I was assisting a friend of mine in making CD backups of his
powerpoint presentation this past week. I was to Fed Ex them to
his hotel as a double protection in case his program got stolen
or damaged.
A very interesting thing happened. He was emailing me the files
to burn on CD for him and many of his photos were not showing up.
I kept getting the message on the bad slides, "QuickTime and a
Jpeg decompressor needed to view this slide" I already had
Quicktime on my computer and never have any trouble looking at
jpegs.
He had produced the presentation part on a Mac and Part on a PC
and had thoroughly tested the entire presentation on both the
Macs and PCs he had in his office. It's still a mystery what
actually happened, but to fix it he had to open the photos I was
having trouble with in Photoshop and then resave them.
Bottom line. It's a good idea to have a separate backup CD with
your presentation on it, and it's a GREAT idea to double check
those backups so you never get caught with your pants/skirt down.
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Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Public Speaking: The Keystone Effect
When a projector is not exactly on a level plain with a projection screen the projected image is not symmetrical. Most of the time the projector is lower than the screen so the top of the image is wider than the bottom of the image and looks like a"keystone."
Keystones are the top stone in an archway that holds the arch together sort of like a wedge. Many tripod type screens have the ability to tilt forward at the top which adjusts for the keystone effect. Look for a notched outpiece of metal that points toward the audience at the top of the screen where the screen hooks when it is unrolled from its holder.
Note: You are usually stuck when the screen is mounted on the wall or drops down from the ceiling
Trick for ceiling mounted screens -- Tie a heavy weight to the bottom of the screen and pull it back, which has the same effect as tilting the top forward. Many LCD projectors can adjust for keystone electronically. Make sure you read the onscreen menu, or heaven forbid, "the manual" to learn how to use this function.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Public Speaking: Add Weight
No I'm not promoting obesity. I'm referring to outdoor presentations.
If you are ever forced (I say "forced" because you should try to avoid outdoor presentations at all costs) to do an outdoor presentation, then make sure you have several different kinds of weights handy to help control your presentation. You might need a sand bag or dumbell to hold down the easel of your flipchart. How about taping some heavy coins to the bottom of the sheets and clamping the edges to keep the breeze from lifting up the pages?
Paperweights, or in a pinch, plain old rocks are great for holding down papers you have on a table on stage.What else do you commonly have with you on stage that could blow around in a breeze? Make sure it's secured. Ties and scarves that look gorgeous in a no wind hotel room look terrible and distracting when flapping in the wind.
Keep your weight up and you'll make the best of a windy situation.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Public Speaking: Blonde Jokes
How are a Budweiser beer bottle and a Blonde alike? They are both empty from the neck up.
Why does a Blonde keep empty beer bottles in her fridge? They are for those who don't drink!
What do you call a dead Blonde in a closet? 1984 hide and seek champ.
How did the Blonde die ice fishing? She got ran over by the Zamboni.
Why did the Blonde stare at a can of frozen orange juice? Because it said concentrate.
Why was the Blonde proud for finishing a puzzle in only six months? The box said "2 to 4 years!"
What did the Blonde say when she found out she was pregnant? "I wonder if it's mine?"
Why do Blondes always smile during lightning storms? They think their picture is being taken.
Why do Blondes have "TGIF" written on their shoes? Toes Go In First.
Why shouldn't Blondes have coffee breaks? It takes too long to retrain them.
Two Blondes observed in a parking lot trying to unlock the door of their Mercedes with a coat hanger. Linda: "I can't seem to get this door unlocked!" Sylvie: "Well, you'd better hurry up and try harder, its starting to rain and the top is down!"
How does a Blonde change a light bulb? She holds the bulb in the socket and waits for the world to go around.
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Why does a Blonde keep empty beer bottles in her fridge? They are for those who don't drink!
What do you call a dead Blonde in a closet? 1984 hide and seek champ.
How did the Blonde die ice fishing? She got ran over by the Zamboni.
Why did the Blonde stare at a can of frozen orange juice? Because it said concentrate.
Why was the Blonde proud for finishing a puzzle in only six months? The box said "2 to 4 years!"
What did the Blonde say when she found out she was pregnant? "I wonder if it's mine?"
Why do Blondes always smile during lightning storms? They think their picture is being taken.
Why do Blondes have "TGIF" written on their shoes? Toes Go In First.
Why shouldn't Blondes have coffee breaks? It takes too long to retrain them.
Two Blondes observed in a parking lot trying to unlock the door of their Mercedes with a coat hanger. Linda: "I can't seem to get this door unlocked!" Sylvie: "Well, you'd better hurry up and try harder, its starting to rain and the top is down!"
How does a Blonde change a light bulb? She holds the bulb in the socket and waits for the world to go around.
Get A full 30 Days Of Speaker Training For Only $5.00!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Public Speaking: Nicknames
You can have lots of fun with nicknames for people in the crowd
-- as long as you absolutely know they are OK with being teased.
I was recently a guest speaker at Randy Gage's speaker's
institute. Randy is well-known for being a snappy dresser and he
has no trouble letting you know that his clothes are expensive
and custom made in France, Italy, etc. I, on the other hand,
dress plainly with nothing too fancy or overly expensive.
We ended up bantering back and forth on various points of
professional level speaking and marketing and when one critical
point of contention was coming to a head I said, "Now listen
Armani boy." This brought down the house and became a running gag
throughout the rest of the event.
At another event Lynn Rose the fabulous singer, opened up he
convention right before I came on to speak. Late in my program, I
played a recording of a parody song with me as the singer.
Everyone loved it and I said, "Eat your heart out singer lady."
This doesn't sound very funny as you read it here, but I can
assure you it was at the time. Why? Because she was obviously a
top professional singer and I was a barely passable parody singer
that couldn't hold a candle to her excellence, yet I was acting
like I was a hot shot. Also, by using "singer lady" a nickname I
gave her, instead of her name I was further portraying my false
excellence and pretty much dissing her.
Note: For the above to work, I had to make it abundantly clear
that I was teasing and not serious.
You can also tell about your own nicknames you had as a child or
that you have now -- especially if they sound funny like "choo
choo" or have a funny story about how you got the nickname.
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-- as long as you absolutely know they are OK with being teased.
I was recently a guest speaker at Randy Gage's speaker's
institute. Randy is well-known for being a snappy dresser and he
has no trouble letting you know that his clothes are expensive
and custom made in France, Italy, etc. I, on the other hand,
dress plainly with nothing too fancy or overly expensive.
We ended up bantering back and forth on various points of
professional level speaking and marketing and when one critical
point of contention was coming to a head I said, "Now listen
Armani boy." This brought down the house and became a running gag
throughout the rest of the event.
At another event Lynn Rose the fabulous singer, opened up he
convention right before I came on to speak. Late in my program, I
played a recording of a parody song with me as the singer.
Everyone loved it and I said, "Eat your heart out singer lady."
This doesn't sound very funny as you read it here, but I can
assure you it was at the time. Why? Because she was obviously a
top professional singer and I was a barely passable parody singer
that couldn't hold a candle to her excellence, yet I was acting
like I was a hot shot. Also, by using "singer lady" a nickname I
gave her, instead of her name I was further portraying my false
excellence and pretty much dissing her.
Note: For the above to work, I had to make it abundantly clear
that I was teasing and not serious.
You can also tell about your own nicknames you had as a child or
that you have now -- especially if they sound funny like "choo
choo" or have a funny story about how you got the nickname.
Get A Full 30 Days of Public Speaking Training For Only $5.00!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Public Speaking: USE ALL THE SENSES
Audience members assimilate information in three different ways. Some people hear the information, some see the information, and some feel the information. Although most individuals switch their emphasis frequently, one style usually predominates for a given individual. The styles of information transfer are called respectively auditory, visual, and kinesthetic.
For you to connect with the most audience members, you should include information throughout your program that appeals to all three of these styles. People that are primarily visual assimilators may be daydreaming throughout the portions of your presentation where you are using only words to convey your information. They will perk-up when you use a visual aid such as an overhead, flip chart, or prop.
People that are kinesthetically oriented are looking for those words that describe feelings and that evoke emotions.They will also wake up and come to attention if you have them come up on stage with you and you shake hands with them or put your hand on their shoulder (not in Asia). Auditory assimilators might just love to hear you talk or they might like to hear a recording of JFK or some type of music.
When you plan your program so that auditory, kinesthetic, and visual elements are interspersed throughout, this will increase your chances of connecting with all the audience members and decrease the chance that old Mr. Sandman will come knocking on their heads.
Get A Full 30 Days Of Public Speaking Training For Only $5.00!
For you to connect with the most audience members, you should include information throughout your program that appeals to all three of these styles. People that are primarily visual assimilators may be daydreaming throughout the portions of your presentation where you are using only words to convey your information. They will perk-up when you use a visual aid such as an overhead, flip chart, or prop.
