Lee Jackson - Online and Offline Motivational Speaker and Presentation Coach in organisations, businesses and education.

Lee Jackson is an Award-Winning Motivational Speaker and Presentation Coach working in organisations businesses and education to help people Get Good® - his style is engaging, authentic and jargon free.

CALL LEE NOW: 0113 2170081
EMAIL: lee@leejackson.org
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Sick of bad stock photos for your slides? Try Death To The Stock Photo…

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As we all get more and more sick of those sickly photos of people with headsets on, pointing longingly into the distance – there is help at hand!

There are many new photo stock sites now, to replace the bad stock photos, where you can get free and premium photos for use on your slides or blogs and in my humble opinion Death To The Stock Photo is one of the best.

It’s an ethical business, a kind of hipster co-op where the photographers get a good share of the money and it’s only $15 a month for full access. A no brainer when you want something a little different.

An example of a great image from DeathtoStock…

936 death to the stock photo dot com

As it’s library grows, it’ll be unstoppable, I’m sure.

Have a look now – http://deathtothestockphoto.com

Using stock photos on your slides that don’t suck!

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Stock photos are a tricky one.

They can be great, they can be woeful…

bad stock photos for slides!

I talk about them alot in my PowerPoint Surgery Q&A’s.

Here’s a nice article I found on Medium to help us all find some that don’t suck…

The list includes my current favourite Death to the Stock Photo

See below for a big list of free (but pls check!) images…

Plus 74 (!) more here c/o the nice people at http://Canva.com  

PowerPoint surgery Online Masterclass is now live – saving the world from Death by Powerpoint!

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Well, I’ve gone and done it!

After the success of my PowerPoint Surgery book and training sessions I have spent the last few months writing, developing, filming and pulling together the PowerPoint Surgery Online Masterclass, and I’m proud to say it’s now live:

Grab your free video now by visiting www.powerpointsurgery.com

Powerpoint Surgery Live – Weds 25th June, Bradford, West Yorkshire

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powerpoint surgery

Yes, I’ve done it!

Powerpoint Surgery is going live on Weds 25th June (not an England match!) and you are invited:

See more info and book now here.

Powerpoint* Surgery Live – How to make great slides + your message stick!

Wednesday, 25 June 2014 from 10:00 to 15:30 (BST) Bradford, United Kingdom

Event Details….

Do you want to be a more effective speaker?

Do you want to know how to create and deliver great presentation slides from scratch?

Got a big presentation coming up?

Do your slides need a make-over?

Do you want to stand out from the crowd to get your message across more effectively?
Then this day is for you…

Bad Powerpoint* (and boring presentations) are everywhere! It appears that they have almost become the norm and very few people seem to want to talk about it.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

Bad presentations are costly. They can cost money, jobs and reputations, don’t let your slides ruin your pitch.

In this funny, cut-to-the-chase and down-to-earth day, professional speaker Lee Jackson will wean you and your workplace off bad slides forever. He’ll also teach you how good presentation slides can work for you and help you stand out from the crowd. Using these simple techniques we can kill death by bullet-point once and for all.

JOIN THE FIGHT TODAY!

The reality is that most people get NO training on how to present and create great slides, until now.

After five years of research, two years of writing and now with an Amazon best selling* book under his belt, Lee Jackson’s Powerpoint Surgery is going LIVE!

Lee is a leading expert (and author) on presentation slide design (Microsoft Powerpoint and Apple Keynote etc). A powerpoint surgeon if you like! He is often called upon to help redesign and consult on the presentations / slides of SME’s, corporates, executives and speakers for maximum impact.

Don’t let your slides be an after thought, let them enhance your presentation!
On the day you will learn:

the Philosophy

the Preparation

and the Practical…

…stuff needed to simply create great presentation slides.

You will also learn some tricks of the trade to prepare and present with confidence from Lee, a professional speaker with over 20 years experience delivering to some of the toughest audiences.

Come prepared to laugh, learn and takeaway new skills to transfom your presentations forever.

Nothing too technical, just the good stuff you need.


What others say…

“Since appearing on BBC1?s The Apprentice I have become a regular on the speaking circuit. After 2 years I felt I need a refresh and some ‘oomph’ – who better to seek advice from than Lee Jackson! A pleasure to work with, informative and inspirational, and the outcome has been super. My slides are spot on and the knock-on effect to my presentations has been second to none. He’s now become my presentation consultant!”
Claire Young

“In his easy-going and creative style, Lee has helped our lawyers with presentation skills achieving great results for both the lawyers’ confidence and the audience’s entertainment.”
Wrigley’s Solicitors

“Lee has worked with us as a presentation consultant to make our nation-wide communications meetings the best they can be. There were some great conclusions from his consultation work. The main change has been that we are weaning the presenters off wordy slides and the presenters are now being challenged to learn their script. He was friendly, professional and very knowledgeable on presentation skills and PowerPoint / slide design. We look forward to working with him again.”
Specsavers
VERY IMPORTANT…

The price of this event is being kept to rock bottom because the whole event is being filmed for future use. So when you buy a ticket you give Lee Jackson consent to using your good self on any future videos, you can of course sit at the back and hide away or you can put your glad rags on and go for it!

Please also bring your laptop for use during the exercises – if you are coming with a colleagues one between two will be fine. Also you may want to bring a USB data stick too just in case.

Video testimonials will also be asked for in the course of the day. If you are able to help us that would be great, as we take this vital content further afield.

 

Answers to FAQ’s:

Will this clash with an England World Cup match?

No, thats the night before! Come and get cheered up!

Does this day mean I have to use Microsoft Powerpoint?

Absolutely not!

*Powerpoint is a generic term for presentation software. so if you use Microsoft Powerpoint, Apple Keynote, Haiku Deck, Slideshark, Open Office or anything else – it’s all relevant. But Lee will work from Keynote and PPoint on laptops on the day for demo purposes.)

Can Lee ‘tweak’ my slides for me on the day?

Yes, Lee is looking for volunteers to send their slides ahead of time so he can do live surgery on them! He’ll be very nice to you!

Email them through on lee@leejackson(remove these brackets!).biz
Where is it?

The first ever Powerpoint Surgery Live day is going to be held in the conference faculties of TLG in Bradford. A spacious clean conference room will be our home for the day thanks to Lee’s friends:

TLG The Education Charity

National Support Centre

Hope Park

Bradford

BD5 8HH

(If using a Sat Nav to find your way to TLG, please use the postcode BD5 8HW)

Parking?

There is some parking avaiable at the TLG builnng or you can park near the building. Please park sensibly.

Food and drink?

A hot buffet lunch and drinks on arrival / mid afternoon are included in the special low ticket price.

Certifcate?

A certificate of attendance will be available to those who’d like one for proof of training.

Refunds?

Refunds are not accepted but a replacement person can be sent or you can transfer your ticket to a later date without further charge.

 

Please bring a paper print out of your ticket to the event just in case!


More about Lee: 

Short biog:
Lee Jackson is an international speaker, Powerpoint Surgeon, presentation coach and author of seven books. Having worked in the voluntary, public and private sectors over the years he now works in businesses and education helping people to enjoy and succeed in challenging times. He is also a fellow of, and President of the Professional Speaking Association in Yorkshire.  He lives with his wife and twins in West Yorkshire. He loves a good laugh, boxercise and basketball. He doesn’t like gardening. His website is www.leejackson.biz his twitter account is @leejackson

Long biog for the hugely keen:
Lee Jackson is a Motivational Speaker, Powerpoint Surgeon and Presentation Coach. Born in the North East of England, now residing in Leeds. ‘Lee from Leeds’ is a multi-generational and creative communicator, with 20 years of experience. Lee has spent his life and work researching and speaking in many different settings such as prisons, schools, a cruise ship (just the once – no sea legs!), organisations and businesses. He isn’t a “celebrity” speaker, he’s never bungee jumped (while playing the nose flute!) from the summit of Everest, he doesn’t have an Olympic gold medal – in fact he doesn’t even like camping very much. However, you’ll be glad to know that people say he is a great speaker with original content based on solid research, not random or fluffy ideas. He’s a “common sense” speaker (which is defined by Merriam-Webster as, “sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.”)

Lee happily divides his time between working with both adults and young people. After all with 20 years experience in this field it will always be a part of his life. His creative, funny and truly multi-media presentations are a welcome break from ‘flip chart overload’ and ‘death by power point’. His stories make people say “Yeah, that’s me as well!”.

He is a Fellow of the Professional Speaking Association and it’s President in the Yorkshire region. Lee is also the author of eight books and loves circuit training, boxercise and playing/watching basketball. He lives with his wife and twin daughters in West Yorkshire.

Random fact – he used to be one of the UK’s best hip hop scratch DJ’s! More useful fact – people don’t fall asleep and he keeps to time when speaking!

Here are just some of the people and organisations that Lee has worked with over the years:

Specsavers, ADT, Schools and academies, Many top Universities including Leeds and Durham, Austin Hayes Ltd, Gateshead Council, Career Academies UK, The Global Speakers Summit, TEDx , Telegraph ad Argus Newspaper, FE colleges, Tribal group, BNI and many other networking organisations, Agilisys, Many voluntary / third sector organisations, Common Purpose, Watson Moore, Adobe, Asda, Leeds City Council, SalesChannel Europe, Leeds Federated Housing, Wrigleys solicitors, Barclays, Addleshaw Goddard LLP, Vodafone, Firmstep, Wakefield Council, Government office for Yorkshire and Humber, Co-operative Insurance, TV stars, Elected politicians, Comedians, Olympic gold medalists, Yorkshire Bank, Leeds, York and Bradford NHS trusts, A group of Vicars (!) A cruise ship (!) and Lee even met the Dalai Lama once – he didn’t need any help though!
(*Genuinely Number 2 best-seller in ‘business life’ on Amazon Kindle during March 2014)

(*Powerpoint is a generic term for presentation software. so if you use Microsoft Powerpoint, Apple Keynote, Haiku Deck, Slideshark, Open Office or anything else – it’s all relevant. But Lee will work form Keynote and PP on the day.)

Do you have questions about Powerpoint* Surgery Live – How to make great slides + your message stick!? Contact Lee Jackson

Make your speech short… Six-Word Speech Contest results via SpeakerNet News

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SpeakerNet News
Six-Word Speech Contest

Here are the winners of the SpeakerNet News Six-Word Speech Contest, along with all of the submitted entries.

See how the contest was set up and run.

Where a number of entries fit into a topic or category, we grouped them together. The final category, “Other,” was for entries that preliminary judges liked, but where there weren’t enough on that same topic to have a separate category.

Grand Prize

  • Give wisdom away; it returns tenfold. (Charlie Hawkins)

This entry got more votes than any other in any category, so we wanted to give it special recognition.

