2 Minute Talk Tips

  2-Minute Tip: Watch for Keystone   No matter how pretty your slides, they won't look good if your projector isn't set up properly. One common issue with data projectors is keystoning. When instead of a rectangle on your screen, you find a trapezoid, you have a keystone issue. The bottom of the image is narrower than the top. This shape is called a keystone because the keystone in a stone arch is the one in the top center that joins the right and left sides of the arch together and keeps them from collapsing into one another. It has that trapezoidal shape.   Keystones are great in architecture, but not in presentations. The problem pops up when you tilt the projector up. That puts the top of the lens slightly further from the screen than the bottom of the lens. The further from the screen the projector is, the bigger the impact.   To fix a keystone issue, check the projector settings. It may have an auto-keystone correction function. Try that. If it doesn't do it, or if that feature doesn't exist, there is p

2-Minute Tip: Be Thankful   As we begin Thanksgiving week here in the US, it's a good time to think about being thankful as speakers. And not just to the universe or deity(ies) of your choice. While speaki9ng may seem like a solitary activity where we are on stage or at the front of a conference room by ourselves, there are a lot of other people involved in our talks, including:   SMEs Editors Event/Meeting Organizers AV folks Event Hosts Family and Friends we inflict our practice upon Our Audience     Take a moment before, during, or after your talk to thank the folks who contributed.   Post Tip Discussion: Structure Your Talk   Have you ever sat through a talk that just seemed to ramble on? It probably lacked structure. The structure of a talk is basically an intelligent outline. Start by defining your goal or Call To Action. Then identify the points or topics that support that goal. Then identify the points, evidence, and stories that support those main points.   There are 8 main reasons why structure ma

2-Minute Tip: Let it Go   When things start to go wrong, our instinct is often to panic and make a split second decision to stop whatever is falling, crashing, or coming apart at the seams. Often this is the wrong instinct. Instead, let it go, take a moment to assess the situation, and then recover. When you can do this with confidence both you and your audience will be more comfortable, and you can recover more quickly.   Post Tip Discussion: Road Trip!   Preparing a presentation is a lot like preparing for a road trip. Both processes have at least 6 steps in common:   Decide where to go. Brainstorm ideas for the journey. Consult with experts. Confirm and secure resources. Finalize your plan Allow for side trips.   Call To Action:   Do you have any good road trip stories? Have you used one in a presentation? Tell us about it in the comments below. If you like this or other episodes, please encourage a friend, colleague, or relative to subscribe in their favorite podcast app. Next time things go sideways,

  2-Minute Tip: Let the Audience Respond   When you tell a joke, make a humorous aside, show an entertaining picture, or land a heavy or emotional point, it's important to give your audience a chance to experience the emotions you've just inspired in them.   That means that while you plan your presentation, and your timing, you need to allow time to respect your audience's reaction. Remember also that when you practice you will not get the emotional response. Don't become so wedded to your practice timing that you skip over the response in the actual session.   Post Tip Discussion: Ancient Rhetoric Today   There's lot's of new stuff to learn about public speaking, but that doesn't mean older stuff suddenly becomes obsolete. Nearly 2,500 years ago, Aristotle gave us a model for understanding rhetoric by balancing the spheres of Logos, Pathos, and Ethos.   Logos refers to the logical elements of a presentation. Pathos refers to the emotional impact the speaker has on the audience. Ethos refers to the credibili

  2-Minute Tip: Don't Trust the Internet   There are many times it seems like a good idea to use the Internet in a presentation, but if you do, make sure you have a plan B. All sorts of things can go wrong. Your audience might take up all the bandwidth. Your presentation space may have poor coverage. You could encounter too much radio interference. These problems might not show up during rehearsal; they might only manifest when your audience is in the room. You don't want to troubleshoot in the middle of your talk.   If you plan to use the Internet, have a plan B, and execute that plan quickly if the network fails.   Post Tip Discussion: Learn from Ghost Stories   Today is Halloween, which makes me think about stories. Storytelling has a long history and is an important skill for speakers to develop. But today let's talk about a specific type of story -- the ghost story.   There are 7 lessons speakers can learn from ghost stories.   Setting matters Community matters Pacing matters Volume matters The unexpect

