Techie Talks How Technical Experts Become Powerful Presenters Alison Kemp Download free books at Alison Kemp Techie Talks How Technical Experts Become Powerful Presenters Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Techie Talks: How Technical Experts Become Powerful Presenters 1st edition © 2013 Alison Kemp & bookboon.com ISBN 978-87-403-0451-0 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Techie Talks Contents Contents Introduction 1 Seven Common myths torn to shreds When Presentations are a Plus 11 2.1 Suggested scenarios for presentations 11 2.2 What’s in it for you? 11 Preparation and Planning 12 3.1 Defining the Subject 3.2 Audience and Situation Profile 3.3 Set the Key Message/Audience Motivator 3.4 Easy structuring of the content 360° thinking 12 12 22 23 4 The Spice Rack™: The 14 Ways To Grab And Keep Your Audience 28 4.1 29 Structuring, in a nutshell 360° thinking 360° thinking Discover the truth at www.deloitte.ca/careers © Deloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities Discover the truth at www.deloitte.ca/careers Deloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities © Deloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities Discover the truth at www.deloitte.ca/careers Click on the ad to read more Download free eBooks at bookboon.com © Deloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities Dis Techie Talks Contents 30 Why this system works 6 Techniques to keep the flow to your content 31 7 Killer language, verbal craft and magic moves 32 7.1 Killer Language 32 7.2 The Verbal Magic 33 7.3 Magic Moves: How to physically influence your audience’s opinion 34 8 Practising Your Presentation 35 8.1 Loud and proud 35 8.2 Using Notes 35 9 How to control nerves and get into the zone 36 9.1 36 Posture Check 9.2 Face 36 9.3 Breathing Exercises 37 9.4 Calming the Mind 37 Increase your impact with MSM Executive Education For almost 60 years Maastricht School of Management has been enhancing the management capacity of professionals and organizations around the world through state-of-the-art management education Our broad range of Open Enrollment Executive Programs offers you a unique interactive, stimulating and multicultural learning experience Be prepared for tomorrow’s management challenges and apply today For more information, visit www.msm.nl or contact us at +31 43 38 70 808 or via admissions@msm.nl For more information, visit www.msm.nl or contact us at +31 43 38 70 808 the globally networked management school or via admissions@msm.nl Executive Education-170x115-B2.indd 18-08-11 15:13 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more Techie Talks Contents 10 Get control, clarity and colour into your voice 39 10.1 Being heard 39 10.2 Keeping your audience with you 39 10.3 Pace 39 10.4 40 Using Vocal Emphasis to speak with greater Conviction 11 Using Confident Body Language 41 11.1 Creating a strong presence 41 11.2 Moving naturally 41 11.3 Move to Relax and Signpost 42 11.4 Personal Eye Contact 42 12 How to deal with ‘blanking’ 43 13 The 5-minute deal maker 44 14 Presenting Using PowerPoint 45 14.1 Do 45 14.2 Don’t 45 14.3 46 Visual tips GOT-THE-ENERGY-TO-LEAD.COM We believe that energy suppliers should be renewable, too We are therefore looking for enthusiastic new colleagues with plenty of ideas who want to join RWE in changing the world Visit us online to find out what we are offering and how we are working together to ensure the energy of the future Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more Techie Talks Contents 14.3.1 Diagrams: The wreckless and the refined 46 14.4 Fonts – Titles 48 14.5 Fonts – body 48 14.6 Progress Bar 49 14.7 Colours 49 14.8 49 Flip Charts 15 Managing the Question and Answer Session 50 15.1 Keeping control 50 15.2 Saving time and breath! 51 15.3 When there are no questions 51 15.4 The golden rules for dealing with difficult questioners 51 15.5 Strategies for dealing with difficult questions 52 16 Following up after your presentation 55 16.1 Continuing your development 56 17 About the Author 58 With us you can shape the future Every single day For more information go to: www.eon-career.com Your energy shapes the future Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more Techie Talks Introduction Introduction Most presenters forget the key reason to speak to others is to persuade, changing minds – and hearts: a change that results in action Experiences of listening and watching others drone on like monotonous graph-huggers, have instilled in others a deep fear of sleep inducing monologues and a revelation of personal flaws This has been exacerbated in some areas by the ‘Steve Jobs’ effect where so many of the people I meet – in IT especially – seem to hold him up as the only role model for presenting, a god of the spoken word, a guru of the business stage He did a great job but his contexts were very specific and suited his personality Steve Ballmer, of Microsoft, bounces around like he’s taken an amphetamine and caffeine mix You’d never have seen Jobs that, but it works – for Ballmer – and his audience’s love it Watch Jennifer Healey on Ted.com here and you’ll another version of what an excellent communicator does with speaking in public The core here is that they are true to themselves but deliver according to their audience’s needs and what the situation demands of them Those with the know-how in Technology, Finance and Engineering have realised that their knowledge can only be communicated if they engage with their audiences, and not with a data onslaught This short book is especially aimed at taking the pain out of presenting based on my workshops and coaching sessions with technical experts over the years This guide will cover: • Physical and mental preparation that doesn’t mean an hour of mediation and a gym membership; • How to make your message match your audience; • Speedy and efficient preparation – on the hoof (no need to lock yourself in a room for hours); • The principles of delivering with impact; • How to make the most of the opportunities that a presentation brings Presentations take practice However, if you don’t want to consolidate bad habits but develop good ones so you they become second nature then you’d definitely benefit from a mentor or coach To benefit from honest feedback and discover the most effective methods for your own needs, get in touch with me here Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Techie Talks Seven Common myths torn to shreds 1 Seven Common myths torn to shreds So, let’s start with three of the most common misconceptions amongst technical experts regarding presenting: There’s no point in me presenting, when there’s someone more senior/more experienced who can it Technology is the backbone of business and sharing your knowledge serves this relationship From a personal point of view, your experience is different but no less valid than those who are more senior in age or familiar with a role The reason you have been chosen is because of a combination of your technological knowhow and your ability to communicate this to others They’ll be waiting for me to mess up Nobody is wishing you’d deliver a bad presentation Have you ever gone to a presentation wanting the speaker to be uninteresting? Probably not Your audience want you to succeed Of course, sometimes you will get difficult members of the audience, or challenging groups but we’ll cover that later I’ll have to become some sort of ‘performer’ to present Actually, you can be more ‘you’ than you usually allow yourself to be After a day speaking in hushed tones in an open plan office, ensuring your voice does not impede the soundspace of others, projecting your character with less restraint may, ironically, feel more unnatural People start to feel comfortable with ‘normal’: a normal they’ve learned from adapting behaviour in certain environments that may be to the detriment of communicating clearly and with conviction Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Techie Talks Seven Common myths torn to shreds To be an effective presenter does not mean being someone else It means being the version of you that can easily connect with others, in a way that does not feel forced or contrived Do I need to begin with a joke? Unless you are a professional stand-up comedian and can link humour with your content, use the Spice Rack™ on PAGE 28 to begin your presentation Jokes depend on culture and personality, so they may fall flat with some if not all of your audience Cracking quips also depends on timing, a concept that is hard to judge when you are coping with the AV system, your nerves and the content Humour, however, is different: it is often the by-product of a familiar situation For example, showing a child weeping at a blackboard full of algebra could raise a smile with audiences as most people can relate to that pain When you add, “This is how your clients often feel when you’re explaining why something isn’t working,” thereby using humour to drive the point home through encouraging a situation familiar to many, without running the risk of trying to be funny for its own sake Nerves are bad I need to get rid of them Really? Performers are often worried if they aren’t nervous The point is for you to control the nerves, rather than having the nerves control you Adrenalin can help you to think quicker and add dynamism to your delivery, certainly something to be happy about Steve Jobs used to practice his presentations for hours Do I have to? Steve Jobs learnt to present: inspiring communication was what he nurtured Nolan Bushnell, who ran Atari in the 1970s, actually found that he irritated the other developers to such an extent, he had Jobs working nights Driving his message home with passion and engagement, is a skill Jobs honed Practise until you get it right and can improvise confidently when it doesn’t – without sacrificing message and impact For some this comes more naturally but the more you this, the better you will become However, get coaching and honest feedback along the way, to ensure that you are consolidating good habits rather than setting bad ones into the stone Start with the slides and then decide what you’re going to say about them Most people start with the 376 PowerPoint slides and build their message around that When planning your content, go analogue: decide your subject, key message, content Then, and only after you’ve decided what you’re going to say, decide if you need slides at all A quote, a story or a prop may be more effective 10 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Techie Talks The 5-minute deal maker 13 The 5-minute deal maker Question: I’ve got to persuade my boss to follow a strategy in a meeting that’s coming up How can I persuade him quickly that what we need to is a good idea? Answer: Go for the PROEP Model of persuasion Proposal (Outline): We need to bring in more Sales people alongside the Tech teams for Calypso Reasons (3 max!): We’ll have easier access to a large market Objections: (inc cost, time, effort Remember to build in a way of countering those objections): I understand that the upfront costs may seem off-putting Although many of our teams are great on-site, they’re not up-selling and cross-selling at the rate we’d like We’d get more business with less hassle with a specialist or two I know that many Sales people brush the IT