The next installment of The Better Presenter workshop is this Thursday afternoon, May 10th, so come join us! We’ll be meeting in the Parnassus Library. There are still a few open seats. Visit our online calendar to register. The workshop is interactive and a great way to begin exploring new ideas in presenting!
Please note: This workshop is for UCSF students, faculty and staff only. If you have any questions, please contact us.
You have been presenting for much longer than you think. The first presentation you gave was a big success, despite the fact that you spent absolutely no time preparing, didn’t even consider building a PowerPoint slide show, and likely had SpaghettiO’s crust on your face during the whole presentation. Don’t you remember? It was one of the best days of the entire school year. It was show-and-tell day! I dare say that your presentation style has changed a bit since then.
In many ways, kids can teach us grow-ups a lot about being better presenters. Check out the videos below and then we’ll discuss after the jump.
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TEDMED 2012 was simulcast to 2000 locations across the country last week, including UCSF. I was able to view a number of sessions, and paid close attention the presenters and their delivery. I was curious to see how these industry leaders would present their innovative ideas to a large audience. Would they use PowerPoint? Would they use the traditional lecture method? Would they use props, humor, or metaphors? Would the audience be given the opportunity to participate?
For the most part, the presentations were examples of good practice, but there were also a few examples of bad practice. I have identified 10 notable Do’s and Don’ts, and present these to you in the list below. We can learn a great deal from observing other presenters, especially during a showcase event like TEDMED. I encourage you to share your own thoughts in the comments section at the end of this post!
Can’t make it to D.C. next week for TEDMED? Don’t worry, because we’ve got you covered! The event is going to be streamed live, at multiple locations across our UCSF campuses, April 10th – 13th. I highly recommend taking advantage of this opportunity. TEDMED attracts dynamic, cutting-edge thinkers from around the globe.
As we saw in part 1, many students think the standard lecture format is boring, even more so when bulleted PowerPoint slides are read to them aloud (no surprise there!). Faculty were listening, and here is a highlight video of their responses:
What happens when you give college students the opportunity to share what they really think about their instructor’s lectures? Well, this may come as no surprise, but you tend to get answers like this, “I feel that the majority of my lectures are boring, and the inspiring lectures are in the minority.” The Chronicle of Higher Education asked students these questions, as part of their Lecture Fail project. Here is a highlight video of the responses they received:
Contrary to popular belief, PowerPoint isn’t the only slide show creation application in town. There are other apps available, some that live in the cloud, and some that are free to use. PowerPoint is arguably the most powerful app with the most features, but it’s not necessarily the best tool for every job. Furthermore, most of these other apps allow you to “save as” to other formats, making it easy to port your presentation from one app to another with minimal compatibility issues. Here’s a roundup of popular PowerPoint alternatives! Continue reading
Come join us at the Mission Bay library computer lab on Thursday (03/08/12) for our live The Better Presenter workshop. There are a few spots still open. We’ll be in CC-151, from 2:00 – 4:30pm. Click here to register.
Workshop description: We have all fallen victim to presentations that leave us bored and confused. In this workshop, you will learn to become a better presenter and create slideshows that enhance your presentations, not detract from them. You will develop an understanding of why templates are bad, and stories are good. Other topics include proper use of images and basic design principles. Please bring an open mind and a presentation that you’d like to enhance. Please note: We will discuss techniques that you can apply to presentation tools such as PowerPoint, but this workshop will not teach you how to use PowerPoint. Open to UCSF faculty, staff, and students only.
We hope to see you there!
TED.com is a great resource for inspiration. TED (technology, entertainment and design) is a non-profit organization that facilitates a series of global conferences during which the world’s leading minds present their ideas. On TED.com, you can watch hundreds of presentations from the conferences for free. There are number of health and health care presentations to explore.
This one in particular caught my eye: TED.com – A Doctor’s Touch. I challenge you to explore these presentation videos, and then compare/contrast their delivery and design style with “typical PowerPoint” presentations that you are accustomed to. Please provide your thoughts in the comments area below!
This question has been asked many times in The Better Presenter workshops: “How do I keep from getting nervous right before I have to present?!” We’ve all been there, and we know that stage fright can adversely affect our ability to speak clearly and naturally to an audience (see part 1). I have been conducting workshops and making presentations for more than a decade, and in my experience, you cannot avoid stage fright completely. You can, however, minimize its affects, and even use it to your advantage. Here are my top-ten techniques for overcoming stage fright: