I don’t think it’s exaggerated to say that the mentality in public speaking coaching and oratory coaching is fairly conservative. After all, many of the techniques that are taught today were developed by some guys in togas before year one of our calendar!
But the world has changed a lot since then, and recent technology advances have opened new exciting possibilities for public presentation training. One of these technologies is virtual reality.
In 2009, the year when TED decided to launch its TEDx license program, Prezi was born out of the desire to overcome the limitations of tools like PowerPoint and Keynote. With its dramatic zooming and panning effects, it certainly did catch the eye of audiences worldwide when it was introduced. But its over-reliance on movement effects quickly became a visual nuisance, making the audience feel as if they had been on a boat caught in a category 10 hurricane.
By now, the last episode of the cult show Game of Thrones has aired. I haven’t seen it, and I didn’t want to see it before writing this article. Whether it accurately follows the storyline of the books or not is a moot point, because said book hasn’t been written yet. And it shows. I won’t spoil anything, don’t worry. But everyone noticed that the screenwriting of the seasons that could rely on George R.
Most conferences are fairly boring. Even well-known tech conferences fail to engage their audiences all the time. But medical conferences can be among the worst. Check out this quick interview between Ideas on Stage, new partners with Doctors 2.0 & You, and Denise Silber to find out how to take medical (and other) events to the next level.
Our friend Ross Fisher, a paediatric surgeon based in the UK, has had enough of poor medical communication, and when he’s not operating, he spends time educating doctors about a better way to present.
Case study of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts’ 2018 General Managers conference in Regensdorf, Switzerland.
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The Story It was a cool September morning in Paris when my colleague and I sat down in a stylish hotel dining room to meet a Mr. Olivier Chavy, President of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts.
Before 8:00am we jumped right into business: Olivier’s vision and objectives for the spring 2018 general managers conference. “We want people to leave with the sensation ‘wow, I am really proud to work for this company’,” emphasized Chavy.
A big part of the way many companies sell is to create a presentation that shows the complex benefits of the solution they are offering.
But even great businesses — which are very good at what they do — often lack the ability to clearly share their message to their target audience using presentations.
There are many reasons why people and companies want to improve their presentations but at the heart of it what they really want is to win more deals, get more customers and sell more.
Why would people care about your product?
Why would people care about your service?
Why would people care about your project?
Why would people care about your career?
Why would people care about your investment?
Why would people care about your discovery?
Why would people care about your research?
Why would people care about your videos?
Why would people care about your book?
Why would people care about your ideas?
“You have to speak slower!”
This advice is a staple of oratory coaching. But I think it is sometimes given by coaches without thinking about the consequences, and that it can actually do more bad than good. Let me explain why.
The first reason is simply that not every speaker needs to speak slowly. Speaking slowly is done for several reasons, such as increasing the perceived gravitas (authority) or allowing the public to digest complex information more easily.
