Innovative Presentations For Dummies

Book description

Be the speaker they follow with breakthrough innovative presentations

Innovative Presentations For Dummies is a practical guide to engaging your audience with superior, creative, and ultra-compelling presentations. Using clear language and a concise style, this book goes way beyond PowerPoint to enable you to reimagine, reinvent, and remake your presentations. Learn how to stimulate, capture, and hold your audience in the palm of your hand with sound, sight, and touch, and get up to speed on the latest presentation design methods that make you a speaker who gets audiences committed and acting upon your requests. This resource delves into desktop publishing skills, online presentations, analyzing your audience, and delivers fresh, new tips, tricks, and techniques that help you present with confidence and raw power.

Focused and innovative presentations are an essential part of doing business, and most importantly, getting business. Competition, technology, and the ever-tightening economy have made out-presenting your competitors more important than ever. Globally, an estimated 350 PowerPoint presentations are given every second. When it's your turn, you need to go high above and far beyond to stand out from the pack, and Innovative Presentations For Dummies provides a winning game plan. The book includes extensive advice on the visual aspect of presentations and, more importantly, it teaches you how to analyze your audience and speak directly to them. A personalized approach combined with stunning visuals and full sensory engagement makes for a winning presentation.

  • Learn how to be an innovative, not just "effective" presenter in any situation

  • Understand how to read and cater to specific audiences

  • Create captivating visual materials using technology and props

  • Creative customize presentations to best communicate with audiences

  • More and more employees are being called upon to make presentations, with or without prior training. With step-by-step instruction, vivid examples and ideas and a 360-degree approach to presentations, Innovative Presentations For Dummies will help to drastically improve your presentation outcomes as never before.