Advice to Speakers

First Place

  • Stand up, be great, sit down. (Margaret McDonald)

Second Place

  • Check zipper. Open heart. Walk on. (Max Dixon)

Honorable Mention (in no particular order)

  • Speak eloquently, be funny, get paid (Doc Blakely)
  • Tell a better story: inspire change. (Rachel Prosser)
  • Explain persuasive visuals, don’t read slides (Dave Paradi)
  • Inspire me to listen to you (Patti Wood)
  • Quit adding value, start having impact. (Tim Durkin)
  • Be different or nobody remembers you (Jeff Hornstein)
  • Make us laugh – we’ll remember you. (Pamela Alexandra)
  • Tell me a story, I’ll listen. (Pamela Alexandra)
  • Want to work? Make ’em laugh (Victoria Maxwell)
  • Stories add poetry to your prose. (Kathy Reiffenstein)
  • Reading from PowerPoint slides brings snores. (Pamela Alexandra)
  • A speech without humor breeds boredom. (Pamela Alexandra)

About Speaking & Training

First Place

  • Model what you seek to teach. (Max Dixon)

Second Place

  • Don’t speak unless you improve silence (Jesus Nebot)

Honorable Mention (in no particular order)

  • Whoever tells the stories shapes society (Plato) (Gayl Murphy)
  • Presentations are verbal and visual ballets. (Kathy Reiffenstein)
  • It’s a joy watching people blossom. (Robert and Rande Davis Gedaliah)
  • Hungry old dogs learn new tricks (Dick Larkin)

About Life

First Place

  • Measure your life in lives touched. (Mark Black)

Second Place

  • We are each experiments in possibility (Rob Swineford)

Honorable Mention (in no particular order)

  • If exercise is fun, it’s done. (Rita Makana Risser)
  • Rewards received equate to risks taken. (Douglas Rice)
  • Gave up security; having more fun! (Milo Shapiro)
  • Life is a gift, cherish it! (Clark Roberts)
  • Life is a conversation with yourself. (Marvin Marshall)

Motivation

First Place

  • Change your thoughts, change your life! (Victoria Carvalho)

Second Place

  • Predict your future by designing it (Sharon Worsley)

Honorable Mention (in no particular order)

  • Don’t settle for less than wonderful. (Barbara Niven)
  • Everybody has the power of choice (Glenn Brandon Burke)
  • No more excuses. Make better choices. (Sam Silverstein)
  • Larry Winget: You’re broke, I’m not. Listen up (David Newman)

Writing & Communication

First Place

  • Never underestimate the power of words (Victoria Maxwell)

Second Place

  • Words are tools, be a technician (Joe Liss)

Honorable Mention (in no particular order)

  • Listening takes place between the ears. (Al Borowski)
  • One-way communication is an oxymoron. (Helen Wilkie)
  • Good business writing requires great editing. (Al Borowski)

Success

First Place

  • Daily discipline will determine your destiny (Lisa Ford)

Second Place

  • You’re in control of your choices. (Pat Altvater)

Honorable Mention (in no particular order)

  • Big ideas usually start out small. (Dave Balch)
  • Recession redemption…live simply, give generously. (Elaine Froese)
  • Wasted time can never be recycled (Cathy Emma)
  • Written goals are your treasure chest (Leanne Hoagland-Smith)
  • Believing in yourself leads to success. (Pamela Alexandra)
  • For success, make others feel important. (Bob Shaff)
  • Have higher standards, get higher results. (Jeffrey Scott)

Leadership

First Place

  • Employee appreciation isn’t a special event (Donna Cutting)

Second Place

  • True leaders share their lessons learned. (Shawna Schuh)

Honorable Mention (in no particular order)

  • Most disengaged workers were once engaged. (Terri Kabachnick)
  • Seek counsel, but decide for yourself. (Douglas Rice)
  • Pick a strategy, stick to it. (Douglas Rice)

Other

First Place

  • Give wisdom away; it returns tenfold. (Charlie Hawkins)

Second Place

  • Hope is not an investment strategy. (Douglas Rice)

Third Place

  • Net worth and self worth differ. (Douglas Rice)

Honorable Mention (in no particular order)

  • Customer loyalty is fleeting and subjective (Lisa Ford)
  • Exceptional service is no longer optional. (Laurie Brown)
  • Pamper your clients. Confound the competition. (Mitch Carnell)
  • Repeat customers are the most profitable (Dick Larkin)
  • Referred prospects make the best customers (Dick Larkin)
  • Social networking – come tweet with me. (Jim Carrillo)
  • No stress with three deep breaths. (Rita Makana Risser)
  • Stop whining. It hurts my ears! (Susanne Gaddis)
  • A closed mouth doesn’t get fed. (Peggy Duncan)
  • Only the visible get known. Really! (Roberta Guise)
  • Investing in the future is history (Doc Blakely)
  • Read people from the outside in. (Patti Wood)
  • Wear your jammies while educating people (Joe Liss)
  • Use brains before you use brawn (Bob Mittelsdorf)
  • The opposite of harassment is respect. (Rita Makana Risser)
  • Wrap your work around your lifestyle. (Cher Holton)
  • Your children will lead the world (Brian J. Donley)

