 1, 2023Business presentations, Business Communication, Executive communication, Board presentations, QBRs, The Professional Communicators, Executive presence

Rehearse!

You’ve got your talking points, developed great strategic stories, written an outline, and built a PowerPoint to reinforce your key messages. Heck, you’ve even added a few speaker notes to your slides.

But, you’re not finished.

You need to rehearse.

Speaker SoundbitesKurt MacDonaldNovember 1, 2022Business presentations, Business Communication, Public speaking, Presentation rehearsal, The Professional Communicators

Breaking the Curse of Knowledge

Megan is standing on a stage, in the middle of the most important presentation of her career, facing a sea of perplexed and unengaged faces.

Megan is an expert, and therein lies the problem.

Speaker SoundbitesKurt MacDonaldOctober 1, 2022Business Communication, Experts, Technical communication, Curse of Knowledge, Corporate communication, The Professional Communicators

Hybrid Meeting Help

There are communication solutions to make hybrid meetings more effective, engaging, and less frustrating. Rethinking how hybrid meetings run helps everyone, remote and in-person, have their voice heard.

Speaker SoundbitesKurt MacDonaldSeptember 1, 2022Hybrid meetings, Remote communications, Virtual meetings, Remote presentations, The Professional Communicators, Business Communication

Your Visual Open

Right there on my TV was a critical lesson--that engaging an audience requires careful orchestration of what your audience hears and sees.

Speaker SoundbitesKurt MacDonaldApril 1, 2022Visual communication, Business presentations, Business Communication, Public speaking, PowerPoint, The Professional Communicators

Posture, Poise, & Gestures

“Across 12 studies [an associate professor from University College of London School of Management] found that people could predict VC funding decisions based not on the actual content of entrepreneurs’ pitches but on how they were presented, especially body language and facial expressions.”

Speaker SoundbitesKurt MacDonaldSeptember 1, 2021Business Communication, Business presentations, Public Speaking, Confidence in Communication, Gestures, Nonverbal communication, The Professional Communicators

Practice, Practice, Practice!

Like learning to play guitar, golf, or knit, improving your presentation skills takes practice.

We get asked all the time, how much should I practice? Good question.

In order to become a more effective communicator, we recommend the following:

Speaker SoundbitesKurt MacDonaldJanuary 1, 2021Public speaking, Business Communication, Presentation preparation, Professional development, Presentation practice