    Table of contents

      1. Introduction
        1. About This Book
        2. Foolish Assumptions
        3. Icons Used in This Book
        4. Beyond the Book
        5. Where to Go from Here
      2. Part I: Getting Started with Innovative Presentations
        1. Chapter 1: Winning Traits of Innovative Presentations
          1. Understanding the Different Types of Business Presentations
          2. Finding Common Characteristics of Consistently Winning Presentations
            1. Factoring for effectiveness and efficiency
            2. Remembering the Five Cs: Being clear, concise, compelling, captivating, and convincing
          3. Combining the Message, Messenger, and Medium
            1. Creating the message
            2. Prepping the messenger
            3. Choosing the medium
        2. Chapter 2: Communicating Innovatively
          1. Changing with the Times
            1. Defining innovation
            2. What it means to be an innovator
            3. Why innovation matters to business
          2. Describing the Innovative Presentation
            1. Using the innovation process
            2. Re-imaging, reinventing, and remaking your presentations
            3. Choosing evolutionary or revolutionary
            4. Deciding when to be innovative
            5. Applying innovation to business presentations
            6. Mixing low tech and high creativity for sales
            7. Latching onto ideas and examples
        3. Chapter 3: Coming Across as a Consummate Presenter
          1. Being the Messenger and Message
            1. Identifying the qualities of a consummate presenter
            2. Advancing your skills
          2. Projecting Your Desired Image
            1. Pursuing the ideal image
          3. Incorporating Innovative Competencies
      3. Part II: The Secrets of Presentation Success
        1. Chapter 4: Analyzing and Focusing on Your Audience
          1. Doing Your Research
          2. Understanding Your Audience
            1. Targeting the four dominant personality types
            2. Building credibility and trust
          3. Getting to Know the Four Personality Types
            1. Director personality
            2. Thinker personality
            3. Energizer personality
            4. Affable personality
          4. Presenting to a Mixed Group of Personality Types
            1. Scoping out the crowd
            2. Warming up the room
            3. Appealing to the entire crowd in your presentation
        2. Chapter 5: Planning Your Winning Strategy
          1. Planning for Success
            1. Setting goals: What do you want to achieve?
            2. Creating objectives for your strategy to fulfill
          2. Crafting a Winning Strategy
            1. Preparing for the worst
            2. Learning by example
        3. Chapter 6: Creating Compelling Content
          1. Getting Your Content Up to Par
            1. Determining your content’s purpose
            2. Covering your points in priority order
            3. Navigating content
          2. Adding Variety and Impact
            1. Using facts
            2. Giving examples
            3. Citing references
            4. Telling stories
            5. Going by the numbers
            6. Quoting experts
            7. Contrasting and comparing
            8. Giving demonstrations
            9. Defining terms
            10. Answering rhetorical questions
            11. Explaining yourself
            12. Making assumptions
            13. Showing testimonials
            14. Making analogies
        4. Chapter 7: Honing Your Platform Skills
          1. Using Your Voice to Command Attention
            1. Rule 1: Speak out loud
            2. Rule 2: Project your voice — without shouting
            3. Rule 3: Vary your volume
            4. Speaking softly
            5. Adjusting your rate
            6. Adding a solid punch to a statement
            7. Pausing eloquently
          2. Captivating Audiences with Your Eyes
            1. Understanding the importance of eye contact
            2. Speaking with your eyes
            3. Keeping eye contact with a large audience
          3. Finding the Right Posture
            1. Giving a bad impression with the wrong posture
            2. Standing tall
            3. Rocking and rolling
            4. Moving gracefully and purposefully
          4. Making the Right Facial Expressions
          5. Gesturing Creatively
            1. Exploring gesture types
            2. Making a grand gesture
            3. Eliminating distracting gestures
        5. Chapter 8: Choosing Resources and Rehearsing Your Presentation
          1. Considering the (Re)source
            1. Making a list, checking it twice
            2. Making room for improvement
          2. Practicing Makes Perfect
            1. Taking every opportunity to practice
            2. Recording yourself
            3. Rehearsing is not practicing
      4. Part III: Giving a Great Presentation
        1. Chapter 9: Captivating Your Audience
          1. Touching on the Laws of Communication Impact
          2. Starting with the Law of Primacy
          3. Starting Off on the Right Foot
            1. Making a dynamic first impression
            2. Using mild-to-wild creativity
          4. Building Your Introduction
            1. Sticking with tradition
            2. Spicing it up
            3. Engaging the audience with questions
            4. Adding a little humor
            5. Setting the stage
            6. Starting out bold and interesting
            7. Phrasing transitions
        2. Chapter 10: Keeping Your Audience on the Edge of Their Seats
          1. Standing and Shouting Out: The Law of Emphasis and Intensity
            1. Comparing and contrasting
            2. Changing your voice
            3. Adding pizzazz
            4. Highlighting specific aspects
            5. Using special effects
            6. Telling a story
            7. Demonstrating your point
            8. Propping up
            9. Tech-ing out
          2. Involving Your Audience: The Law of Exercise and Engagement
            1. Involving the audience
            2. Encouraging interaction
          3. Hitting Their Hot Buttons: The Law of Interest
          4. Facing the Consequences: The Law of Effect
        3. Chapter 11: Ending on a High Note
          1. Concluding Effectively: The Law of Recency
          2. Impacting Your Audience Right to the End
            1. Conclude, don’t include
            2. Signal that the end is near
            3. End it already
            4. Be neither meek nor weak
            5. Leave with a strong message
          3. Giving a Tactical Conclusion
            1. Repeating a theme (with a twist)
            2. Leaving them smiling
            3. Offering impressive incentives
          4. Engineering Your Conclusion with Building Blocks
            1. Ending with motivation and inspiration
            2. Advocating a new strategic approach and direction
            3. Giving the audience a happy ending
            4. Offering an informational conclusion
        4. Chapter 12: Reminding Your Audience of Your Message
          1. Driving Your Message Home
            1. Finding repetitive balance