People that are kinesthetically oriented are looking for those words that describe feelings and that evoke emotions.They will also wake up and come to attention if you have them come up on stage with you and you shake hands with them or put your hand on their shoulder (not in Asia). Auditory assimilators might just love to hear you talk or they might like to hear a recording of JFK or some type of music.
When you plan your program so that auditory, kinesthetic, and visual elements are interspersed throughout, this will increase your chances of connecting with all the audience members and decrease the chance that old Mr. Sandman will come knocking on their heads.
Get A Full 30 Days Of Public Speaking Training For Only $5.00!
Monday, February 09, 2009
Public Speaking: Look At This Offer!
I have offered my Wake 'Em Up Video Professional Speaking System on eBay!
Times are tight right now so I thought I could save you a couple of bucks on this fantastic system. Click the link above to go directly to that page in my store.
Learn to make $5500 or more per speech!
Friday, February 06, 2009
Public Speaking: Automate, Automate, Automate
People comment to me all the time, "Tom, your name shows up
everywhere. How do you do it?" Basically I let my fingers do the
talking. I learned how to speed things up in my office by using
technology. I can think up promotions and distribute them world
wide in a matter of minutes. When you learn how to harness that
kind of power it is relatively easy to make your name show up in
more and more places.
Here are some ways to speed things up:
=> Learn how to use email filters so you don't have to wade
through tons of junk email.
=> Learn to use signature files to insert long strings of text
that you type frequently in your emails.
=> Learn to use the autotext feature in your word processor that
recognizes strings of frequently typed text and types the rest in
for you automatically.
=> Learn to use autoresponders which automatically respond to
customer inquiries 24 hours per day.
=> Learn to use sequential autoresponders to do multiple follow
up letters to your prospects again automatically.
=> Try out free programs like Short Keys Lite that will type any
text you want by pressing only two keys.
=> Use good list management software or a list management company
to control your email lists. (This saves me at least three hours
work every time I send out one of these ezines.)
=> Collect questions you field over and over and make a FAQ
(frequently asked question) page on your website and also
duplicate it in a signature file so you can email it to people.
everywhere. How do you do it?" Basically I let my fingers do the
talking. I learned how to speed things up in my office by using
technology. I can think up promotions and distribute them world
wide in a matter of minutes. When you learn how to harness that
kind of power it is relatively easy to make your name show up in
more and more places.
Here are some ways to speed things up:
=> Learn how to use email filters so you don't have to wade
through tons of junk email.
=> Learn to use signature files to insert long strings of text
that you type frequently in your emails.
=> Learn to use the autotext feature in your word processor that
recognizes strings of frequently typed text and types the rest in
for you automatically.
=> Learn to use autoresponders which automatically respond to
customer inquiries 24 hours per day.
=> Learn to use sequential autoresponders to do multiple follow
up letters to your prospects again automatically.
=> Try out free programs like Short Keys Lite that will type any
text you want by pressing only two keys.
=> Use good list management software or a list management company
to control your email lists. (This saves me at least three hours
work every time I send out one of these ezines.)
=> Collect questions you field over and over and make a FAQ
(frequently asked question) page on your website and also
duplicate it in a signature file so you can email it to people.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Public Speaking: Last Minute Practice
If you happen to be staying in a hotel in a room next to mine, it is very likely you would hear parts of my upcoming speech bellowing through the walls.
Even after the enormous number of presentations I've done I still practice my stories and various bits of material the night before my event. I heard Zig Ziglar saying that he does the same thing.
Unless you are speaking every day, it is almost impossible to stay razor sharp with your delivery. Being a keynote / large event speaker, I may go 90 - 120 days between times when I tell certain stories on stage. The last thing I want to do is flub up a line or bumble through a piece of material because I hadn't thought about it for a couple months.
Don't get cockey! Practice your material several times right before you do your speech and you'll have a much greater chance that each word will come out perfectly.
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Monday, February 02, 2009
I usually have notes hidden around the stage, but the audience never knows that I'm looking at them. I look at my notes that are lying flat on my table when:
1. The audience is laughing
2. When I'm pushing buttons on my laptop
3. When I walk past the table looking down and holding my chin as if I'm thinking.
4. When I go to the table to pick up a prop or piece of paper.
5. When the audience is watching short videos on the screen.
Some people tape their notes to the floor when they are on a raised stage, but I don't like that because you have to look down too often for no apparent reason. Another good trick is to lightly pencil in notes to yourself on the edge of flip chart pages. The audience can't see them, but you can when you are near the flipchart.
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