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100 Things Every Presenter Needs To Know About People
Every day around the world millions of presentations are given, with millions of decisions hanging in the balance as a result. Do you know the science behind giving a powerful and persuasive presentation? This book reveals what you need to know about how people listen, how people decide, and how people react so that you can learn to create more engaging presentations. No matter what your current skill level, whether beginner or polished, this book will guide you to the next level, teaching you how to improve your delivery, stance, eye contact, voice, materials, media, message, and call to action.
Learn to increase the effectiveness of your own presentations by finding the answers to questions like these:
What grabs and holds attention during a presentation?How do you choose the best media to use?What makes the content of a presentation stick?How do people react to your voice, posture, and gestures?How do people respond to the flow of your message?How do you motivate people to take action?These are just a few of the questions that the book answers in its deep-dive exploration of what you need to know about people to create a compelling presentation.
Learn to increase the effectiveness of your own presentations by finding the answers to questions like these:
What grabs and holds attention during a presentation?How do you choose the best media to use?What makes the content of a presentation stick?How do people react to your voice, posture, and gestures?How do people respond to the flow of your message?How do you motivate people to take action?These are just a few of the questions that the book answers in its deep-dive exploration of what you need to know about people to create a compelling presentation.
303 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
87 people are currently reading
815 people want to read
About the author
Susan M. Weinschenk
33 books170 followersSusan Weinschenk has a Ph.D. in Psychology and over 30 years of experience as a behavioral psychologist. She applies neuroscience to predict, understand, and explain what motivates people and how to get people to take action.
Dr. Weinschenk is the author of several books, including How To Get People To Do Stuff, 100 Things Every Presenter Needs To Know About People, 100 Things Every Designer Needs To Know About People, and Neuro Web Design: What makes them click? She is the founder of the Weinschenk Institute. She teaches, speaks, mentors, and consults with Fortune 1000 companies, start-ups, non-profit agencies, and educational institutions, and writes a popular blog: www.theteamw.com/blog, and the “Brain Wise: Work better, work smarter” blog for Psychology Today.
Dr. Weinschenk is the author of several books, including How To Get People To Do Stuff, 100 Things Every Presenter Needs To Know About People, 100 Things Every Designer Needs To Know About People, and Neuro Web Design: What makes them click? She is the founder of the Weinschenk Institute. She teaches, speaks, mentors, and consults with Fortune 1000 companies, start-ups, non-profit agencies, and educational institutions, and writes a popular blog: www.theteamw.com/blog, and the “Brain Wise: Work better, work smarter” blog for Psychology Today.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
November 15, 2020
Some of the tips that I found useful:
-Always start with an introduction about the lecture, that way the audience will be prepared mentally to what they're about to listen to, you can do that in a form of an outline.
-Tell stories! tell stories! tell stories! (or if you can present your data and information in a story-like way), simply because people like to listen to stories.
-Always provide examples for complex concepts and even for simple ones if you can.
-Respect the audience's culture and prior experience of the subject that your are about to present.
-Remember that different people have different teaching techniques, so try to provide different ways to present your information (graphs, tables, text, etc.).
How to get and keep the attention of the audience?
- The first 7-10 minutes will be the key to capture the audience's attention.
-The most successful presenters are those who can keep the attention of the audience for the longest time possible, so it's not the easiest thing to do, but this could be done by telling a joke or by asking for their opinion to engage them in a conversation.
-Don't use a lot of motion effects they distract the audience (or at least most of the time they do, they move the attention from the presenter to the motion effects themselves) so try to keep them minimal.
How to avoid getting the audience bored?
-Keep summarizing, for example every time you finish a major point add it to "take home messages slide".
-Again start with an intro, like saying "today we will learn how to use XYZ" to keep them enthusiastic about the topic.
-One of the most important points is having a CLEAR AND LOUD VOICE so everyone can hear you.
-Pay attention to the colors of the presentation (must be appropriate to the subject and to the country where you are presenting) and the colors of your clothes (darker clothes are more preferred since they won't distract the audience as lighter colors do).
-To get an emotional interaction with the audience, again tell stories (keep them short, tell ones from real life and that are meaningful/related to the topic).
-Stand confidently, introduce yourself and keep an eye contact with the audience, so you can give a great impression about you. You're body posture and facial expressions (like smiling) tells a lot about your confidence.