            2. Using verbatim repetition
            3. Creating 360 degrees of repetition
        5. Chapter 13: Dealing with Questions, Resistance, and Audience Hostility
          1. Taking Advantage of Questions
            1. Planning, preparing, and rehearsing
            2. Getting the ball rolling
            3. Taking it step by step
            4. Responding when you don’t know the answer
            5. Handling loaded or attack questions
          2. Dealing with Distractions, Problem People, and Resistance
            1. Talking on the side
            2. Deflating windbags
            3. Handling phones during presentations
            4. Staying in charge
            5. Dealing with objections
            6. Handling reluctance to change or start something new
            7. Strategizing to overcome objections
      5. Part IV: Mixing Creativity and Technology
        1. Chapter 14: Reinventing How You Create and Use Multimedia Visuals
          1. Appealing to Your Audience’s Sensory Perception
            1. Conveying concept, solution, experience, and feeling
            2. Showing and telling
          2. Choosing Visuals Wisely
            1. Relating words and visual elements
            2. Building and directing the flow of information
          3. Highlighting and Emphasizing Points
            1. Using color
            2. Stylizing text
            3. Pointing and circling
          4. Adding Variety and Interest
            1. Incorporating custom video
            2. Creating custom animations
            3. Using stock media
        2. Chapter 15: Using Presentation Board Systems, Flip Charts, and Props
          1. Stepping Up to the Presentation Board
            1. Using presentation boards to your benefit
            2. Reaching out to your audience
            3. Choosing the right board style
          2. Presenting at a Poster Session
            1. Borrowing from poster people
          3. Considering Your Display Options
            1. Using tabletop displays
            2. Making attractive, active displays
            3. Tinkering with quick, inexpensive displays
          4. Propping Up Your Audience’s Interest
            1. Watching props in action
            2. Printing 3-D prototypes
          5. Flipping over Flip Charts
        3. Chapter 16: Winning Proposals and Presentation Handouts
          1. Creating Stunning Proposals
            1. Taking the competition to lunch
            2. Igniting profits for your customer
            3. Revving up market share and profits
            4. Painting a vision for bigger market share and profits
            5. Creating proposal cans and boxes
            6. Checking out other examples
            7. Adding multimedia
          2. Giving Out Effective Presentation Handouts
            1. Designing and using handouts
            2. Adding originality, punch, and creativity to your handouts
        4. Chapter 17: Going Beyond Bullets on Slides
          1. Thinking in a Nonlinear Way
            1. Preparing for every possible situation
            2. Responding to specific requests
          2. Choosing the Best App for You
            1. Working online or offline
            2. Incorporating existing materials
            3. Reviewing available app options
        5. Chapter 18: Selecting and Setting Up Hardware
          1. Determining the Best Equipment Setup for the Situation
            1. Presenting one-on-one
            2. Presenting to a small group in your conference room
            3. Presenting to a small group in their conference room
            4. Presenting at a training session
            5. Presenting at a conference or as part of a panel
            6. Presenting a keynote speech
            7. Presenting at a webinar or online meeting
          2. Keeping Your Devices Presentation Ready
          3. Using State-of-the-Art Projection Equipment
          4. Connecting to a Projector or Monitor
            1. Controlling the show from your tablet or smartphone
            2. Bringing offsite guests online
            3. Using your tablet as a teleprompter
        6. Chapter 19: Visiting the Future Today
          1. Incorporating New Technology
            1. Augmenting reality
            2. Gesturing and gesticulating
            3. Demonstrating prototypes
          2. Taking Your Presentation Online
            1. Meeting virtually
            2. Sharing presentations
            3. Presenting remotely
      6. Part V: Tailoring the Message
        1. Chapter 20: Giving an Opportunities, Results, and Benefits Presentation
          1. Focusing on Your Client’s Needs and Wants
            1. Interpreting needs analysis and interviews
            2. Covering key priorities in order
          2. Giving Your OR&B Presentation
            1. Listing options
            2. Comparing to competitors
        2. Chapter 21: Presenting to Executives andDecision Makers for SurefireWins
          1. Surveying the Decision Makers
          2. Structuring Your Presentation
            1. Keeping it simple
            2. Projecting confidence and flexibility
            3. Being a master of your topic
            4. Rehearsing your lines
          3. Considering Content
            1. Discussing additional details
            2. Coming up with solutions to problems
        3. Chapter 22: Condensing Your Pitch: The Elevator-Ride Approach
          1. Making the Most of Your Sound Bite
            1. Describing what you do
            2. Developing a concise, compelling pitch
            3. Testing your pitch
          2. Minding Your Business
            1. Customizing your pitch
            2. Using your elevator pitch in other circumstances
        4. Chapter 23: Presenting as an Impressive Team
          1. Defining a Quality Team Presentation
          2. Making the Team
            1. Passing the baton
            2. Sitting on the bench
            3. Avoiding common mistakes
          3. Rehearsing Your Lines
            1. Planning your rehearsals
            2. Finalizing the presentation with a dress rehearsal
          4. Planning for Ultimate Success
            1. Giving background information
            2. Creating a strong outline
            3. Focusing on priorities
            4. Implementing a timeline
            5. Preparing for the worst
            6. Creating support materials
      7. Part VI: The Part of Tens
        1. Chapter 24: Ten Traits of Innovative Presenters
          1. Coherence
          2. Curiosity
          3. Enthusiasm
          4. Generosity
          5. Honesty
          6. Humility
          7. Innovative
          8. Preparedness
          9. Punctuality
          10. Rehearsed
        2. Chapter 25: Almost Ten Reminders from the Laws of Communication Impact
          1. Law of Primacy
          2. Law of Emphasis and Intensity
          3. Law of Exercise and Engagement
          4. Law of Interest
          5. Law of Effect
          6. Law of Recency
          7. Law of Repetition
      8. About the Authors
      9. Cheat Sheet
      10. More Dummies Products

    Product information

    • Title: Innovative Presentations For Dummies
    • Author(s): Barbara Boyd, Ray Anthony
    • Release date: June 2014
    • Publisher(s): For Dummies
    • ISBN: 9781118856659