teams up the wrong way but with someone who’s got a proven record at winning business in our sector and sells our skills accurately, we’d see profits without the pain I can get in touch with Tech Talent Recruitment that could find just the right people for us Evidence: [Our Competitor] has had a dedicated team just selling Murex services to the finance sector Although they started months ago, they’ve seen 56% profit in the last months Proposal: So, in my view, taking on more Business Development expertise could potentially double our profits within half a year A note about ‘Evidence’: This depends on how any one individual tends to be persuaded Consider that any of the following points could be evidence: a) Something similar you’ve achieved before; b) Something someone else has achieved before; c) Statistics: projected or otherwise d) The sight of something – a picture/walkabout etc There are more but this will cover most persuasive arguments Making a suggestion which shows recognition of any objections and how you could counter them will fend off much of the hesitation to proceed and allow you to put a plan into action quicker 44 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Techie Talks Presenting Using PowerPoint 14 Presenting Using PowerPoint PowerPoint is a visual and just one item on the Spice Rack™ If you need it, then take into account these rules to make the best use so that it doesn’t become an onslaught of bullet points, dry data and confusing graphs that muddy your message 14.1 Do remember that you are your most important visual aid; move within your space – to give yourself a more confident presence; take your time to change slides – pause and allow the audience to take in what is on the screen before speaking; keep the text down to a minimum – it will allow you more opportunity for your own value added input Research has shown that ideas are much more likely to be remembered if they are presented as pictures instead of words or pictures paired with words Think about a presentation you’ve attended where you have remembered a slide with bullet points It would probably be less effort to recall a captivating image Psychologists call this the Picture Superiority Effect (PSE), the point of which is thus: If information is presented orally, people remember about 10% of the content 72 hours later That figure goes up to 65% if you add a picture; include colour and visuals to add variety to your slides; ensure you have tested the equipment before the presentation; find out if the screen is front or back lit otherwise your head could become the projection screen; have as many visuals as you need PowerPoint has the same effect as a film soundtrack When you watch a film you rarely have any awareness of how many tracks were played in the film until you see the credits This is because the music and content are so integral to each other, you not see or hear them as one entity Likewise, there’s never such thing as ‘too many slides’, as long as your message is loud and clear 14.2 Don’t say too much/read everything on the screen – consider the impact on your audience; direct your presentation to the screen with your back to the audience; rush through the slides – one per minute is the fastest you should go; stay rooted to the spot – anchored to your PC/OHP – try to step away when you speak to define your space – you will appear more in control; 45 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Techie Talks Presenting Using PowerPoint use PowerPoint as prompt cards Use your prompt cards to prompt you and visuals to bang home you point to the audience For those who want the detail, offer it as handouts or print out PDF versions of the slides so that your audience can take notes 14.3 Visual tips Pie charts are good for showing how resources are split and bar graphs clearly show comparison Scatter graphs show trends over a period of time Whatever diagrams you use, make sure your audience can read the text 14.3.1 Diagrams: The wreckless and the refined 14.3.1.1 The wreckless Diagrams Gone Wrong Illegible Why am I here? Who’s the presenter again? Illegible What does this show Who’s the presenter again? What does this show Too much information Too many statistics What am I looking at? Why am I here? Too damn small What am I looking at? What’s that other chart? What’s that other chart? Too damn small Too confusing Too confusing It looks like a dart board It looks like a dart board Compare this with the uncluttered graph, as follows 46 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Techie Talks 14.3.1.2 Presenting Using PowerPoint The Refined Increase your impact with MSM Executive Education For almost 60 years Maastricht School of Management has been enhancing the management capacity of professionals and organizations around the world through state-of-the-art management education Our broad range of Open Enrollment Executive Programs offers you a unique interactive, stimulating and multicultural learning experience Be prepared for tomorrow’s management challenges and apply today For more information, visit www.msm.nl or contact us at +31 43 38 70 808 or via admissions@msm.nl For more information, visit www.msm.nl or contact us at +31 43 38 70 808 the globally networked management school or via admissions@msm.nl Executive Education-170x115-B2.indd 18-08-11 15:13 47 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more Techie Talks Presenting Using PowerPoint 14.3.1.3 The power of pictures Suzanne, the IT Director of a national retail organisation, knew her audience of in Marketing and Business Development where going to be challenging She flashed up her slide of huge white rhino: “So often,” she