What Improv is and Why it Matters – Benefits
Sep 29,
2017
In my previous post on improv, I said about improv, “It requires thinking on one’s feet. More importantly, it requires working with the other actors in the scene — each player must be able to respond to and lead the others with lines and actions that enhance the scene and make it entertaining for the […]
Four Steps to Creating an Effective PowerPoint Presentation
Jul 7,
2015
Do your slides suck the life out of your PowerPoint presentations? If so, here are four critical steps to creating great PowerPoint slides that you can use right now. I think we can all agree that the PowerPoint slide in the picture is truly ugly. I’m embarrassed to say that, recently, one of my sons created […]
Three Things to Recognize About Grammar for Effective Communication
Jan 8,
2015
Worrying about grammar when you’re writing will make you a worse rather than a better writer. That doesn’t mean grammar doesn’t matter…it just doesn’t matter the way you think it does. There seem to be a lot of people who believe that someone, somewhere wrote a specification for the English language…and that we do a […]
Building a Presentation People will Pay Attention To: Getting Started
Nov 10,
2014
Knowing what your audience will find valuable is only the start of getting their attention. But you need to convert that into the first two slides in your presentation if you want to get your audience to care. Getting a dog’s attention is easy: Hold up a treat (or, for my Great Dane, a squeaky […]
One Thing Everyone Misses in Creating an Effective Document or Presentation
Oct 8,
2014
Before reading this, stop for a minute – right now — and make up a list of things that you think are characteristics of an effective document/presentation. You’ll probably miss the most important one. It seems obvious that effective presentations skills (or just plain effective communication skills) should result in producing an effective presentation or […]