2018 has been a great year for 2-Minute Talk Tips, and I got to talk with some amazing people from around the world for the show, This week, I pull together the initial tip from each guest into a single episode. If you want to listen to the whole episode each tip came from or explore the guest’s background, click in the link below. Episode Guest Tip…
2-Minute Tip: Choose Your Headline As you frame your talk, make sure you choose the headline for it. Flip through a newspaper or magazine and look at the headlines. Their job is to give you a little bit of information in a way that is compelling enough that you want to read more. They have to be short. They can be funny, But when you define the headlines…
2-Minute Tip: Thread a story through your talk Figure out how to tell a story in your talk. Story telling is a powerful tool and is a great way to engage your audience from the moment you step in front of the crowd. Don’t stop at opening with the story, though. Weave that same story through your talk and keep coming back to it, either to reference it…
2-Minute Tip: Connect with your Audience Often you don’t need to adopt a high energy approach and dance around the stage. Focus instead on making a connection with your audience. Share stories. Help them see the things they have in common with you. That makes your presentation more credible and memorable. Post Tip Discussion: Meet NursePreneur Catie Harris I connected initially with Catie Harris through the work…
2-Minute Tip: Tell a Story to Add Value When presenting, we are often selling something. It may be a product, a service, or an idea. To be effective, though, don’t just go through a barrage of features or details. It’s the story that you can connect with your topic that gives it value. It’s the story you tell that your audience will respond to and remember. It’s the…
2-Minute Tip: Always Assume Your Screen is Showing I think we’ve all been in that meeting at one point where someone’s PC is connected to the projector and suddenly an embarrassing IM pops up. Or the meeting gets derailed by a 5-minute discussion about they’re wallpaper. There are lots of notifications that popup on our devices — meeting reminders, email previews, Skype notices, Windows 10 Action Center updates,…
2-Minute Tip: Play Your Videos Full Screen Including short videos in your presentation can be a great way to illustrate your points. They can be videos you shot of people, stock video, animations, or illustrations. If it’s valuable enough to include, make sure your audience can see it. Play it in full screen. The default for PowerPoint when you embed a video is for it to appear…
2-Minute Tip: Party AFTER Your Talk At the Hollywood Foreign Press Golden Globes Award Show, the alcohol flows freely. Many award recipients reach the podium under the influence, and that makes many of the speeches more entertaining. Of course we’re not laughing with the recipients; we’re laughing at them. That’s in stark contrast to the powerful speech delivered by a seemingly sober Oprah Winfrey. Alcohol at evening…
[podcast src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/5986912/height/0/width/0/theme/standard/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/forward/” height=”” width=”” placement=”bottom” theme=””] 2-Minute Tip: Watch for Keystone No matter how pretty your slides, they won’t look good if your projector isn’t set up properly. One common issue with data projectors is keystoning. When instead of a rectangle on your screen, you find a trapezoid, you have a keystone issue. The bottom of the image is narrower than the top. This shape is called a keystone…
[podcast src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/5871310/height/0/width/0/theme/standard/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/forward/” height=”” width=””] 2-Minute Tip: Dim the Lights The data projector/projector screen combo has been a mainstay of the AV setup in conference rooms for years, but it can still be hard to see the visuals. Data projectors have gotten brighter over the years, yet they still benefit from less ambient light. They tend to have a long lifecycle which means there are a lot of…