began, “The IT department are seen like this rhino: thick-skinned, short-sighted and charging all the time.” A picture saves a thousand words, or, at least, a slide of bullet points 14.4 Fonts – Titles Titles should be 36–44 and be as punchy as a newspaper headline: instead of the sheepish ‘Costs reduced by 43% last quarter’, write: ‘Costs Slashed’ 14.5 Fonts – body The body font is 28–32 In the example above, you could then have: 43% boldly standing out on the screen 48 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Techie Talks 14.6 Presenting Using PowerPoint Progress Bar Where are we? • It may help to add a progress bar • Audience knows where they’ve been • Where they are now (bold) • And what’s left … Introduction Colours & Fonts Slide density Progress bar Close 14.7 Colours Dark background, light Text Or light background, dark Text 14.8 Flip Charts It’s not time to ditch the flip charts yet! When you have a smaller audience, flip charts can be most useful They add a ‘real-time’ element instead of some pre-prepared speech You need to pause as you write – just as with the old Overhead Projector As the audience are unaware of what will unfold as your write, you create a sense of participation You can: • Fully or partially prepare your flip charts to save time • Leave a blank page between each sheet so that the wording doesn’t show through This way when you have finished speaking about that visual, you can draw the audience’s attention back to you 49 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Techie Talks Managing the Question and Answer Session 15 Managing the Question and Answer Session 15.1 Keeping control State your ground rules in the opening of your presentation e.g say whether you are going to take questions at various points or at the end Note that if you allow people to ask questions during the presentation, you could lose your direction and end up dealing with issues that were not in your remit A statement such as, “We now have 10 minutes for questions,” helps to set expectations People are less likely to dominate with their queries if they know your time is limited Allow one question per person, to allow the questions to be equally shared around the audience Repeat questions from the audience to the rest of the audience It’s amazing how many presenters don’t this: they answer a question no-one else has heard and because the audience can’t follow the thread, they are confused or switch off Repeating the question buys you time to take it in and start thinking about how to respond GOT-THE-ENERGY-TO-LEAD.COM We believe that energy suppliers should be renewable, too We are therefore looking for enthusiastic new colleagues with plenty of ideas who want to join RWE in changing the world Visit us online to find out what we are offering and how we are working together to ensure the energy of the future 50 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more Techie Talks Managing the Question and Answer Session If you don’t want surprises, get people to email in questions before the presentation Then it’s easier to respond to difficult questions on the day, “This needs more consideration I’ll get back to you on this if you give me your email afterwards.” Beware the question which is actually an opinion If you hear this, you can recognise it as such and reply “Thank you for your thoughts on this You obviously had a bad/good experience.” Then move on One that’s often used by a client of mine, a Financial Director is, “That’s interesting.” He then add, “Any questions?” diverting his attention away from the speaker, thereby acknowledging without entering a debate realise it’s OK to bring on others to deal with the Q & A: someone good at thinking on their feet or a specialist in a certain area may be someone who’d be useful to deal with this 10 Consider using a facilitator to weed out the best questions and interpret them if they’re unclear 15.2 Saving time and breath! If a question needs greater consideration or a more detailed response, ask the questioner to email you their query If they genuinely want to know the answer, they will email you If not, they won’t Questions can keep on coming, even though you should be going Try this to end: “That’s a good question Unfortunately, we’re running out of time and it deserves a longer answer than I can give you in 10 seconds Can you grab me at break? It’ll be easier for me to give you a fuller response then.” 15.3 When there are no questions Sometimes, however, you ask ‘Are they any questions?’ and you’re greeted by silence The atmosphere falls as flat as a pancake Respond by asking yourself a great question: “Before we finish, a question I’m often asked is…,” then give your brilliant response and end! 15.4 The golden rules for dealing with difficult questioners Position yourself in the direction of the questioner When you’ve dealt with their query move away and break eye contact It’s a subtle but effective way of saying you’re done with this question Even with idiotic, aggressive or sarcastic questioners, maintain grace and dignity An audience will respect you for not being provoked and you will look more confident Repeating or rephrasing the question, gives you time to think up a response Your answers need to be simple and succinct It’s not another presentation With complex answers, bring in your key message so the audience can hear the point in the detail 51 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Techie Talks Managing the Question and Answer Session Pause, B R E A T H E and look away if you need to, before answering a hostile question This will give you time to collect your thoughts Then focus on eliciting the facts