All submitted speeches

Six-Word Speech Speaker’s Category Speaker
Make us laugh – we’ll remember you. Pamela Alexandra
Believing in yourself leads to success. Pamela Alexandra
A speech without humor breeds boredom. Pamela Alexandra
Tell me a story, I’ll listen. Pamela Alexandra
Reading from Powerpoint slides brings snores. Pamela Alexandra
Self-love paves the way to happiness. Pamela Alexandra
When speaking it’s not about you! Pamela Alexandra
Customer encounters spin positively or negatively! Customer Service Teresa Allen
Never the violin. Always the violinist PowerPoint Rick Altman
You’re in control of your choices. Inner Power Pat Altvater
Eliminate Operational Delays, Defects and Deviation. Lean Six Sigma Jay Arthur
Polite writing wins clients, contracts, friends Diane Autey
Get to the point. Get results. Diane Autey
Be there. Do it. Every time. Diane Autey
Be there. Be charming. Be gone. Diane Autey
Interest in others makes you interesting. Diane Autey
LinkedIn. Business networking at its best. Diane Autey
Twitter? I don’t give a tweet. Diane Autey
Passion and practice produce career success! Halelly Azulay
It feels good to be romantic. Dave Balch
Medically challenged people need coping skills. Dave Balch
Caregiving is harder than it seems. Dave Balch
Big ideas usually start out small. Dave Balch
Big ideas grow from small ideas. Dave Balch
Six word speech. Don’t do it. Michael Benidt & Sheryl Kay
Believe in self, success, and significance. motivation – inspiration Ty Bennett
Measure your life in lives touched. Mark Black
Never play leapfrog while wearing spurs Doc Blakely
Never slap a man chewing tobacco Doc Blakely
Shoot for the moon after dark Doc Blakely
Investing in the future is history Doc Blakely
Eat, drink and date Hallie Berry Doc Blakely
Speak eloquently, be funny, get paid Doc Blakely
Remember the Alamo, learn Spanish now Doc Blakely
Listening Takes Place Between the Ears. Al Borowski
Good Business Writing Requires Great Editing. Al Borowski
Successful Proposal Writing Avoids Boilerplate Pollution. Al Borowski
Perfection; no destination. A perfect process! Motivational Jim Bouchard
Wanna Grow? Ask For The Business! Bpgstripes
Exceptional service is no longer optional. Customer Service Laurie Brown
The Power of Choice determines everything! Glenn Brandon Burke
Everybody has The Power of Choice Glenn Brandon Burke
Never retract – Never explain – Never apologize. from Canadian feminist Nellie McClung Dick Caldwell
Keep focus, find balance, clarify motives. success Dick Caldwell
Lead with integrity. Listen with compassion. Leadership Mitch Carnell
Pamper your clients. Confound the competition. Sales Mitch Carnell
Speak with confidence. Reap the rewards. Speaking Mitch Carnell
Say something nice. Be a lifter. Motivation Mitch Carnell
Social Networking – Come Tweet with Me. Jim Carrillo
You are not what you own. decluttering Allison Carter
Not enough space equals too much stuff Organizing/Decluttering Allison Carter
Change your thoughts, change your life ! Motivation Victoria Carvalho
Negotiation: Communication to satisfaction–for everyone. Allie Casey
Communication: You can’t live without it. Allie Casey
To be heard: Shut-up and listen. Allie Casey
Success: To accomplish what you intended. Allie Casey
Wealth: Your measure of exchange value. Allie Casey
Make audiences laugh until they leak. Christine Cashen
Be outstanding or get involved elsewhere! Christine Cashen
Hearty Laughter, Happy Staff, Healthy Profits Staff Retention Phillipa Challis
Ideas come, ideas go, I remain. Maggie Chicoine
Great leaders are life long learners! Judy Clark
The little things make the difference. Kathy Condon
Recessions always end. Recovery? Plan now. Bill Conerly
Employee Appreciation Isn’t a Special Event Donna Cutting
Don’t Stop Before the Miracle! Customer Service Rosanne Dausilio
Everyone needs breathing space, especially you. Jeff Davidson
Tear your cubicles down, be happy! Motivational Design and Ergonomics Ralph DeAmicis
Provide Unique Value, Receive Big Benefits Internet Promotion Ted Demopoulos
Six words – near soliloquy for me Ted Demopoulos
Customer Retention: the new Sales Strategy. Chuck Dennis
2009’s Sales Strategy is Customer Retention. Chuck Dennis
Give life away to find it. Dan Diamond
In a crisis, make an altar. Max Dixon
Break the rules when necessary. Max Dixon
Live the life you pretend to. Max Dixon
Model what you seek to teach. Max Dixon
Move from stillness; speak from silence. Max Dixon
Check zipper. Open heart. Walk on. Max Dixon
Yes Dear! You are absolutely Correct! Happy Marriage Brian J. Donley
I apologize Profusely! Please forgive me! Successful Marriage Brian J. Donley
Please! Do what ever you want! Happy Child Brian J. Donley
Dad! No is not the answer! Smart Child Brian J. Donley
Yes Lord, Thy Will Be Done! Answer to Prayer Brian J. Donley
I will listen to MLM opportunity! True Friend Brian J. Donley
MLM, isn’t that a pyramid scheme? False Friend Brian J. Donley
Your children will lead the world Successful Salesman Brian J. Donley
50% off, guaranteed, sign here, OK! Unsuccessful Salesman Brian J. Donley
Let’s take a 20 minute break Successful Speaker Brian J. Donley
Sorry, A/C is not working today Unsuccessful Speaker Brian J. Donley
Your image will announce the outcome. Image Sandy Dumont
A closed mouth doesn’t get fed. Public Relations/Marketing Peggy Duncan
Think before you speak on paper. Sylvia Durant
Leaders provide light, managers provide heat leadership Tim Durkin
Talk less, listen more, sell tons sales Tim Durkin
When experience exceeds expectations, service excels customer service Tim Durkin
Quit adding value, start having impact. Motivational Tim Durkin
I’m too blessed to be stressed Relaxation Cathy Emma
Live, love, learn all you can Formula for Life Cathy Emma
Respect the contributions of all generations Generational Cathy Emma
Wasted time can never be recycled Time Management Cathy Emma
Where the majority rules, be different Uniqueness Cathy Emma
The truth simplifies, but dishonesty complicates Ethics Cathy Emma
I am here to entertain you. Bob Esposito
Write love letters. Send. Spread joy. Tresa Eyres
Creating a Word-of-Mouth Grapevine Networking Donna Fisher