    2-Minute Tip:  Dim the Lights   The data projector/projector screen combo has been a mainstay of the AV setup in conference rooms for years, but it can still be hard to see the visuals.   Data projectors have gotten brighter over the years, yet they still benefit from less ambient light. They tend to have a long lifecycle which means there are a lot of older, dimmer projectors still in use when you try to make an impact with your presentation and slides. If the room is too bright, your slides will look washed out and illegible. Instead of giving your audience an eye opening experience you'll just be giving them eye strain.   Here are some ways to make your slides look better in a room that's too bright:   Look for ways to make the area around the screen darker without putting yourself in the dark Play with the light switches in the room to see if there is some way to shut off just a few of the lights Close the blinds or curtains at any windows Try repositioning the projector and screen so the screen is i

  2-Minute Tip: Use Silence   Everything we do as speakers communicates something to the audience -- how we move, how we dress, how we gesture, how we speak, and how we don't speak.   Silence is a powerful tool. A speaker can use silence to:   Emphasize a point Let your audience soak up information Give your audience a break Let the audience take notes Get more detailed answers Correct an error calmly   Don't fear silence; embrace it.   Post Tip Discussion: 10 Parties to Think About   Successful public speaking involves more that just the speaker. It involves a public. There are a bunch of groups and individuals that influence your success or who are impacted by your success. This week, we talk about 10 of them   Your boss Your SME (subject matter exert) Your colleagues who review stuff Your customers Your on-site contact Your AV team Your host Your previous speaker Your following speaker Your audience   Call To Action:   What are your thoughts on the parties who surround us as speakers? Let us know in t

  2-Minute Tip: Prepare 5 Questions   We all want an engaged audience. Sometimes that doesn't happen. To deal with it, have a plan before you start. Instead of scrambling for ways to engage your crowd on the fly, choose 5 questions before you start that you know you can ask. It gives you a chance to engage a quiet group in a more confident way.   Post Tip Discussion: A Pair of Fives   This week, I decided to address two, intermediate-length topics.   If you often present on the same or similar topics, you don't have to build a new slide deck every time. And you don't have to get it to "finished" status, either. Instead, think of your slide deck as a living document that will evolve to meet changing needs over the coming days, weeks, months, or years. There are 5 advantages to this approach.   The perfect does not become the enemy of the good. You save time building your next deck. It's easier for other folks to edit and revise it. You can build an archive of slides. Good writing is never finished.   PowerPo

  2 Minute Tip: Say Thanks   When we conduct a successful presentation, audience members will often give us a compliment. When they do that, say, "Thanks. I appreciate that."   Don't tell them they're wrong, and don't deflect the compliment. Simply accept it with grace and thank them for their kind words.   Program Notes   2-Minute Talk Tips now has a Facebook Page. You can like us and comment on episodes on Facebook, if you prefer to interact there instead of this web site. Visit 2 Minute Talk Tips on Facebook today. 2-Minute Talk Tips now has a YouTube channel. Now you can read along with episodes by enabling closed captioning as you listen. You can visit use on YouTube here. This week, I join Jon Clarke on Caffeinated Comics on the Radio Misfits Network to talk about Star Trek: Discovery. Last week on 2 Minute Talk Tips, I talked about what speakers can  learn from the premier. This week, Jon and I mainly debate its awesomeness.   Post Tip Discussion: Building a Talk   Through a set of circumstances I w

2 Minute Tip: How to Use a Lavalier   A lavalier, or "lav," is a small microphone a speaker will clip to their blouse, shirt, tie, collar, or jacket. That microphone usually connects to a battery pack/radio transmitter the speaker wears on their belt or waist. Usually the sound quality isn't quite as good as a high quality hand held mic, but it can still be excellent. I like using a lav because of the freedom it gives me to use my hand and move around the stage.   Here are 3 tips to make most effective use of a lav.   Turn from the waist, not the neck, when you want to look at something. Otherwise your volume level will fluctuate widely. Run the cord from the battery pack inside your clothes. This way there is no unsightly wire dangling in front of you, and you are less likely to accidentally yank it off. Always assume your lav is turned on.  Even if it's not broadcasting to the room, it may still be broadcasting to the sound tech. This can be embarrassing if you have a private conversation or visit the lava