Emotion might be directed at you, but it’s unlikely to be about you Many hostile or aggressive questioners are likely to be seated in any of the following areas: • At the back – for anonymity • On the speaker’s left hand side • In the middle – especially if the questioner is surrounded by ‘supporters’ If you have the freedom to this, walking towards members of the audience prevents other aggressive questions You add this to any of the following techniques to stem the flow: a) Have a microphone that’s passed around the audience It takes time to reach people so by the time it reaches the questioner, that member of the audience would have decided whether their question needs to be asked, or edited b) Ask everyone to stand up and announce their names before asking questions This way, their anonymity is blown Offer to take potential arguments out of the public domain The audience will side with the underdog That means if you argue and deliver a biting put down that a questioner may ‘deserve’, your audience will still side with them not you 15.5 Strategies for dealing with difficult questions 15.5.1 Rephrase Rephrasing the question gives you time to work out your response and to take very negative words out of the atmosphere For example, “Why are your products bad?” To take that phrase out of the ether, you reply with: “So, you’re disappointed with what you’ve bought.” After this, you’d probably need to go on to redirecting 15.5.2 Redirect When you need to get to the bottom of an experience on which the questioner has drawn assumptions, answering a question with a question, can be useful It will also help you when you don’t have a clue how to answer: “How you think this could work?” 52 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Techie Talks Managing the Question and Answer Session “How you think it might work?” or “How would you like it to work?” Make sure your body language and vocal intonation looks confident – maintain eye contact and keep gesture direct, with no fidgeting 15.5.3 Refocus To divert yourself from questions that might seem irrelevant, or tricky, being able to refocus your questions is a useful skill to acquire And simple To this in a fluent and credible way, build a bridge between the actual question and the response you give Typical bridges are: “The real issue here is…” “The essential question to ask is…” “If we look at the big picture…” 15.5.4.1 Refocusing questions that are really statements or accusations “How could any effective manager renege on a promise to stall redundancy after a merger?” (Translation: “You betrayed us.” ) With us you can shape the future Every single day For more information go to: www.eon-career.com Your energy shapes the future 53 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more Techie Talks Managing the Question and Answer Session Example bridge: “If we look at the bigger picture, we may begin to understand why this is happening to all of us…” Note: the phrase “all of us” implies that this is nothing personal but is a situation that is more general, and the result of larger forces 15.5.4.2 Trick or ‘Set-Up’ Questions “Does your plan omit consultant responsibility for patient care because you think it is only the ward staff that is accountable or because you’re afraid of the consultants?” Problem: as the responder, you are forced into one of two answers, both of which could misrepresent the truth Example bridge: “The important element to remember here is,”…to refocus on what you want to convey rather than on the issues that the questioner wants to air 15.5.4.3 Hypothetical Questions “What if the targets fall below your expectations?” Questions like this can drag you into a long, theoretical debate Refocus to move the questioning on and reinforce the issues relating to your presentation today Example bridge: “There are a number of factors we need to address before we can answer that, the main one today is…” 5.5.4.4 Multiple Part Questions Often a question can be multi-layered, either because the questioner is trying to find the question or because they’re trying to ask several questions and once to get their money’s worth! Refocusing is useful here in that it saves everyone time and helps the questioner to focus Pick on one question, from the parts and stick to answering that only Example bridge: “The essential question to ask is…” “So there are several questions here Let me start with the first one…” 54 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Techie Talks Following up after your presentatio 16 Following up after your presentation The presentation may feel like a main course but often it’s the starter: the prelude to actually doing business In conferences, you may have so many speakers that they all blend into each other so make yourself stand out and keep in the minds of your audience and influencers Here are several ways that you can this: Send a thank you note to the organisers An email is good, a handwritten note even better simply because they’re more unusual and reflect a personal touch Call the organisers to get feedback from them personally and ensure that you get feedback from the attendees Note that it’s common practice to have the names of attendees in lieu of payment You can: use slideshare.com to post slides to them (the transcript of the slides appears underneath) post a survey Surveymonkey.com can this easily and send it out to social networks send an opt-in form to register interest in products or services Research has shown that by getting people to indicate interest before you start ‘the sell’, sales can increase by as much as 50% (If you want to know more about this phenomenon, read Chapter 14 of ‘Yes! 50 Secrets