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January 4, 2010 by Jerry
The Wall Street Journal recently asked several novelists to discuss their creative processes. Their methods were as varied as their literary styles, ranging from preferred writing materials to favorite venues and even to the most productive times of day. But all of the writers shared one common technique: they all compose many drafts of their work. One of the foremost proponents of rewriting is John Irving, the author of the bestselling novel, The World According to Garp, and 14 other novels, including his most recent, Last Night in Twisted River. Although Irving was not among those interviewed for the
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December 21, 2009 by Jerry
“Brevity is the soul of wit,” said Polonius, the sage royal advisor in Hamlet, in response to the king’s request for his opinion. William Shakespeare had his 17th Century character use “wit” to mean intelligence rather than its current usage to mean clever humor. But just as the definition of wit has shifted over time, so has the definition of brevity. There are far too many presentations—and even more conversations—that go on and on and on, warranting the impatient accusation, “Tell me the time, not how to build a clock!” In presentations, nowhere is verbosity more frequently perpetrated than
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December 16, 2009 by Jerry
In 1873, John Godfrey Saxe, an American poet, published a poem based on an ancient Indian fable about six blind men who were asked to describe an elephant by touch. One man said it was a wall, another a spear, another a snake, another a tree, another a fan, and the sixth man called it a rope. The last stanza of the poem concludes: And so these men of Indostan Disputed loud and long,
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December 14, 2009 by Pearl
It’s that time of the year again when décor shops spring to life with all the glitters and sparkles for the rapidly-approaching holiday season. I don’t know how you react, but as soon as I set foot in such a shop, I can’t help but to perform a full 360 degree twirl on my feet; just as I did when I was a child walking into Disneyland for the very first time. As much as I enjoy taking in all the glory of the holiday season in these stores, the experience can also be a bit overwhelming⎯especially
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December 9, 2009 by Jerry
In a prime time speech delivered at the United States Military Academy at West Point last week, President Barack Obama committed 30,000 more troops to fight the war in Afghanistan. His decision was consistent with a policy he had stated during his campaign for the presidency in 2007: I did not oppose all wars, I said. I was a strong supporter of the war in Afghanistan. And then stated again in 2008: We have to understand that the situation is
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December 7, 2009 by Jerry
On January 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 took off from National Airport in Washington D.C. during a blinding snowstorm and suddenly plunged into the Potomac River, killing 74 passengers. Only five people survived the crash, one of them was a woman who owed her life to the courageous efforts of a federal employee named Lenny Skutnik. Skutnik, who was on his way home from work at the fateful moment, dove into the icy waters, swam to the woman’s rescue and, in doing so, became a catalyst for a speaking technique used by every U.S. president from Ronald Reagan
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December 2, 2009 by Jerry
In the prior post you read about the importance of making every presentation you ever give fresh and alive with customization. This important technique is applicable to one-time presentations or to multiple iterations of the same presentation. There are seven ways you can customize: 1. Direct Reference. Refer to one or more members of your audience by name. If you can, mention a well-known fact or figure about that person or his or her company or market. “Just before the
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November 30, 2009 by Jerry
Businesses trying to capture attention in today’s media-saturated marketplace have at their disposal a vast arsenal of bells, whistles and tools to support the delivery of their messages. They use high definition video, live web connections and theatrical staging to create “Big Tent” presentations that have taken PowerPoint slide shows to a new level. In the process, presenters have become programmed performers and their presentations have become canned. The end result is an event that has all the character of a fishbowl, where the presenter and the audience are separated by an impermeable glass wall. Unfortunately, this same separation
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November 18, 2009 by Nichole
The Power Presentations blog began a hiatus on Monday, November 15. We will resume on Monday, November 30 with a new article, All the Bells and Whistles: Human Touch versus Technology Touch. Subsequent titles of articles to come are: The Elephant The Whole of the Presentation Is Greater Than the Sum of the Parts Human Interest Stories: A Double Advantage Two Ways to Use Anecdotes Effectively Human Interest Stories II: A Double-edged Sword When to and Not to Use Anecdotes
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November 13, 2009 by Jerry
Last Sunday, the New York Times ran an article by Peter Baker, their political correspondent, who questioned whether President Barack Obama’s widely-recognized oratorical skills were being diluted by overexposure. Baker tracked the increasing frequency of the number of times presidents speak publicly from Harry S. Truman’s average of 88 times in a typical year, to Ronald Reagan’s average of 320 times, to Bill Clinton’s average of 550 times. Obama, who speaks five or six times a day in what Baker calls a “hyperactive media environment…is on pace to match Mr. Clinton and likely exceed him.” Of course, the controversy
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