Rob Biesenbach's Blog, page 6

Why Do Smart PR Pros Give Bad Presentations?

Last year I attended a conference breakout session on a topic that really interested me. The room was packed with like-minded people, all hoping to get something of value from the program.

Then the presenter kicked things off by talking about himself, and only himself, for what seemed like 10 minutes. He walked us through every detail of his career history — the job titles, the degrees, the accolades and awards. It was like a LinkedIn profile set to live narration.

Predictably, the air was su...

How to Tell Stories Like Malcolm Gladwell

When I lead storytelling workshops, someone inevitably says their work or their business is too complex to capture in a story. That’s when I point them to Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink, Tipping Point and other bestsellers.

I once watched Gladwell keep a ballroom full of people on the edge of their seats with an hour-long story about the Civil War. Now most of us can’t tell stories on his level, but there’s an important lesson to be learned from him and his books.

He manages to explain com...

5 Essential Items for Every Presenter’s Checklist

A smart presenter is prepared for absolutely anything. There are so many details to manage, some of which can make or break your presentation. Why leave anything to chance?

That’s why I create checklists. Lots of checklists. I have checklists for:

Things to do months and weeks in advance (research audience, create handouts, confirm logistics …) Things to pack for the presentation the night before (adaptors, chargers, business cards …) Things to do on-site when I get to the venue (connect the...

Presentation Pro Tip #2: Keep Your Cool, Patti Smith-style

If you’re a fan of Bob Dylan or Patti Smith (or both) this video is must viewing. But even if you’re not, it’s worth watching for some important lessons on how to keep calm when things go off the rails during a presentation.

If you hadn’t heard, singer/poet/artist Patti Smith went to Stockholm this weekend to accept the Nobel Prize on the enigmatic Bob Dylan’s behalf. As part of the ceremony, she agreed to sing Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.”

As they say in the viral video business, you...

Still Presenting Like It’s 1999? Fix Your Slides Now!

If your PowerPoint decks are still stuck in the last century (dull, ugly and wordy), audiences may think your ideas are stuck there, too.

Don’t sweat it. I’ve got a fix for you.

This year I debuted a new talk that has already helped hundreds of conference attendees modernize their slides so they can deliver more powerful and compelling presentations.

Now I’ve boiled down the best of A Simple Guide to Creating TED-style Slides into this 20-minute video. It offers five quick fixes that anyone...

Presentation Pro Tip #1: Create a Stage Picture

I’ve been traveling the country the past couple of months training a client’s sales managers on their presentation skills — by the time I’m done I’ll have trained nearly 100 people.

Interestingly, I’ve found that the more I teach, the more I learn. I’m discovering tons of great lessons I almost forgot I knew!

So now I’m sharing some of the finer points of giving a presentation in this series of Pro Tips.My second book, 11 Deadly Presentation Sins, covered the basics of presenting — the absolu...

How to Break a Bad Speaking Habit

A speaking coach I know says 95% of her clients talk too fast. Which is a pretty understandable reaction to the often surreal experience of getting up in front of a bunch of people to speak.

But talking too quickly makes it harder for your audience to understand you. And your key points don’t “land” the way they should — the audience doesn’t have time to process them.

So to break this (and any other) bad speaking habit I recommend a technique whose name I completely made up but which is based...

The Worst Presentation I Ever Gave

The AG and Me, looking shell-shocked. Circa 1992.

I usually kick off my presentation skills workshops with the story of the worst presentation I ever saw. But the only thing worse than sitting through a terrible presentation is being the one at the front of the room delivering that terrible presentation.

So here is the story of the worst presentation I ever gave. How bad was it? It was so bad that my boss’s boss came up to me afterwards and said, “You’re really bad at this! You need to take a...

Are Your PowerPoint Slides Killing Your Reputation?

Any time I join a meeting and see dull black text projected on a plain white background, a little piece of my soul dies.

Word slides are the worst. Not only are they proven to be ineffective, but they imply that you may be out of touch and behind the times. Which is a terrible position for any business leaderto be in.

In fact, I’d go as far as to say that the word-filled slide is the presentation world’s equivalent to two spaces after a period.

I know, I know! You could line up an army of pas...

100 Tips for Giving a Better Presentation

Want to learn how to give a better presentation with an absolute minimum investment of time and money?

Here are 100 quick tips in Twitter-sized chunks. They’re collected from my #100SpeakingTips project in which I tweeted a presentation tip a day for 100 (business) days.

The final tweet posted yesterday and you can see them in their original formon Twitteror scan through them here.For better readability, I’ve embedded the links and removed all those annoying hashtags and @ symbols.

This advic...