from the Science of Persuasion’ by Goldstein/Martin/Cialdini) write a blog or, even better, have a member of the audience write and post one for you if you don’t have time Sharing your knowledge with their audience, means that you can then catch it in your own blog, in the time it takes to buckle a belt offer a follow-up webinar with a small group, individuals who want to go further into the details arrange one to one’s with interested individuals or individuals you’re interested in meeting up with (scanning the audience list for opportunities before the presentation will allow you to catch your prey!) catch names of attendees and have them on your mailing list so you can keep them as warm leads, instead of waiting for them to go ‘cold’ set up and invite attendees to a forum – online or offline – to exchange ideas and opinions about your content One or any combination of the above can help you to benefit from the opportunity of presenting so, no matter what happens on the day, you can still seize the moment and maintain the momentum 55 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Techie Talks 16.1 Following up after your presentatio Continuing your development • Read aloud into a voice recorder for a couple of minutes a few times a week This will help you to develop vocal colour and control • Use friends and colleagues to run through ideas and content of any presentations • Be aware in meetings and during social occasions of how you use gesture and emphasis • Each time you present, focus on a specific aspect of content or delivery to improve • Practise your breathing exercises in your daily life – in the car, at your desk, as you’re walking down the street… • Read aloud to children • When you’ve given a presentation, write down three positive aspects about your experience and one area you want to improve next time • Get feedback from others and listen to it: if someone compliments you, believe it That’s how self-confidence and positive energy develop Honest feedback and coaching will also knock out bad habits and give you the techniques specific to your situation A few extra resources: You’ll find resources for increasing your personal impact, management and interpersonal skills (or to deal with the shortfall in others!) at www.switchvision.co.uk …and of course you can contact Switchvision on +44 20 7183 4300 (international) or 020 7183 4300 (from the UK) to find out more Apart from the references in the previous chapters, you might want to have a quick look at these: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/04/the-hierarchy-of-presentations.html where Seth Godin explains his hierarchy of situations where presentations are necessary and while we’re on to Seth, go to: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/01/really_bad_powe.html where he talks about really bad PowerPoint If you absolutely must, have a read of this to discover the presentation secrets of Steve Jobs, but remember these refer to particular types of situations: http://www.slideshare.net/cvgallo/the-presentation-secretsof-steve-jobs-2609477 56 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Techie Talks Following up after your presentatio And to conclude More than just a good speaker… Practise what you’re learned in this course and you’ll find that you not only get better at Presentation Skills but also: • You’ll convey a clearer and more memorable message • You’ll have more impact as a communicator • Your overall confidence and presence will increase 57 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Techie Talks About the Author 17 About the Author Alison Kemp runs Switchvision www.switchvision.co.uk, where she and her team give training and coaching to technical teams and individuals on interpersonal communications Switchvision has brought its interactive, enlightening training and coaching experiences to many companies including The Co-operative, The Crown Estate, Shell and Kaspersky Anti-Virus Alison also works for Cass Business School, part of London City University, for whom she develops courses on Inter-cultural communication, graduate training and interpersonal skills training for technical experts Before setting up Switchvision, Alison trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in Performance and Teaching She then set up two theatre schools for children and adults and went to Turkey where she trained clients in Presentation Skills in companies including Siemens and BP Alison had three books of plays for children published, performed in cabaret and in films, and led seminars to teachers and trainers on learning through drama, throughout Turkey The fact that Switchvision’s coaching and training is not only fun but makes the intangible mysteries of communicating into concrete skills that can be learned and nurtured, is a relief and source of freedom and confidence to her clients, allowing them to make real impact in their professional – and personal – lives Communication and Creative Transformation for Technical Experts 58 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com ...Alison Kemp Techie Talks How Technical Experts Become Powerful Presenters Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Techie Talks: How Technical Experts Become Powerful... 2013 Alison Kemp & bookboon.com ISBN 978-87-403-0451-0 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Techie Talks Contents Contents Introduction 1 Seven Common myths torn to shreds When Presentations... more Download free eBooks at bookboon.com © Deloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities Dis Techie Talks Contents 30 Why this system works 6 Techniques to keep the flow to your content 31 7 Killer