tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26357135581453783792024-08-31T21:21:32.594+10:00Managing to speakTips for people who need to speak to one or one hundered people and who want to be heardJohn Sleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10868065443177304047noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635713558145378379.post-4973305484233287792016-09-03T18:03:00.002+10:002016-09-03T18:03:13.323+10:00When I sat down to write a refletion on the expereience of developing an e-learning system as part of my masters degree subject, I had several tabs open to articles by the current gurus of e-learnbing and e-technology: Wenger, Woo and Reeves, Neilsen, Seely-Brown ... the list goes on.
Yet when I started to write, my reflection was more about the old masters in both education and teamwork. John Sleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10868065443177304047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635713558145378379.post-60027639704732470472010-05-09T21:36:00.000+10:002010-05-09T21:36:07.455+10:00The difference between good and great speakers: 2 It's all about the audienceI listened to a presentation this week that was the result of a lot of work. As the presentation I attended was the fifth time it had been given, there was even evidence of practice, my first difference between the good and the great. But it was still awful.
The problem was simple. The presenters were keen to show us how much they knew.
They needn't have bothered. We were there because we John Sleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10868065443177304047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635713558145378379.post-9627963469247907492010-04-11T13:57:00.001+10:002015-12-30T08:11:03.991+10:00Check your slides for visbility for those with color impaired vision About 5% of the population (that is one person in twenty) has difficulty distinguishing colours, so red writing on a green background appears to them to be a single colored blank slide.
You can check out your slides or web pages at http://www.vischeck.com/vischeck/
Vischeck is a way of showing you what things look like to someone who is color blind. You can try Vischeck online- either runJohn Sleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10868065443177304047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635713558145378379.post-21517343647108717742010-04-03T11:49:00.000+10:002010-04-03T11:49:41.969+10:00The differences between good and great speakers: 1. PracticeWhenever I am asked about the best way to practice public speaking I inevitably suggest join a Toastmasters club. Go to the Toastmasters International website to find a club near you.
But how well does the confidence gained in Toastmasters translate into confidence speaking before other groups. Toastmasters speak before (mostly) the same people every week and you know everyone is there to help John Sleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10868065443177304047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635713558145378379.post-65396661016197562032010-03-29T19:48:00.000+10:002010-03-29T19:48:21.413+10:00We need more wordsWhen I talked about design of a program with one of my collaborators in the development of a system for social networking, she asked "what do you mean by program?"
Her question started me thinking about the many terms in social networking and in IT generally that have been appropriated from everyday vocabulary.
I thought we were designing a system, which to me met a way of working. system to John Sleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10868065443177304047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635713558145378379.post-42076116507657463322010-03-28T10:03:00.000+10:002010-03-28T10:03:52.021+10:00This tale did the rounds on a number of internet list serves and inspired thoughts on training, performance evaluation, selection and sundry related issues. It came to my attention through a posting from William D. Lovett, a Management and Training Consultant from Wakefield RI, who attributes it to Fred Nichols, but says that Fred believes Anonymous is the real author.
-------------------------John Sleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10868065443177304047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635713558145378379.post-9383693865265996652009-12-20T17:02:00.002+10:002010-01-14T14:53:27.070+10:00Finish with a flourishI recommend that speakers write their concluding paragraph first. This consists of the main point that you want the audience to remember from your presentation. Perhaps it is a restatement of your main theme, perhaps it is a call to action, perhaps a story of the benefits gained from applying your message.
I never finish with a questions from the floor session. If questions from the floor are John Sleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10868065443177304047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635713558145378379.post-65733945282402063132009-12-20T17:00:00.000+10:002009-12-20T17:00:22.194+10:00Provide takeawaysI was once told that the hallmark of a great seminar is a good lunch and an impressive manual. I didn't believe it then or now, although there is a smidgin of truth in it.
How many manuals have you collected and stored in a bookshelf somewhere, never to be consulted again? I am certain that some participants expect that the information contained in them will somehow penetrate our consciousness John Sleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10868065443177304047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635713558145378379.post-22629135840296281582009-12-15T00:22:00.000+10:002009-12-15T00:22:12.922+10:00Build Your KnowledgeWhat statistics support your message?
What anecdotes can you use to add to what you have to say?
How can you represent your message visually?
Ask questions
Gather resources
Apart from your own personal experiences, there is a great deal of material available to provide support. For the computer literate, the internet is a marvellous resource.
There are a large number of sites John Sleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10868065443177304047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635713558145378379.post-10329628924317005542009-12-06T18:34:00.002+10:002009-12-20T17:03:50.873+10:00Don't compete with your visual supportI don't believe in giving out a copy of my speech before the presentation so that people can follow it as I read it. As you might have guessed, I do not read my speeches.
Some conferences ask for a paper to be submitted in advance and this is then circulated to the participants. Fine. What I say in the paper is consistent with what I say from the platform, but I speak to the paper, rather than John Sleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10868065443177304047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635713558145378379.post-76488283050228225392009-11-22T21:35:00.000+10:002009-11-22T21:35:00.290+10:00Using pauses and vocal variationNotice the difference that these two presentations of the same words make:
Dear John,
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I can be forever happy—will you let me be yours?
Trish
Or to John Sleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10868065443177304047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635713558145378379.post-60308386635586129402009-11-15T19:28:00.000+10:002009-11-15T19:28:06.375+10:00Setting Up the RoomThe amount of influence that you will have on the set up of the room will vary according to the role that you are playing. But familiarity and satisfaction with the room layout as far as possible in advance make it possible to concentrate on your speech while you are giving it. A rush from the airport to the microphone just in time to be introduced will detract from your speech - no matter how John Sleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10868065443177304047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635713558145378379.post-15562739233458242782009-11-07T15:18:00.001+10:002009-11-07T15:19:29.987+10:00Speaking to a pootentially hostile audienceConfront opposition early
If you expect that portion of your audience will oppose your position, then you need to display empathy for their position.
Empathy does not imply agreement with it - merely that you understand how they feel.
Your first role as a speaker in this situation is to diffuse hostility. When the ill feelings that people brought into the session have been eliminated then you John Sleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10868065443177304047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635713558145378379.post-516128466391194402009-11-01T11:04:00.000+10:002009-11-01T11:04:43.377+10:00Using on line translation servicesIf you need to give information to someone who speaks another language, will the on line translators do an adequate job? I tested Yahoo and Google's free services and this is what I found:
The original paragraph
I translated this paragraph into Chinese using Google translate. I then converted it back from Chinese to English using another free web translation service - babelfish.
The first John Sleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10868065443177304047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635713558145378379.post-28347150407820185962009-10-31T20:27:00.004+10:002009-10-31T20:33:28.487+10:00Toastmasters - A great place to practice speakingWhenever I am asked about the best way to practice public speaking I inevitably suggest join a Toastmasters club. Go to the Toastmasters International website to find a club near you.
But how well does the confidence gained in Toastmasters translate into confidence speaking before other groups. Toastmasters speak before (mostly) the same people every week and you know everyone is there to help John Sleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10868065443177304047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635713558145378379.post-70242590484363757292009-10-31T18:41:00.001+10:002009-10-31T20:24:30.743+10:00Understand the TechnologyMy wife recently attended a seminar on a subject of interest to both of us. When she came home, I asked her how it went. She replied: "They couldn't get the video to work."
There was a time when technology in a presentation meant chalk and a blackboard.
Then it became 35 mm slide projection, overhead projection or videos. Today it can mean almost anything. I will not attempt to list the John Sleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10868065443177304047noreply@blogger.com0