- Train to use your voice notes (high and low) to emphasize certain points and aspects of the presentation.
- Practice, practice, practice. Every time you practice the result will show on the presentation.
Last note: everything you feel will show, so feel proud and confident!
Feb, 9, 2020.
-Always start with an introduction about the lecture, that way the audience will be prepared mentally to what they're about to listen to, you can do that in a form of an outline.
-Tell stories! tell stories! tell stories! (or if you can present your data and information in a story-like way), simply because people like to listen to stories.
-Always provide examples for complex concepts and even for simple ones if you can.
-Respect the audience's culture and prior experience of the subject that your are about to present.
-Remember that different people have different teaching techniques, so try to provide different ways to present your information (graphs, tables, text, etc.).
How to get and keep the attention of the audience?
- The first 7-10 minutes will be the key to capture the audience's attention.
-The most successful presenters are those who can keep the attention of the audience for the longest time possible, so it's not the easiest thing to do, but this could be done by telling a joke or by asking for their opinion to engage them in a conversation.
-Don't use a lot of motion effects they distract the audience (or at least most of the time they do, they move the attention from the presenter to the motion effects themselves) so try to keep them minimal.
How to avoid getting the audience bored?
-Keep summarizing, for example every time you finish a major point add it to "take home messages slide".
-Again start with an intro, like saying "today we will learn how to use XYZ" to keep them enthusiastic about the topic.
-One of the most important points is having a CLEAR AND LOUD VOICE so everyone can hear you.
-Pay attention to the colors of the presentation (must be appropriate to the subject and to the country where you are presenting) and the colors of your clothes (darker clothes are more preferred since they won't distract the audience as lighter colors do).
-To get an emotional interaction with the audience, again tell stories (keep them short, tell ones from real life and that are meaningful/related to the topic).
-Stand confidently, introduce yourself and keep an eye contact with the audience, so you can give a great impression about you. You're body posture and facial expressions (like smiling) tells a lot about your confidence.
- Train to use your voice notes (high and low) to emphasize certain points and aspects of the presentation.
- Practice, practice, practice. Every time you practice the result will show on the presentation.
Last note: everything you feel will show, so feel proud and confident!
Feb, 9, 2020.
December 28, 2019
Q:
if you’re in low light, you’ll see better if you don’t look right at the area you’re trying to see. (c)
Q:
Progressive disclosure ...
instructional design model called Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction (ARCS) (c)
Q:
In order to not overwhelm people, you need to provide context. (c)
Q:
Psychologists call this filtering confirmation bias. People tend to favor information that confirms their existing beliefs. They tend to gather evidence and remember information selectively. The more strongly they believe something, the stronger the confirmation bias is. (c)
Q:
Mental models (c)
Q:
THE MORE UNCERTAIN PEOPLE ARE, THE MORE THEY DEFEND THEIR IDEAS (c)
Q:
Stories imply causation ...
People are quick to assign causality. Your brain assumes you have been given all the pertinent information and that there is causation. Stories make it even easier to make this causal leap. If you are looking to convince people of a certain idea or persuade them to take a certain action, then using a story that implies causation will help people to be convinced. (c)
Q:
I had a belief that said, “I am a strong person. I can handle any crisis.” I realized that I was making decisions that would eventually cause more crises, at least partly so I could overcome them to prove to myself that I was strong.
I decided right then to change my belief. I said out loud, “My life is easy and graceful.” I began to make decisions that would make my life easier. (с)
Q:
The old brain asks, “can I eat it? can I have sex with it? Will it kill me?” (c)
Q:
There is a story that makes the rounds in psychology classes about how a class of students at a college used the behaviorist idea of shaping to get the professor to leave the classroom in the middle of his lecture: The students arranged this among themselves ahead of time, before class started. When the professor came in to start the class, the students ignored him (no reinforcement) unless he looked toward the door. At some point in the lecture, he randomly looked toward the door. When he did, the students looked attentively at him for a moment. Every time he looked toward the door, they would look up attentively (looking up attentively was the reinforcement). Before too long, the professor was looking at the door a lot. At that point, the students stopped reinforcing by looking toward the door. Instead, they would look up attentively only if the professor took a step toward the door. At some point in the lecture, he took a step toward the door, and then the students looked up attentively.
This shaping of the professor’s behavior continued (he moves closer to the door, he moves his arm toward the door, he touches the door, and so on) until the professor actually left the room.
I’m pretty sure it’s an urban legend that was created by a psychology professor who was trying to explain shaping.
The official description of shaping is “the differential reinforcement of successive approximations.” The idea is that if you want to establish a new behavior, you have to first reinforce an earlier behavior that will lead to the behavior you are looking for. Once the earlier behavior is established using reinforcement, then you stop reinforcing that behavior and only reinforce a behavior that moves you closer to the final, desired behavior. (c)
Q:
Concession builds commitment too
Cialdini (1975) stopped people on the street and asked them to chaperone a group of troubled youth on a one-day trip to the zoo. Only 17 percent of people said yes.
Some of the time, he first asked people to spend two hours a week as a counselor for the youth for a minimum of two years (a larger request). In that case everyone said no. But if he then asked them to chaperone a group of troubled youth on a one-day trip to the zoo, 50 percent agreed. That is nearly three times the 17 percent who agreed when they were only asked to chaperone. That’s concession working.
But Cialdini found an interesting side effect. Eighty-five percent of the people in the concession group actually showed up, compared with only 50 percent of the group that did not go through the concession process. Concession increases commitment to the action. (c)
if you’re in low light, you’ll see better if you don’t look right at the area you’re trying to see. (c)
Q:
Progressive disclosure ...
instructional design model called Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction (ARCS) (c)
Q:
In order to not overwhelm people, you need to provide context. (c)
Q:
Psychologists call this filtering confirmation bias. People tend to favor information that confirms their existing beliefs. They tend to gather evidence and remember information selectively. The more strongly they believe something, the stronger the confirmation bias is. (c)
Q:
Mental models (c)
Q:
THE MORE UNCERTAIN PEOPLE ARE, THE MORE THEY DEFEND THEIR IDEAS (c)
Q:
Stories imply causation ...
People are quick to assign causality. Your brain assumes you have been given all the pertinent information and that there is causation. Stories make it even easier to make this causal leap. If you are looking to convince people of a certain idea or persuade them to take a certain action, then using a story that implies causation will help people to be convinced. (c)
Q:
I had a belief that said, “I am a strong person. I can handle any crisis.” I realized that I was making decisions that would eventually cause more crises, at least partly so I could overcome them to prove to myself that I was strong.
I decided right then to change my belief. I said out loud, “My life is easy and graceful.” I began to make decisions that would make my life easier. (с)
Q:
The old brain asks, “can I eat it? can I have sex with it? Will it kill me?” (c)
Q:
There is a story that makes the rounds in psychology classes about how a class of students at a college used the behaviorist idea of shaping to get the professor to leave the classroom in the middle of his lecture: The students arranged this among themselves ahead of time, before class started. When the professor came in to start the class, the students ignored him (no reinforcement) unless he looked toward the door. At some point in the lecture, he randomly looked toward the door. When he did, the students looked attentively at him for a moment. Every time he looked toward the door, they would look up attentively (looking up attentively was the reinforcement). Before too long, the professor was looking at the door a lot. At that point, the students stopped reinforcing by looking toward the door. Instead, they would look up attentively only if the professor took a step toward the door. At some point in the lecture, he took a step toward the door, and then the students looked up attentively.
This shaping of the professor’s behavior continued (he moves closer to the door, he moves his arm toward the door, he touches the door, and so on) until the professor actually left the room.
I’m pretty sure it’s an urban legend that was created by a psychology professor who was trying to explain shaping.
The official description of shaping is “the differential reinforcement of successive approximations.” The idea is that if you want to establish a new behavior, you have to first reinforce an earlier behavior that will lead to the behavior you are looking for. Once the earlier behavior is established using reinforcement, then you stop reinforcing that behavior and only reinforce a behavior that moves you closer to the final, desired behavior. (c)
Q:
Concession builds commitment too
Cialdini (1975) stopped people on the street and asked them to chaperone a group of troubled youth on a one-day trip to the zoo. Only 17 percent of people said yes.