Consciously Connecting and Contributing Cool Contacts Networking Donna Fisher
Daily discipline will determine your destiny Lisa Ford
Customer loyalty is fleeting and subjective Lisa Ford
Recession redemption…live simply, give generously. Elaine Froese
Stop whining. It hurts my ears! Susanne Gaddis
Plan. Focus. Execute. Win! Win! Win! Susanne Gaddis
Powerful speech main ingredient: Add shortening. Speechwriting Martin Galasso
Refine with key ingredient: Add shortening. Speechwriting Martin Galasso
Glitch-less technology, the speaker’s unfulfilled dream! Speaker Technology Patricia Gangi
If you use it, it’ll fail! Speaker Technology Patricia Gangi
Listen, don’t assume. Ask. Listen again! Counseling & Communication Skills. Joan Garrity
Do Something. Be Honest. Laugh More. James Gaskin
It’s a joy watching people blossom. Seminars Robert and Rande Davis Gedaliah
Proper bookkeeping procedures prevent business bankruptcies. Marie Gibson
Content, concisely delivered, wins the game! For InfoPreneurs Fred Gleeck
Do what you resolve to do. Motivation Sohan Gokarn
Know audience, know message, know speech. speeches Mark Greasley
Why oh why do we die ? life Mark Greasley
Make your move and stop pretending! motivation Mark Greasley
We fight to make us right! war Mark Greasley
Only the visible get known. Really! marketing Roberta Guise
The spotlight has been forever skewed. Jeffrey Hansler
Health-Esteem: You are worth being healthy! Judith Parker Harris
BlockBuster: Knock Yourself Out of Being Stuck Judith Parker Harris
Only you can make it grow Business Roger Harrop
Make meetings matter – clarify the purpose. Charlie Hawkins
Eye contact isn’t optional – it’s critical. Charlie Hawkins
Get invited back by providing value. Charlie Hawkins
Give wisdom away; it returns tenfold. Charlie Hawkins
Look Inside To See Results Outside Visualize Success Derrick Hayes
She had cancer. He was caregiver Kate Helfman
Motivational speakers are like professional wrestlers. Joe Heuer
Speaker speaking with speakers about speaking. Ralph Hillman
Stop Spraying and Praying, Improve Results Sales Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Captain Wing It Not in Sales Sales Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Written goals are your treasure chest Sales Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Wrap your work around your lifestyle. Work/Life Enrichment Cher Holton
We help people remember inner truths. Speakers Cher Holton
Customer Service: It ‘is’ your business! Bob Hooey
Leadership Success: Lead by example! Bob Hooey
Selling Success: profitably power your business! Bob Hooey
Speaking Success: Heart and head connection. Bob Hooey
Team Work: Solid foundations for success. Bob Hooey
Present yourself well or die trying Jeff Hornstein
Speak to influence or don’t speak Jeff Hornstein
Be different or nobody remembers you Jeff Hornstein
Who hates audience participation? Raise hands. Teven Hunt
Don’t criticize. Ever. Please. Thank you. Relationships Janet L. Jacobsen
Fell off the stage. He bombed. Cheewa James
It’s how you recover, not mistakes. Cheewa James
Handkerchiefs pulled. Mascara running. I scored. Cheewa James
The shadow of optimism is denial. Leadership Dave Jensen
Life: Give yourself permission to succeed. Noah St. John
It’s time to change the paradigm! Traditional Medicine Maureen Minnehan Jones
For Profits You Need People. Period. Terri Kabachnick
They quit but manage to stay. Terri Kabachnick
Before you begin, begin with you. Terri Kabachnick
Business IS people – people have lives. Terri Kabachnick
Your best people leave you first. Terri Kabachnick
Most disengaged workers were once engaged. Terri Kabachnick
My personal motto: Back to Nature nurture our Future Melody Kiang
Bad speakers are paid hush money. Speaker paychecks John Kinde
A speaker who plagiarizes is paid in counterfeit money. Speaker paychecks John Kinde
Futurists are never paid in currency. Speaker paychecks John Kinde
Works well until the audience arrives. Microphone Allen Klein
We can choose what we believe. W. R. (Bill) Klemm
How you behave affects your thinking. W. R. (Bill) Klemm
Excuses are fig leafs for behavior. W. R. (Bill) Klemm
You are what you repeatedly do. W. R. (Bill) Klemm
Life is a lot like golf. W. R. (Bill) Klemm
Live by the inch, not yard. W. R. (Bill) Klemm
Positive attitudes can become self-fullfilling prophecies. W. R. (Bill) Klemm
You find happiness by not seeking it. W. R. (Bill) Klemm
Passionate people produce prosperity and perspicacity. Success Charles Kovess
Full house. Great speech. Standing ovation. Mitch Krayton
Returns OF investment trump ON investment Finance Dick Larkin
Hungry old dogs learn new tricks Training Dick Larkin
Sell something people want to buy Marketing Dick Larkin
Failure is both option and teacher Marketing Dick Larkin
Repeat customers are the most profitable Marketing Dick Larkin
catchy tunes are the best teachers Marketing Dick Larkin
Stop the eye, start the sale Marketing Dick Larkin
Use fewer words, make bigger sales Marketing Dick Larkin
Referred prospects make the best customers Marketing Dick Larkin
Focus on what you can do. Mark LeBlanc
Just open your ears to see. Nancy Lininger
Vice versa can set you straight. Nancy Lininger
Practice works best over and over. Nancy Lininger
Live intentionally to create abundant possibilities. Cathy Liska
Obama bipartisanship: I won, you lost Joe Liss
Bush foreign policy: My gun’s bigger, dude Joe Liss
Power: What every politician wants Joe Liss
Email: black and white communication Joe Liss
Business building: Care for a referral? Joe Liss
Dogs: Loving creatures, no brains! Joe Liss
Yourself: Respect no matter what Joe Liss
Chemically induced sadness, take your medicine! Depression Joe Liss
Pinch the tails, suck the heads! Louisiana Crawfish Joe Liss
Big storm that changed my life Hurricane Katrina Joe Liss
Words are tools, be a technician Speakers Joe Liss
Figure them out? I give up! Women Joe Liss
Live for today, save for tomorrow Money and Life balance Joe Liss
Get 1/4 of what you give Love Joe Liss
Watch for fun, don’t be compulsive. TV Joe Liss
Oh my God, please help me! Prayer Joe Liss
Work hard, encourage others, stay positive Life Plan Joe Liss