2 Minute Tip: Confirm Value At the end of a presentation, I like to ask the audience, "Was this helpful?" or "Was this valuable?"   Usually there is still a lot of energy in the room and folks will answer with an enthusiastic, "Yes!"   Obviously, this is great for my ego, but it also does a couple other things. It gives the audience members a chance to acknowledge their own approval. They have now acknowledged that yes, this session was a good use of their time. They are also more likely to remember that it was valuable because they experienced saying it was valuable. Further, once folks say something out loud among other people, they are more likely to continue to believe it.   Post Tip Discussion: Avoid Offensive language   Among the updates to the 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style is a change to pronouns. They now consider "they" and "their" to be acceptable 3rd person, singular, gender-neutral pronouns. This got me thinking about the evolution of language.   Words and phrases that may have be

    2 Minute Tip: Purge Stale Material   If you do a lot of public speaking, it's likely you have some go-to lines or jokes that you like. Eventually the can stop resonating with your audience. Times change. Technology changes. Speakers grow and change. It's important to periodically step back and maker sure your quips and comments are still relevant and getting the reaction you want. If they no longer work, then purge that stale content.   Post Tip Discussion: Introduce Yourself   Introducing yourself to your audience can be an important way to establish credibility with tem. It's an opportunity to tell them why the should listen to you.   This week, we talked about four types of introductions: No Introduction Basic Facts Story Telling Host Led   They all have advantages and disadvantages, though I tend to favor an intro that involves telling a story.   Call To Action   How do you introduce yourself to your audience? Let us know in the comments, or leave a message on the listener feedback line at 650-TALK

2 Minute Tip: Bring Candy   Fun-size candy bars, Hershey's Miniatures, Jolly Ranchers, and other candies are great, inexpensive treats to bring for your audience. You can toss them out as little rewards and incentives for folks who participate. Despite the low cost, folks often become enthusiastic at the prospect of winning a little treat regardless of their income level. Use this to your advantage to increase audience engagement.   Post Tip Discussion: Read Storytelling with Data   Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic ( @storywithdata) has written a great book in Storytelling with Data, and I highly recommend it. In it, she talks about using data visualization to make you a more effective author or presenter. There are four themes that resonated strongly with me.   Do your prep work Plan your story Make sure your graphs and charts tell the story you want to tell Get rid of stuff that doesn't matter   Much of this week's episode is a deeper look at key passages in this book. You can learn more about the book and go deep

  2 Minute Tip: Sit Up Straight   Generally it's best to stand while you speak. If you're running a webinar, presenting on a conference call, or going through a phone screen interview for a new job, st6anding may not be feasible. In that case, it's important to sit up straight, just like your kindergarten teacher told you.   When you slouch or lean back in your chair, it changes the quality of your voice. It actually alters the way air flows through your chest and voice box. In my case, when I sit back, my voice develops more vocal fry and loses resonance. You can actually see the difference in the audio wave form here:     The section to the left of the red line is what happens when I slouch. To the right is how it looks when I sit up straight.   So when you speak from a chair, sit up straight.   Post Tip Discussion: Tell a Story   This week I told a story about the importance of an LED Backlit keyboard to a laptop customer.   Here are four reasons I like to tell this story: It changes the pace of a presen

  2 Minute Tip: Take More Pictures   Images are often better than text in PowerPoint Slides. You can use them to support a point you are talking about, to make an analogy, or to make a humorous aside. But how do you get this pictures? The best source can be your own photo library -- if you have enough pictures in it. You already own the rights to those images. Your audience hasn't seen them before. You have a personal connection to them.   The best way to grow your library is to take more pictures. It's really that simple, Set a personal goal to take 5 pictures a day. Don't try to take amazing pictures; focus on quantity. Photograph things you find interesting, funny, or unusual. Or even just things that make you think. You might not have a use for that image today, but it may find a home in a deck you build 2 years from now.   Program Notes   This week, I appear on Caffeinated Comics. I'm on the August 21 episode. You can find it in your favorite podcast app or on the Radio misfits Podcast Network.   This we

