Just back from a trip to the West Coast, where I was working with people at the top of the food chain in terms of their cognitive intelligence. Yale, Stanford, Notre Dame–brainiacs. My assignment? Help them get presence! I skirted… Read More »The wonders of vehemence
It is widely held that man is the only creature with language. But that may not be true. African vervet monkeys are always looking around for danger, and when they perceive a threat, they give an alarm that is specific… Read More »The first purpose of language and presentation
“We Americans are a charitable and humane people: we have institutions devoted to every good cause from rescuing homeless cats to preventing World War III. But what have we done to promote the art of thinking? Certainly we make no… Read More »Pausing is a presentation skill
A study in the Journal of Sports Sciences established that pro-basketball players who had a rigid pre-shot routine were 17% more accurate foul shooters than those who did not. The rigid pre-shot routine is believed to help transfer control of… Read More »Overcoming stage fright is a presentation skill
Two weeks ago I finished my most recent version of Presenting for ResultsSM, my open enrollment (or public) presentation course in New Jersey. I sat down to review the entire experience, in an effort to continuously improve it. I discovered… Read More »The ideal presentation course
Michael Alley has investigated an alternative to the default PowerPoint slide layout, which he terms the “assertion-evidence design.” This approach employs succinct sentence headlines (sentences that make an assertion) at the top of the slide. Under it, in the main section… Read More »Make your PowerPoint headlines sentences