Born with nothing, die with nothing Materiality Joe Liss
Score the most points and win! Games Joe Liss
When things get bad, fight back! Persistence Joe Liss
Used to have credibility, no more. Journalism Joe Liss
Function through the fear, collapse afterwards Courage Joe Liss
Get in front and stay there. Leadership Joe Liss
Good intentions without reality based ideas Liberals Joe Liss
One time liberal who got mugged! Conservative Joe Liss
Helping clients fix their hardest problems Consulting Joe Liss
Peak performance even if passion cools Discipline Joe Liss
Fame doesn’t always result in quality Famous Speakers Joe Liss
Usually lost once taken for granted Freedom Joe Liss
Meant to serve, not to rule Government Joe Liss
Mirrors reflecting who the parents are Kids Joe Liss
The music that stirs one’s soul! New Orleans Jazz Joe Liss
Blood on the floor justifies interruption Dianna Booher writing a book Joe Liss
White briefs on stage turn heads Marc Leblanc Joe Liss
He’s funny, but so politically incorrect! Dale Irvin Joe Liss
The benevolence we strive to emulate Cavett Robert Joe Liss
Silly songs that you don’t forget David Glickman Joe Liss
Weekly publication that stirs the juices SpeakerNetNews Joe Liss
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Don’t speak except to improve silence. Jesus Nebot
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Scott Ginsberg: My nametag says approachability… and YOU? David Newman
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Your Value Proposition is What Sells Articulate Your Sales Message Nick Nichols
Boost Your Value – Boost Your Sales Articulate Your Sales Message Nick Nichols
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Dare to Differentiate: Dominate Your Competition Blow Away Your Competition Nick Nichols
Why Meaningful Differentiation Equals Market Domination Blow Away Your Competition Nick Nichols
Your Employees Are Stealing From You Get More Productivity From Your Workforce Nick Nichols
Time Theft: The 21st-Century Scourge Get More Productivity From Your Workforce Nick Nichols
Immediately Fire Most of Your Employees Get More Productivity From Your Workforce Nick Nichols
10 Reasons Why Your Website Sucks Get More Customers Using the Internet Nick Nichols
Hits are How Idiots Track Success Get More Customers Using the Internet Nick Nichols
Why Internet Marketing Beats All Others Get More Customers Using the Internet Nick Nichols
Still Think YouTube is for Kids? Using Video for Branding Awareness Nick Nichols
Social Media: How Effective Is It? Using Video for Branding Awareness Nick Nichols
Imagine – You – An Internet Video Star! Using Video for Branding Awareness Nick Nichols
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Podcasts: Listen now, hear however. Choose. Helen Osborne
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Courage and Confidence: Springboards to Success Carol Pierce
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Rewards received equate to risks taken. Douglas Rice
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Accepting mass media creates massive mistakes. Douglas Rice
Risk taking isn’t sure thing taking. Douglas Rice
Measure your life without attaching money. Douglas Rice
If you’re trusting, find a skeptic. Douglas Rice
Have credit, but don’t use it. Douglas Rice
Credit card debt limits future happiness. Douglas Rice
You can’t get rich spending money. Douglas Rice
You care about you, others won’t. Douglas Rice
Hope is not an investment strategy. Douglas Rice
Seek counsel, but decide for yourself. Douglas Rice
Numbers don’t lie, however people do. Douglas Rice
We are capitalists, act like it. Douglas Rice
Net worth and self worth differ. Douglas Rice
Assume people try to take advantage. Douglas Rice
When checkbooks balance, so does life. Douglas Rice
Turn off the TV and READ! Douglas Rice
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Eating right keeps your body tight. Rita Makana Risser
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Life is a gift, cherish it! Motivational Clark Roberts
Having fun minimizes daily stress issues. Barry Roberts
People skills always produce profitable results. Shawna Schuh
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Adults learn by talking, not listening. Speaking/Breakouts Jeffrey Scott
market less, and sell more, now. Business Development Jeffrey Scott
Have higher standards, get higher results. Leadership Jeffrey Scott
Copywriting: words you love pay off! Rosalind Sedacca
For success: Make others feel important. Bob Shaff
Gave up security; having more fun! Milo Shapiro
Got interactive; that’s why they call! Milo Shapiro
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Self-publishing makes anyone an author. Milo Shapiro
Thanks to You-Tube: Mailing NOTHING! Milo Shapiro
I came, I learned, I’m dying Beryl Shaw
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Bridging heart and marketing breeds dignity. Judith Sherven and Jim Sniechowski
Speaking: opening to grace every moment. Diane Sieg
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Better late than never? Never late! srharden
Immediately stop supporting poor project management Project Audit Michael Stanleigh
Grow yourself strong, everyone will benefit! Stephanie Staples
Leaders drive Mission. Mission drives Performance Rebecca Staton-Reinstein
How Is That Working For You? Motivation Michael Stoughton
Leaders Lead, Followers Follow, Politicians Blame Leadership Michael Stoughton
If You’re Not Growing, You’re Dying Growth Michael Stoughton
WIIFM – Your Prospect’s Favorite Radio Station Sales Michael Stoughton
You become what you think about. Earl Nightingale Michael Stoughton
We are each experiments in possibility Rob Swineford
Empowerment is not entitlement, it is earned Marlene Ward
Assert your way to the top Marlene Ward
There is no one-way communication. communication Helen Wilkie
One-way communication is an oxymoron. communication Helen Wilkie
Let them hear, make them feel. Jurgen Wolff
Read people from the outside in. Body Language Patti Wood
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Predict your future by designing it Sharon Worsley