  2 Minute Tip: Memorize Your Intro   Think back to a recent presentation you saw. Do you remember how it started? What do you remember about the speaker's effectiveness?  Do you remember more about the beginning of the presentation or the middle of it?  The first 2-3 minutes of a presentation are critical. That's when you have to hook your audience so they'll join you for the rest of your journey. You can make your intro stronger by memorizing it.  With a memorized introduction, you:   Already know how the words flow together Don't waste time on filler words like "um" and "ah" Project more confidence Make eye contact with more people   Plus, as you memorize your intro while you prep your presentation, you can continue to revise and sharpen it further.   When you memorize your intro you put yourself in the best position to be successful.   Post Tip Discussion: Learn from Lincoln   In light of the Memorial Day weekend we just had, I decided to take a look at the Gettysburg address.  Lincoln gave his famous s

2 Minute Tip: Where Can We Learn More?   It's highly unlikely any of us as speakers will be in a situation where someone wants us to tell them absolutely everything we know, along with the background on all those details and to do it in one super long session. They may still want the information; they just don't want to sit through it all and neither do I. To make things easier for your more enthusiastic audience members, include a slide or develop a handout that tells your audience members where they can go to get more information.   That information can go well beyond the details of your presentation, and it can come from a wide assortment of sources like:   Books Websites Social Media Feeds Podcasts Archived Interviews ...and many more   By pulling together the resources that informed your recent project you are also curating content for your audience, establishing your credibility, and becoming a great digital citizen.   Post Tip Discussion: Manage Audience Expectations   In every presentation, there ar

  2 Minute Tip: Use a Call To Action   If you've ever left a meeting and wondered, "What now?" the speaker probably did not use a Call To Action. The Call To Action tells the audience what the speaker would like it to do. That could include things like:   Take concrete steps Consider some new ideas Implement a plan Develop a plan Change its mind ...and more.   As a speaker, you want to start with your Call To Action, and then build the rest of your presentation around it. This makes it easier for your audience to know what it should do and to act on your presentation.   Post Tip Discussion: Prepare for Losing a Laptop   In the Spring of 2017, the US began banning laptops and tablets from the passenger cabin of US bound flights on certain Middle Eastern airlines from certain Middle Eastern Airports.  According to Bloomberg, this ban could extend to all flights originating in Europe. There's always the potential the ban could spread further.   All laptops and tablets will need to go into checked baggage. Mos

  2 Minute Tip: Practice without Slides   No matter how much we plan, things go wrong at times. When they do, we may not always have time to correct them. If your computer crashes while you're in the middle of a presentation, would you be able to continue without using your slides?  It's important to practice delivering your content without any slides so that if things go wrong, you are prepared. As a side bonus, this helps you learn your material better. When you know your material better, you are more confident, and you can focus more on your audience. You won't be distracted wondering which slide comes next.   Post Tip Discussion: Deal with your Writer's Block   Writer's block (or writers' block depending on the exact context or mood of my Facebook friends) is something all content creators have to deal with at various times. This week, I talk about ten ways to deal with it:   Go Small Use a picture Go back to your outline Pretend you are answering a question Try a different medium Engage your audience Wr

  2 Minute Tip: Bring an Extra Shirt   Stuff happens as we go about life. We spill (and sadly waste) coffee. Our co workers spill things on us. We perspire more than we'd like. And, yet, we still need to stand up in front of a crowd and speak.  That's why is so important to have a spare shirt in your office, car, or presentation bag. You never know when you'll need a quick wardrobe change. Even if you never need to use that spare shirt, you can be more confident just because you know it's there.   Post Tip Discussion: Use the Tools Available   Amplification, Teleprompters, and Wheels are great innovations that can help us be more effective speakers. Of course, they're only useful is we actually use them. Too many speakers avoid these tools because they say they don't need them. Often, this is ego. They don't want to be seen as needing these tools.  That's just silly. These tools help the audience. They give the audience a better experience. They give the production team a better experience.  And they make the