Some of the time, he first asked people to spend two hours a week as a counselor for the youth for a minimum of two years (a larger request). In that case everyone said no. But if he then asked them to chaperone a group of troubled youth on a one-day trip to the zoo, 50 percent agreed. That is nearly three times the 17 percent who agreed when they were only asked to chaperone. That’s concession working.
But Cialdini found an interesting side effect. Eighty-five percent of the people in the concession group actually showed up, compared with only 50 percent of the group that did not go through the concession process. Concession increases commitment to the action. (c)
December 8, 2014
Presenting, selling ideas to people and training has been part of my job for the past few years. Presenting as such is something I've always been comfortable with, but I know I could be much better. That's the reason I read 100 Things Every Presenter Needs to Know About People by Susan M. Weinschenk.
The author has Ph.D. in Psychology and has a strong background on behavioral psychology. This shows a lot in the book. I originally had different thought what the book would have inside. I wasn't expecting that much science and actual proof behind the things that presenters need to know. So the surprise was positive and made the subject more interesting.
The idea in the book is to explain and benefit from the behavioral psychology. Maybe it was because I had read quite a lot about behavioral psychology in the past years, that the psychology parts as such weren't that new to me. Some of the ideas how to use those in presentations where the ones that brought me the value.
Book is well structured. It was fun to read. It worked especially well for bus or train trips which I use when I visit our offices in Helsinki central. Like the title tells it has 100 of things that every presenter needs to know. Those things are short and backed up with a proper research. I have to admit that book would have been at least good enough with 91 or 93 things, but maybe 100 is just much more effective. Few of the things were there just to fill the hundred.
I highly recommend this book to everyone who wants to understand people's behavior in presentation situations. If you are presenter, you facilitate meetings or meet people for sales, this is a good book for you. It also reminds about many important psychological studies from the past decades. It's a good book and quite easy and enjoyable to read.
This review was originally published in my blog - here
The author has Ph.D. in Psychology and has a strong background on behavioral psychology. This shows a lot in the book. I originally had different thought what the book would have inside. I wasn't expecting that much science and actual proof behind the things that presenters need to know. So the surprise was positive and made the subject more interesting.
The idea in the book is to explain and benefit from the behavioral psychology. Maybe it was because I had read quite a lot about behavioral psychology in the past years, that the psychology parts as such weren't that new to me. Some of the ideas how to use those in presentations where the ones that brought me the value.
Book is well structured. It was fun to read. It worked especially well for bus or train trips which I use when I visit our offices in Helsinki central. Like the title tells it has 100 of things that every presenter needs to know. Those things are short and backed up with a proper research. I have to admit that book would have been at least good enough with 91 or 93 things, but maybe 100 is just much more effective. Few of the things were there just to fill the hundred.
I highly recommend this book to everyone who wants to understand people's behavior in presentation situations. If you are presenter, you facilitate meetings or meet people for sales, this is a good book for you. It also reminds about many important psychological studies from the past decades. It's a good book and quite easy and enjoyable to read.
This review was originally published in my blog - here
December 28, 2017
Excellent book. Great ideas. Well documented. Many sources for further learning.
I took 11 pages of handwritten notes! So many great takeaways that you can apply right away in your next presentation.
I took 11 pages of handwritten notes! So many great takeaways that you can apply right away in your next presentation.
February 11, 2018
Fascinating, rather applicable, and practices what it preaches. The information is presented bite-sized with takeaways at the end of every "thing you need to know" as organized in the book. Some of the points - especially in the middle of the book - do feel "forced" to reach the 100 number, but doesn't mean that the information is not useful. Also includes a section in the end to help readers form a plan to improve their presentation, though I personally think there's still room for improvement in how this section was structured.
March 12, 2013
Definitely great coverage of a variety of social science studies (100+ considering that each chapter is centered on core aspects of social science research); however, in terms of actually improving my speaking career or presentation skills, it didn't quite deliver what I was hoping. I much prefer Nancy Duarte's Resonate, though this book is a great primer for someone new to the industry, or those looking for a comprehensive review of human behavior. I also got slightly annoyed at the constant references to her first book...but to be fair, did take away a few important reminders that I will follow in my next speech.
March 10, 2013
This is a great book for anyone who may do presentations (whether it's in a classroom as a teacher, a trainer for classes, or even for people who may do speeches and improv work). It covers tips on how to handle making presentations, behaviour, psychology tips behind attention, planning breaks, and a variety of other facets.