SpeakerNet News is produced by Rebecca Morgan and Ken Braly. It is not affiliated with the National Speakers Association. Send comments or suggestions

via speakernetnews.com

Death by PowerPoint in 1841 via Knoodle

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Death by PowerPoint takes on a whole new meaning when it comes to the unfortunate tale of William Henry Harrison, our nation’s ninth president. Harrison was elected to the presidency in 1841, back when there was something called the Whig party and everyone lived without electricity. At 68, he was the oldest president elected to office until Ronald Reagan, and he’s mostly remembered for giving the worst inaugural speech ever–– a speech that directly resulted in his death.You see, Harrison delivered the longest inaugural address in history, reading over 8,000 words that clocked in at over two hours. The inauguration was on a cold, overcast day in March and he delivered it sans overcoat, hat or gloves. Unsurprisingly, he caught a cold that he couldn’t shake, which eventually escalated to pneumonia. And so, our ninth president died just 32 days after his terrible, awful, no good speech.Though the advent of the computer was more than a century away, William Henry Harrison’s unfortunate fate encompasses the two most typical elements of Death by PowerPoint: It was ridiculously long and inexplicably boring.

Laughable Length

A presentation or speech that clocks in at over two hours is almost laughable, especially in this day and age. One can only imagine what Harrison’s audience was thinking (expletives come to mind). Hopefully they hadn’t made other plans for that March day, and hopefully they’d come more appropriately dressed than Harrison.

Keep your presentations short and to the point. They say that the average person’s attention span is 18 minutes, which is probably on the generous side, so aim for brevity. Harrison’s speech was supposed to be something like 20 minutes long, and it goes without saying that if it had been that short, he probably wouldn’t have come down with pneumonia in the first place.

Bored to Death

Much of the 8,000 words Harrison spoke that day were about ancient Roman history. Granted, it was 1841 and maybe that was a more relevant topic at the time, but it’s a good bet that Harrison’s audience wasn’t expecting an extensive history lesson when they showed up on Inauguration Day. Shouldn’t a new president spend most of his Inaugural Address speaking about the country that elected him?

Don’t bore your audience to death. Always present on a topic that is relevant and engaging to the members in your audience. Think of their desires before your own. You may be able to wax poetic for 2 hours about the new iPhone 5, but that’s not relevant if your audience is a room full of doctors (or most other professions for that matter). Make sure you answer each audience member’s inevitable concern: “What’s in it for me?”

How to be a Presentation God

Avoid poor William Henry Harrison’s unfortunate fate by attending our free webinar, How to Be a Presentation God on Wednesday, October 24 at 2 pm EST. During the session, you’ll learn everything you need to know to build, design and deliver an epic presentation. Your speaker will be Scott Schwertly, our CEO at Ethos3, a presentation design agency located in Nashville, TN. Sign up today and get ready to change the world with your next presentation.

 

About Maggie Summers
Maggie Summers is the resident blogger and content writer at Ethos3 – a leader in presentation design and training based in Nashville, TN. She takes pride in empowering presenters through her knowledge and passion for presentations and powerful storytelling.

Taken from the kind people at Knoodle – http://www.knoodle.com/blog/death-powerpoint-1841

PowerPoint: The Extreme Makeover Edition (Before and After Slides) – via Forbes

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Don’t blame PowerPoint for a boring presentation. The problem with today’s typical business presentation is NOT PowerPoint. The storyteller is the problem, the presenter who creates wordy, text-heavy slides and uses dull, convoluted jargon and buzzwords.

In a previous column titled, Jeff Bezos and the end of PowerPoint as we know it, I made the point that Bezos as well as other well-known business leaders are using a more visually engaging method of delivering presentations and doing so with the aid of traditional presentation software. Some readers blamed PowerPoint for bad presentations. I disagree. If used creatively, PowerPoint is a fabulous tool to present ideas that are clear, memorable, and engaging.

Recently I visited my nephew who attends the University of Oregon. He said he loves one class where the professor uses engaging images, photographs, and multi-media in his PowerPoint slides. He says another professor in a separate class uses a PowerPoint style full of text and bullet points. In the former class he stays until the end of the lecture. In the latter, he leaves early and catches up with notes online. The problem is the second professor uses PowerPoint slides as a repository for notes.

According to Garr Reynolds, author of Presentation Zen, “Slides are slides. Documents are documents. They aren’t the same thing. Attempts to merge them result in what I call the ‘slideument.’ The creation of the slideument stems from a desire to save time. People think they are being efficient—a kind of kill-two-birds-with-one-stone approach. Unfortunately the only think ‘killed’ is effective communications.”

I was honored to endorse the 2nd edition of Presentation Zen because I believe in Reynolds’ philosophy and his approach to creating visually engaging slides. Reynolds believes that despite all the tools available to presenters today, storytelling has a long way to go. “While presentation technology has evolved over the years, the presentations themselves have not necessarily evolved. Today, millions of presentations are given every day with the aid of desktop applications such as PowerPoint and Keynote…Google Docs and Prezi. Yet, most presentations remain mind-numbingly dull.”

I co-presented with Reynolds at an event in Japan and, despite my own experience with delivering presentations, I learned a lot. All of us have room to improve the way we give presentations and that’s why I seek out designers who think visually for a living. Two such people are Yancey Unequivocally and Cory Jim, co-owners of presentation design firm, Empowered Presentations. Recently, Yancey showed me some fabulous examples of before-and-after slides created in PowerPoint. I’ve included the slides below.

The first before-and-after is a typical example of what happens when many presenters hear the advice, “add pictures to your slides.” They will keep all their bullet points and add a picture to the slide. If you still do this, don’t be hard on yourself. It’s exactly what I used to do before I started studying the science and the art of presentation design. But there is a better way as you can see the in the next slide. Empowered Presentations created one slide for each of the four statistics on the “before” slide (I only included one of the slides below). This particular presentation was part of a pitch to land a $1.5 million contract. There were twenty other bidders for the contract, most of whom used bulleted, wordy PowerPoint slides. Guess who won the contract?

Before: Picture added to text

After: Designed for impact

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second example was used for educational purposes. It was delivered by a doctor who wanted his audience to be aware of the staggering hospital costs to treat elderly patients after a fall. The first slide is an example of everything wrong with PowerPoint. It’s all bullets and your minds’ eye wants to read ahead as the speaker is delivering his information. That’s not an effective way to deliver ideas. Again, Empowered Presentations used one slide for each statistic and chose ‘painful’ pictures to demonstrate painful statistics.

Before: Text heavy list

After: Better illustrates point three

via forbes.com

A Presentation App That Forces You To Tell Better Stories – could Haiku be the answer to death by powerpoint?

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The dangers of bad a PowerPoint presentation are manifold. It might just mean putting your audience to sleep, or running afoul of the High Council of Information Design. But if your presentations have wider reaching concerns, like those given routinely by members of the U.S. Armed Forces, bad slides can have far greater consequences. In the military’s hands, as Brigadier General H. R. McMaster explained to the New York Times in 2010, bad PowerPoint can actually be dangerous–it gives “the illusion of understanding and the illusion of control.” It certainly doesn’t help when you’re making 100-slide presentations entirely in Comic Sans, as one Army aide submitted last year.

While you’re probably not guilty of mucking up complex geopolitical strategy with your bad slides, chances are you’ve made some crappy ones–or, at the very least, been subjected to some–at one point or another. So the appeal of Haiku Deck, a free app for the iPad, should be clear. As founder Adam Tratt explained to me: “We wanted to make it impossible to create ugly [slides].”

The app, as its name suggests, is all about brevity, enabling users to make clean, concise slide shows–or decks–with a heavily streamlined feature set. Using it is fiendishly simple: You enter a few keywords of text onto a slide, and the app searches a database of over 35 million Creative Commons images that suit your subject. If your text says “Fierce Dedication,” you might get an artful shot of a tiger or a football team to use as the slide’s background (though you can always use a photo of your own). Finding that compelling image for you, Tratt says, is one of Haiku Deck’s key achievements. “People spend a ton of time doing this manually … so we thought we could really delight our users if we made the process just happen automagically, and then embed the Creative Commons attribution right in the deck.”

After you pick your image, your text is automatically formatted nice and big to fill the screen. A handful of themes offer quick ways to customize your fonts and apply photo filters throughout; five themes are included with the free app, and 11 more are available with a $2 in-app purchase. When you’re done, you can show decks on mobile devices, project them from PCs, or embed them on webpages. But the most striking thing about Haiku Deck might be what it doesn’t offer. There are no transitions, no bullet points, and no graphs anywhere to be found.

The point, Tratt explains, was to make a slide show app that’s easy to use–and impossible to screw up.

“Our approach was to make a presentation tool that people would love to use and to obliterate the dreaded ‘death by PowerPoint,’ phenomenon that so many experience on a regular basis, whether in the workplace, in the classroom, on a committee, or at a conference,” Tratt said. “To do this, we tried to productize best practices espoused by the presentation design gurus like Garr Reynolds and Nancy Duarte. They say things like, ‘use one idea per slide,’ ‘have a consistent look and feel,’ and ‘use an impactful image.'”

These are principles that Haiku Deck’s limited feature set essentially forces you to follow. It’s similar to some of the thinking behind Apple’s iOS, just on a much narrower scale: The user doesn’t always know best, and if you give him the option to customize everything, don’t be surprised if you end up with a dreadful result.

Of course, some users will chafe at the app’s limitations, and there are ways in which Haiku Deck is frustratingly restrictive. You can’t, for example, position text elements anywhere you want; in fact, you can’t even create more than two text elements on any given slide. But the developers seem to be aware of the dangers here. “Different fonts and layouts are important too,” Tratt says, “and we still have a ways to go on that.”

But for anyone who has had to squint at a PowerPoint presentation that was essentially just the unedited text from the reader’s speaking notes, Haiku Deck offers a merciful alternative. In an academic lecture or a business meeting, an overly dense slide show is like a Pavlovian signal to zone out. Haiku Deck, at the very least, guarantees legibility. On this note, Tratt sums up the app’s raison d’être succinctly: “Why does PowerPoint even have 8pt font as an option?”

You can grab Haiku Deck for free in the iTunes App Store.

via fastcodesign.com