October 04, 2023 | Read Online ⚡️Power-Up Newsletter 18 Last week we spoke about stepping into your nervousness and owning it as a superpower. It can be a significant paradigm shift, but it doesn’t necessarily remove all the anxiety related to giving a presentation. I get it, anxiety can be (and is) crippling. I’ve been there myself many times. In the lead-up to a big presentation, there is usually a lot going on and you will be required to coordinate the many moving parts… all while you’re...
about 1 year ago • 3 min read
September 26, 2023 | Read Online ⚡️Power-Up Newsletter 17 It’s 5 minutes before you go on and the auditorium is packed! Okay, don’t be nervous. Deep breaths. You can do this! You do a quick mental run through each slide double-checking the main talking point for each one. Don’t forget slide 3… that one is a bit tricky. Focus on the chart. That chart will make everything clearer. Then the chatter in your mind takes over… We have one shot to make a good impression. We need their buy-in. Don’t...
about 1 year ago • 3 min read
September 20, 2023 | Read Online ⚡️Power-Up Newsletter 16 When people talk about accessibility in presentations, the initial conversation usually starts and ends with colourblindness. To be honest, it’s a good place to start - just check last week’s newsletter 😁 However, accessibility is more than catering to those with permanent disabilities. The broader definition also includes temporary disabilities and even covers situations like poor connectivity. As a busy professional, focusing on...
about 1 year ago • 3 min read
September 12, 2023 | Read Online ⚡️Power-Up Newsletter 15 There are more than 350 million colourblind people in the world. That’s more than the entire population of the United States! That is a lot of people who don’t see your slides the way you think they do. It’s likely that someone you work with is dealing with this too. It’s hard to imagine what effect colourblindness has if you don’t suffer from colour vision deficiencies. Thankfully, there is an online tool to help you visualise and...
about 1 year ago • 3 min read
September 05, 2023 | Read Online ⚡️Power-Up Newsletter 14 Isn't it strange that meetings have a standard time period? It’s either an hour, 30 minutes or a 15-minute catchup. I once worked at a company where the standard meeting length was an hour. If you needed to get anything done, you’d have to get into the calendars and book your meeting weeks in advance. This environment had a big meeting culture. The next company I worked for had a standard meeting length of 30 minutes. Obviously, this...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
August 29, 2023 | Read Online ⚡️Power-Up Newsletter 13 Building on the BLUF technique we learned last week, I want to share a foolproof presentation format that will finally answer that common question we face in the workplace: “What should the agenda be for this week’s presentation?” Every week you sit there scratching your head trying to find some new way to capture the audience's attention. You try and shuffle speakers, you think up new topics, but eventually… it all just feels a little...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
August 22, 2023 | Read Online ⚡️Power-Up Newsletter 12 It’s the morning of the big presentation. You wake up early, skin still glowing from the face mask you wore to bed. Your lucky socks and “special occasion undies” slide on with ease after a great shower. The presentation script is flowing so well while you apply body lotion. Those practice runs before bed really paid off. Note to self: Don’t forget to pause after the joke on slide 4. They’ll love the comparison to Other Co and their...
about 1 year ago • 4 min read
August 15, 2023 | Read Online ⚡️Power-Up Newsletter 11 Our brains need icons. Let me explain… 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual. MIT neuroscientists found that the brain can process entire images in as little as 13 milliseconds!!! Even more impressive, your brain has the power to process images 60,000 times faster than text. That's 3 times faster than blinking! So let’s give your presentations what the brain loves most - images in the form of icons. It’s Tuesday and...
about 1 year ago • 4 min read
August 08, 2023 | Read Online ⚡️Power-Up Newsletter 10 You have the power to control minds. And most people won’t even be aware that you’re pulling their strings. Last week we learned how to trick everyone into thinking we were expert slide designers. This week we continue the trickery by employing persuasive design techniques. I like to think of it as a little nudge, or a behind-the-scenes magic trick… that only you and I know is happening 😈 It’s Tuesday and time to discover how to make your...
about 1 year ago • 3 min read
August 01, 2023 | Read Online ⚡️Power-Up Newsletter 09 Do you want to know a secret? I suck at creating slides from scratch. That blank slide with the cursor blinking ominously on the screen makes me break out into a nervous sweat 😭 I’m no artist. I studied finance and economics for crying out loud! These hands were made for Excel, not pretty pictures 🤬 Yet here I am hoping to save you from Death by PowerPoint. You know what I’m really really rreeaaaaaaally good at… tricking everyone into...
about 1 year ago • 5 min read