November 29, 2020
An excellent book if you want 100 rules for thinking more clearly about presenting. The only problem is, as the author herself points out, we can only remember 4 things. A book to be dipped into and sampled on regular occasions, especially if you speak frequently.
June 18, 2013
Some very insightful tips and tricks that I will immediately employ in my presentations and product pitches. Some no-brainer stuff too. Well organized and a pretty quick, easy read.
July 14, 2017
Más que un libro de cómo dar presentaciones es el saber cómo interactúa la audiencia con lo que estás diciendo y cómo tratar de hacer que el mensaje que quieras dejar llegue de forma adecuada.
Me gustó mucho que ponga referencias a artículos, libros y videos que hacen que la experiencia de leerlos sea más completa.
En algunas partes sentí que hace mucha alusión a sus otros libros, y aunque dice que la repetición es la forma en que uno aprende, por lo que es una forma de vencer, la curiosidad me hará leerlos después.
Me gustó mucho que ponga referencias a artículos, libros y videos que hacen que la experiencia de leerlos sea más completa.
En algunas partes sentí que hace mucha alusión a sus otros libros, y aunque dice que la repetición es la forma en que uno aprende, por lo que es una forma de vencer, la curiosidad me hará leerlos después.
November 9, 2020
The book is well written and well organised. I had so much pleasure reading it. So much interesting advices and informations given by the author.
I recommend this book for every person who wants to improve their presentations. You will not regret it.
I recommend this book for every person who wants to improve their presentations. You will not regret it.
July 5, 2017
Some of the advice is quite "duh" but good to create a checklist and adding finishing touches.
January 7, 2018
Otro libro interesante donde puedes encontrar ideas clave para ser más eficaz e impactante a la hora de hablar en público y hacer tus presentaciones.
Para más info y reseña: http://ow.ly/EFh430hCPCe
Para más info y reseña: http://ow.ly/EFh430hCPCe
February 11, 2020
كتاب صوتي
December 6, 2020
Err:509
February 15, 2022
เนื้อหาของหนังสือมีการอธิบายเรื่องจิตวิทยาของมนุษย์ มีงานวิจัยสนับสนุน และมีคำแนะนำว่าควรพรีเซนต์อย่างไรเพื่อให้สอดคล้องกับจิตวิทยา ซึ่งเป็นส่วนที่ดีมากๆ ของหนังสือเล่มนี้
January 11, 2013
a good reference book in 100 3 page chapters that clearly spell out how to give an engaging presentation as a speaker. detailing the pitfalls and perils even down to font size and room position. Presentations being a matter of engaging communicating and connecting with the audience whether it is a highly academic presentation of research findings or a community talk, the how and the why are represented here. Dr Susan Weinschenk gives a detailed bibliography and engaging links to other references supporting her behavioural analysis and demonstrations including TED talks . Something to read and refer to before each and every presentation to add polish style and confidence to your talk and get your key messages across without losing the audience or your nerve..
August 31, 2016
Lots about psychology of people and how it relates to delivering a presentation. Worth looking over for reference when I create new presentations. I especially liked the fact that the "How to craft your presentation" section independently reflected my own understanding of how to create a presentation.
March 20, 2014
Really good, makes notice of every minor aspect to improve your skills.
Some points are common, yet there are genuine facts & information to be appreciated, In all its gonna definatly make you better than before.
Go for it !
Some points are common, yet there are genuine facts & information to be appreciated, In all its gonna definatly make you better than before.
Go for it !
July 19, 2015
I learning some good presentation tips in this book. Just wish it hadn't taken me so long to finish, as I've forgotten some of the tips. (Kindle books are a little harder for me to flip through for refreshers.)
September 23, 2012
Based on good psychology - this book is full of information you need to know if you give presentations! I think it is a once a year read - so I don't forget the great advice it contains.
Read
March 30, 2019I keep this on my desk at all times. For someone who works in user experience design, and especially in research, this book is a must. It breaks down psychological principles into easy to understand and fun to read bits of information. I mentor UX designers and I always recommend this to anyone who is looking to break into UX or who currently works in the field and wants to understand more about human behavior.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews